Frank Lampard has described Everton fans as ‘not normal’ in praising their passionate support – but he admitted that the team must also do their part on the pitch.
Frank Lampard said: “They’re pretty unique. I’ve only been here a short time but the support we had was amazing and it certainly helped us to get over the line and stay up. We can’t rely on that in the sense of what happens on the pitch, we also have to play our part. We did that at the back end of the season but we can’t expect 10,000 people before every game like there was because it’s just not normal. The fans were not normal in a really good way. We might have a bit of that at Chelsea I hear, that’ll be great, but it’ll be down to us to set a different tone this year. I came in at a really critical stage last year and that really enhanced as the games went on. Now we need to focus ourselves on the footballing side. What can we do to try and start better than last year? We got ourselves in a difficult position and it’s up to us as a team, with the support of the fans, to try and do different this year.”
Evertonians will need to be at their best once again this Saturday when Thomas Tuchel’s Blues come to Merseyside. Lampard will be without a recognised striker following Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injury and Salomon Rondon’s suspension from last season, but he and the Goodison faithful will be hopeful of another evening like that 1-0 win in May.