Everton manager Frank Lampard hopes Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s latest injury will keep him out for “weeks” rather than months as he prepares to face his former club Chelsea at the weekend Premier League season opener, live on Sky Sports.
Striker Calvert-Lewin featured in just 17 Premier League games last season, scoring the winning goal against Crystal Palace in the last game at Goodison Park to secure survival.
“He’s had an injury in training,” Lampard told Sky Sports. “It was a bit of a freak injury on a very simple passing action.
“He felt a little bit of a problem with the outside of his knee, but we’re evaluating that at the moment, so I’m not here to give you an absolute time frame on when he’ll be back.
“I’ve read some rumor reports and people are just guessing about the injury and the length of time, but we don’t know. We’re hoping it’s weeks at the moment, but we don’t know that information yet.
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Sky Sports News’ Alan Irwin has the latest on Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s injury ahead of Everton’s season opener against Chelsea
“He will certainly miss the Chelsea game and probably the games that follow it in the short term, but hopefully it won’t be too long. It’s your job, and you have to get on with these things when they happen. We” I looked at different solutions without leaving aside
“We have different attacking players and different systems, different ways of playing, so we will take that into account when we play.”
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Can Alli step up as a false nine?
With Salomon Rondon suspended following his red card in the defeat to Brentford at the end of last season, Everton could be without a recognized centre-forward in Saturday Night Football’s clash with Chelsea.
Dele Alli scored twice in the friendly win against Blackpool last month and the former Tottenham midfielder is someone who could function as a false nine in Calvert-Lewin’s absence.
Alli has only started since his deadline day move from Spurs in January, but his cameo from the bench in the decisive 3-2 win over Palace was seen as integral to maintaining top-flight status Everton category. The challenge now is to get the player started.
Image: There is now a greater focus on Dele Alli to perform
“I hope he has a big role to play,” Lampard said of Alli’s season. “He had a big impact at half-time against Palace and was very important in terms of turning the game around, but now we are looking for consistency.
“That means training, getting fit and being able to start games. We are now in a more stable condition as a club than the intense environment we were in at the end of last season.
“Dele is here to help us more consistently and it’s up to him to show that when opportunities come he can take them. We saw in his performance against Palace what he can do. He’s one for me and him, us” They’re all pulling in the same direction, and I hope he can have a good season for us.”
“Pickford my captain when Coleman is unavailable”
Image: Jordan Pickford was instrumental in keeping Everton up
Seamus Coleman showed his leadership qualities on and off the pitch during Everton’s escape last season, but the experienced Republic of Ireland international was not always available for selection due to persistent injuries .
Coleman turns 34 in October and Nathan Patterson has featured prominently in pre-season as the club captain is sidelined with a groin problem.
It means Lampard has turned to Jordan Pickford with the armband during this summer’s friendlies, and the goalkeeper is set to maintain those responsibilities in Coleman’s absence this season.
“It’s Jordan Pickford at the moment,” Lampard revealed. “Tarkowski has come in and proven to be a leader right away, but I think whether I put an armband on James Tarkowski or not, he’s going to be a leader on the field and every day in training camp.
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Pickford made some crucial saves that proved pivotal as Everton fight for Premier League survival
“Jordan Pickford is England’s No.1. He has played at an extremely high level for a long time. Sometimes he doesn’t get all the credit he deserves, but he got credit last year because of his performances and of his face. were.
“I’ve seen him mature as a player even in the short time I’ve been here because of the confidence in the way he plays. I have no problem with Jordan being captain, and that’s why he’s been captain at times during the pre -Season We’ll see how that plays out, but I’m not too worried at this point.
“Seamus will always be the club captain as long as he’s an Everton player. After that, the most important thing is that you have other captains in the squad and in the team around Seamus. That’s what we’re trying to build here”.
‘The impact of the new signings is already noticeable’
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Lampard believes James Tarkowski is a natural leader who will be a great player for Everton and says the club are working hard to secure more signings.
Lampard still has work to do to convince the fan base of his abilities, but most want him to succeed and feel he has made an instant impression.
Surely things can only get better for Everton this season after a miserable campaign that saw Lampard, having replaced Rafael Benitez in January, come close to pulling them away from an almost unthinkable relegation.
The World Cup in Qatar this November means the closed season has been cut short, but ahead of the condensed nine months ahead, Lampard is looking forward to embarking on his first full campaign on Merseyside.
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Lampard says he is open to bringing new players into the club after losing Richarlison to Tottenham in the summer.
“I’m ready to go,” he added. “It would have been nice to have had a bit more rest as we had a pretty intense finish last season. It was nice for everyone, the fans and ourselves, to have a bit of a break.
“I think we’re all excited now for the start of the season, but for me it’s a great opportunity to really kick on from the middle of last season.
“Pre-season has allowed me to get to know the players and the club a bit more and understand where the squad is at. I’m certainly happy with the players we’ve brought in. James [Tarkowski]Dwight [McNeil] and Ruben [Vinagre]we’ve had different players add to the squad which is what you want.
Image: Dwight McNeil scored twice in Dynamo Kyiv’s win
“They can all make an impact and it’s already shown. Dwight, in his debut, and Ruben [a 3-0 friendly win over Dynamo Kyiv] he played a good role. They just came in but have settled in very quickly.
“James has shown all his qualities throughout pre-season on and off the pitch, which is fantastic, and we are still looking for areas to improve.
“The window going into the season makes it challenging in a number of ways. It’s not easy to make deals when there’s still weeks to go. People are waiting and watching and seeing.
“We have ideas about where we want to improve and if we see that we can make improvements to the squad, we will try to do that.”
“Richarlison showed what it means to play for Everton”
Image: Richarlison left in the summer for £60m
Calvert-Lewin will hope to rediscover some form once he’s back fit, while Richarlison will need a replacement after leaving for Tottenham. Lampard recognizes how difficult it will be to replace the Brazilian, but is looking for multiple solutions.
“We want to move forward, but we also have to be realistic”, he continued. “There were reasons why we were in the position I came into the club and we managed to stay in the Premier League.
“We’ve lost Richarlison since then so now we’re in a position where we’re trying to get players in. When you lose a player of that importance at the top of the pitch, you have to look at it.
“If the team looked slightly unbalanced, you have to look at those areas as well. We don’t have to find a similar replacement for Richy. He was quite a unique player for us. He wore his heart on his sleeve and so did the fans they appreciated
“It’s the only thing I would like players to come to this club…