Following a heated altercation in the locker room, Frank Lampard expelled midfielder Abdoulaye Doucoure from training just one week before he was let go from his position.
To this point in the season, Doucoure has participated in a total of 12 matches across all competitions; however, he has only started three of those matches. Lampard’s penultimate match in charge of the Toffees was a loss to Southampton, and the Everton manager decided not to start him in that game.
Everton is now in second-last place in the Premier League standings and has won only three of their 34 matches this year. Therefore, tensions at Goodison Park have been rising for some time. It would appear that such frustrations reached a boiling point not only in the fans but also among the players themselves.
Lampard allegedly made the decision to exclude Doucoure from training in the days before up to Saturday’s match against West Ham. After having a confrontation with the midfielder in the locker room following the loss to Southampton, the Englishman came to the conclusion that he should make this choice.
It is believed that the heated discussion continued at the club’s training field the previous week. It has been reported that Lampard ‘had no alternative’ but to exclude the 30-year-old player from first-team training for the remainder of the week.
Lampard was eager to avoid Doucoure from causing ‘more disruption,’ so he forced the forward to train on his own rather than with the Under-21s side. This was a humiliating experience for Doucoure. The midfielder arrived to the club from Watford in 2020 but will be leaving at the conclusion of the current campaign because his contract will not be renewed.
Lampard made a remark that seemed to imply that there was dissatisfaction in the locker room before the key match against West Ham, which was a competition for the relegation spot. In addition, he exhorted his players to stand up and fight as the course of their season continued to spiral downward.
“I had certain things to say because, from my perspective, the circumstance in which we find ourselves requires us to fight and to be prepared for the fight. It’s to our advantage if the players in the locker room are upset about the loss, and I hope they are “he remarked.
“If they want to fight and be good teammates, not think about themselves, think about the team and strive to obtain the result the next week and practice with a great deal of intensity, that is all I want, regardless of whether or not they are starting,”
Lampard’s season ended without a fourth win after the team’s journey to West Ham, when he was unable to motivate the team to victory. Instead, two goals scored by Jarrod Bowen doomed his team to a fourth consecutive loss across all competitions, and Lampard warned that even more challenging times were ahead.
“[During the previous season], we were involved in a significant conflict, and we were ultimately victorious. We were forced to let Richarlison go and have since been working to replace him, so it is natural for us to be in a battle once more while other teams are attempting to move on “he explained it to Match of the Day.
“Nothing in your past can give you the right to be in their league because history marches on. If you stay in one place, difficult times will find you. We are living through difficult circumstances, and everyone ought to do their best to move on.”
However, Everton’s decision to fire Lampard on Monday means that he will not have the opportunity to plan a second “Great Escape.” Lampard is a Chelsea icon who was previously employed by Everton.