manager admitted he was ready to go ‘old school’ on Richarlison after the Brazilian forward indulged in a spot of showboating during the closing stages of his side’s vital 1-0 win over .
The Toffees secured a much-needed three points as the Merseyside club took a major step towards securing their Premier League status, having been dragged to the brink of the relegation zone after Wednesday’s defeat at Burnley.
Anthony Gordon’s deflected strike in the first-half gave the home side an advantage that they were able to protect thanks to a mixture of dogged defending and lacklustre United display.
Despite the precarious situation, Richarlison appeared to be the calmest man inside Goodison during the closing stages when he controlled the ball on his head, much to the consternation of his manager.
‘I was ready to go all old school on him and tell him off for that,’ said Lampard. ‘But I’m not going to because he ran his sock off as he does here.
The fans love him because he runs and gives everything. Five little keepy-uppy headers are not for me if he gives it away after that, but he had a good day.’
Calls for Everton to sack Lampard intensified after their calamitous display at Turf Moor but the former Chelsea boss was delighted by the response from his players in front of passionate home crowd.
He said: ‘It feels really good. Big win, big day. The reality of our position is clear, you could feel that in the stadium. The fighting spirit and qualities that we showed is big for us. We need to replicate that. If we carry on in the same vein, we’re confident.
‘In these situations I’m the biggest advocate of youth and young players, but the balance of the team is important. Experienced players make the big difference. They’ve been around the block. [Fabian] Delph brought that to us with his positional play. [Jordan] Pickford made a save at the end as well – that’s why he’s England’s number one.
‘We were due a game where we don’t start so well and get a goal, which was a deflection. It was important the performance went that way today to show the players know how to dig in and win games.
‘We should have had points in both games [at Burnley and West Ham]. The easy reaction on the outside is negative. What I learned about myself is that you must be positive, keep the lads positive. The lads are desperate to do well for this club. A mistake here and there is normal. When they fight like they did today, they can do great things.
‘We’ve won some games and we haven’t gone again. We’ve got a really tough game coming up at home to Leicester. I’m not sitting here saying everything’s great and we’re fine. We have to go again with the same attitude and get the points we need to stay up.’
, .
, and .
