Frank Lampard has urged supporters to stick by his players after Wolves inflicted a dramatic 2-1 home defeat to heap further pressure on the Everton boss.
Substitute Rayan Ait-Nouri lifted Wolves off the bottom of the table with their first away win since they visited Goodison Park in March, courtesy of his counter-attack goal in the fifth minute of added time.
Lampard’s side departed at half-time to sporadic boos but the dissent was much louder at the final whistle, with Everton now just a point outside the relegation zone.
“I played for nearly 20 years so I know how it can affect the players,” Lampard said of the atmosphere towards the closing stages of the game.
“And of course the better players have confidence in themselves to do what they want to do. But I thought for 90 per cent of the game I liked our decision making today.
“I think we probably 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, just before they scored, I think we should have been a bit more positive with the passing – hit a few diagonals; they (Wolves) were just ‘back’.
Ait-Nouri holds his jersey as he celebrates scoring
“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 just carry on making the right decisions as we tell them, but of course it (the fans) can have an affect.”
Everton are staring at another battle to stay in the top flight and they could be in the bottom three by the time they travel to Manchester City at the weekend.
“I think the reaction was understandable at Bournemouth away,” the Everton boss added after a fourth straight defeat in all competitions. “I didn’t like that performance and as a fan I’d have an absolute understanding in not liking that having travelled and paid their money.
Yerry Mina celebrates after giving Everton an early lead against Wolves
“I think the lads played well today and had all the right intentions so for that I’d love the crowd to stick with them from that point because we saw what a positive it can be last year.
“Let’s not come away from that. I’m close to the players obviously and I’m in the dressing room with them. I know what they want to do and how they want to play. They want to do the right thing.
“Sometimes when we’ve moved the ball through the pitch and got to the other side and attacked quickly, for me that’s great football. I love watching it when all of a sudden we’re attacking out of a tight area.
Daniel Podence celebrates after equalising for Wolves at Goodison Park
“If we can really appreciate what we’re trying to do… and I’m not asking us to play 100 passes out of our own third, it’s not the kind of coach I am anyway. But being brave on the ball is nice to see.”
Everton have scored just 12 times in 16 matches and with striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin still out, it is a major worry for Lampard, who said: “Good players want to play so for that I’d like to get some backing (in January transfer window) but the reality is that this is the Premier League and we’ve currently not got Dominic [Calvert-Lewin] so the direct option isn’t there so much for us anyway.
Wolves secured a priceless win over Everton
“We don’t want to keep giving the ball back to the other team. We need to give the players time as it’s not one where I wanted to come in [to the dressing room] and say anything too negative to them.
“Every game has small details and we just have to take it on the chin tonight. The lads need a bit of time off and then we need to start prepping for Man City. This year was always going to be tough off the back of how the summer went and last season.
“We’re trying to improve but it will be baby steps. Sometimes, from where we are in the league you have periods like we’re in at the minute but today we deserved to win the game. There were lots of good coaching elements from my point of view that I saw but not the result.”
Lopetegui: Only the first step for Wolves
New Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui says the celebrations after a dramatic win over Everton will be short-lived as he’s focused on getting the team out of a ‘bad position’.
New Wolves manager Julen Lopetegui is not fooled by their late 2-1 victory over Everton and insists he and his players can only allow themselves to be happy for a few hours.
Lopetegui, in his first Premier League match having taken over from Bruno Lage, was pleased with the way his team responded to going behind to Yerry Mina’s seventh-minute header with Daniel Podence scoring the equaliser midway through the first half.
Despite the win, the former Spain coach knows there is plenty of work still to do.
He said: “We knew it was a hard task against a good team but they have suffered a goal and have shown a good mentality and didn’t think about it and continued to work on this situation.
There was plenty of tension on display at Goodison
“That is going to be very important for us and belief in ourselves. We are happy but we are happy only for today.
“We will enjoy it but it is only three points and we know we have ahead of us a very hard task and we will continue working to improve a lot of things.
“I am aware of our position. We need good news for our fans and we are very happy for our fans and above all for my players as they have suffered a lot and they have to believe more in themselves.
“But this is only one step. We are in a bad position and we have to be ready tomorrow morning to start thinking about Manchester United.
“We have to enjoy our victory but we have not done anything yet. When we are win we are happy for two or three hours, no more.”
What’s next?
Everton visit Premier League champions Manchester City at the Etihad on New Year’s Eve; kick-off 3pm. Wolves host Manchester United at 12.30pm at Molineux on the same day.
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