Frank Lampard believes the ‘edginess’ in Goodison Park as Everton sought a winner against Wolves may have had an impact on his players’ decision-making. The Blues had control of the ball as the match entered stoppage time level at 1-1. And the home side had the momentum as they hunted a goal that would have given them a valuable three points. But a long ball into the box by James Tarkowski was dealt with by Wolves, who then scored a dramatic winner on the counter attack. After the game,
Frank Lampard said: “It was a poor goal. We had control on the halfway line and you feel the stadium getting edgy and that’s not easy for the players at times. But it’s a disappointing goal. You know, it’s a transitional moment. [Adama] Traore came on, he did affect the game with his pace and his power, he stretched the game a little bit, and he doesn’t really connect with the cross as I saw it and it ends up falling to them. One of those circumstance ones.”
Asked whether he thought the ‘edginess’ he sensed in the stands was felt on the pitch,
Frank Lampard explained: “Yeah, I played for nearly 20 years so I know how it can affect a player and, of course, the better players have confidence in themselves to do what they want to do. But I thought for 90% of the game I liked our decision making today. I think we could have moved it a little bit quicker at times in the first half but we had a good sense of control. With the last phase of the game, before they scored, I think we should have been more positive with the pass and maybe hit a couple of diagonals, because they were just back and in the end we tried to go longer and they counter attacked and scored. But yeah, it’s easy for me to sit here and say the players should carry on making the right decisions as we tell them but, of course, it can [the atmosphere] have an effect.”
