Frank Lampard admits he was stunned by how good one ‘amazing’ Everton player was

Former Everton manager Frank Lampard has now shared the name of one player that really surprised him when he initially arrived at Goodison Park.

There’s certainly no doubt that Lampard didn’t enjoy the best of spells during his tenure at the club.

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In this new era under Sean Dyche, Lampard’s struggles are now a distant memory, and Dyche has the side much better focused, heading in one direction.

That being said, it wasn’t entirely doom and gloom during Lampard’s appointment, there were good days.

And when speaking on the ‘Stick to Football’ podcast, Lampard has now recalled how impressed he was with Seamus Coleman when he arrived on Merseyside.

Lampard admitted that he may have slightly underestimated the Everton captain before he arrived, something that quickly changed.

And when speaking on the podcast, the former England international even recalled a time when Coleman used some of Jamie Carragher’s criticism as motivation for this squad.

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Frank Lampard was surprised by Everton player Seamous Coleman when he arrived
Praising Coleman, Lampard said: “Seamus was amazing. From the first day I sat with him to now, I messaged him the other day because he made 15 years [at Everton], and what a player as well.

“I remember playing against him and I didn’t appreciate it until I worked with him, and he was 33 but it wasn’t just what he did on the pitch it was what he did off it as well.

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“His standards, his humility, everything about him. Family man, there was not a bit of him that wasn’t genuine.

“He wore it on his face when we were struggling, it was like I really care.

“He’d speak in front of the other players, I remember he spoke about you once on Monday Night Football and you’d had a dig at the players and he used you as a reference point and he went I was watching Monday Night Football last night and did you watch it?

“And Jamie Carragher said this! It wasn’t necessarily a dig, but he was using it in a smart way, as if to say would you accept that and it was a bit of a turning point.”

A credit to the club
Of course, this isn’t the first time that Coleman’s character has been praised.

It’s telling that the Everton captain has quickly returned to the starting line up under Dyche following his serious injury.

And it’s certainly no surprise that Everton were able to keep an impressive clean sheet against Aston Villa in his first 90 minutes back.

In truth, there were probably a lot of similarities between Everton captain Coleman and Lampard as a player, two absolute professionals.

And although Coleman is going nowhere, it seems as if another one of Sean Dyche’s defenders could be before January ends.