Jarrod Bowen returned with a bang as West Ham inflicted more away-day pain on Everton with a 2-1 victory; Everton travel to Burnley in the Premier League on Wednesday April 6 live on Sky Sports
Monday 4 April 2022 09:17, UK
Frank Lampard insists "things will turn" for Everton if they reproduce the same attitude they showed in a 2-1 defeat at West Ham - their latest poor result on the road.
Jarrod Bowen scored his 13th goal of the season to floor Lampard and Everton must regroup ahead of their relegation six-pointer against Burnley on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports.
West Ham led through Aaron Cresswell's spectacular free-kick but were pegged back by Mason Holgate's deflected effort.
Bowen struck again for West Ham almost immediately, and the visitors finished the match with 10 men after captain Michael Keane was sent off.
The travel-sick Toffees still hold the worst away record in the country and are only one place above the drop zone in what has been a torrid season - but Lampard saw signs of improvement despite a 10th away defeat.
"The performance was good and we deserved more from the game," the Everton boss told Sky Sports. "A lot of things went against us today, which is how it has been going for us. But there were a lot of positives against a good team. We certainly deserved a point against a good team.
"We showed character, discipline and created chances which isn't easy against West Ham. If we carry on in that vein, things will go in our favour."
When asked what would determine his side's fortunes during the closing weeks of the campaign, Lampard added: "Finishing and goalscoring, it is talent and work on the training ground.
"The work doesn't always replicate on the pitch but you have to keep going. Every player and team goes through moments. We created the better chances today and enough to score two or three goals. If we do that we win games and we have 10 more to do that.
"Ten games is a lot. If our luck turns and we keep on the path we showed today and against Newcastle I have a real strong belief we will be OK. Saying that now here means nothing. We just have to focus on ourselves. The next game is huge because it is Burnley but also because it is our next game. After that we move on to Manchester United.
"You want to win games. Today isn't so enjoyable. It is not if you don't turn up and get opened up as a team. It has happened a couple of times since I have been here but not much. But that comes with the territory of where we are at. Look at West Ham. Today they are very strong but two or three years ago they are facing relegation.
"And then they build, stick together and recruit and they move on. Everton has huge history and a fanbase. At the moment we are working to get through this moment. Myself and the players are giving everything. The fans can know if we keep doing that over 10 games we will be OK."
West Ham are still just about challenging for a place in the top four and look at the very least capable of back-to-back top-six finishes, something manager David Moyes used to deliver regularly when he was in charge at Goodison Park.
Everton were dealt a blow when Donny van de Beek sustained a muscle injury in the warm-up, meaning a late selection for Holgate.
"It is not ideal to lose Donny in the warm-up but you deal with it and I think we did," Lampard added. "The reshuffle was done well in terms of Mason coming in from playing centre-back recently to midfield."
Keane will now be suspended for the game against his former club Burnley game this Wednesday, and Lampard said: "The next game is always the most important. We can't think in blocks of games - the next one is a competitor down in the same end of the table and nobody gets an easy game at Burnley.
"It's a fact at all times so it's about continuing with the application and character of our performance today. We need to keep working.
"When things are going against you - and they are - that's not a whinge but clear decisions recently and injuries... the only way to react is by doing the right things and keep working. So on Wednesday, when Richarlison goes through [on goal] the ball goes in, and when the other team get a free-kick, it doesn't go in the top corner. We have to stay focused on ourselves and believe in ourselves for 10 games."
Sky Sports' Ben Grounds at the London Stadium:
The misery continues for Everton. Bowen inflicted more away-day pain for Lampard's side but here they were the authors of their own downfall, beaten by their own lapse in concentration before the red mist descended.
Keane captained the side in the absence of Seamus Coleman but it was his tired challenge on Antonio which made life more difficult moments after West Ham had regained the lead.
Lampard had questioned his players' bottle - or words to that effect - after they capitulated at Crystal Palace in the FA Cup last time out, and they conceded poorly again just five minutes after equalising when Bowen struck.
Keane's second yellow card capped another miserable road trip for Lampard, and he simply cannot afford yet another fruitless jaunt away from Goodison Park on Wednesday in that crucial game against Burnley at Turf Moor.
Everton remain safe, for now, but defeat to Sean Dyche's side would close the gap to the bottom three to just a point. As Richarlison trudged disconsolately down the tunnel, Lampard must pull his troops together for the battle that lies ahead.
Former Everton winger David Ginola told Sky Sports:
"It gets worse and worse and when you are in a situation like that, especially when you have to play against teams who are competing against you and fighting relegation.
"The game against Burnley will be another crucial one for Frank Lampard. So many games lost already for a manager who all the fans were expecting to take the club out of that situation. They are under pressure and he is under pressure.
"You can lose one game but over a 38-game season, if you are in this position it's because you are not good enough."
Sky Sports' Graeme Souness:
"You can't fault that group for their effort but I'm afraid it just comes down to they have don't have enough quality at this level to be winning games away from home. They don't have enough quality and for me that's the top and bottom of it. The league doesn't lie."
West Ham boss David Moyes, who spent 11 years as Everton manager, is confident his former club will avoid relegation.
Moyes, who was Everton's longest-serving manager since Harry Catterick in 1961-73, believes Lampard's side have the quality to remain in the Premier League, despite them taking just six points from 14 away games this season - the lowest of the 92 sides in England's top four divisions.
"I think Everton will be OK," the Scot said. "I think when you have the quality of the forward players that Everton have got, it gives you a great chance [with a] Brazilian centre-forward and an England centre-forward.
"I think they've got players in the wide areas who can score goals as well, so I think Everton have got a lot of good things going for them.
"I think they should feel more positive about it, but I understand [as] I've been there recently when I've not stayed up with Sunderland, I've been there a couple of times with West Ham when I have and it's not a good place to be and you never know how it is going to go.
"But I think Everton have got quality in some areas which other clubs don't have."
Asked about Moyes' confidence that his side will stay up, Lampard joked: "That's easy for him to say, isn't it?
"I appreciate his sentiment and I know he's got close feeling towards the club and rightly so, and the club has it back.
"If he meant from seeing us today and feeling how we were as a team, and if we continue with that form, then I agree.
"But we're in that position and we know the reality of it. We've got 10 games to go which is a lot of points to fight for and as much as we don't like losing here, the feeling of the game and how we performed was a plus, so if we can replicate that then I agree with him."
West Ham host Lyon in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday, April 7; kick-off 8pm.
Everton travel to Burnley in the Premier League on Wednesday, April 6 live on Sky Sports; kick-off 7.30pm.
