The Frank Lampard revolution at Everton is already under way with Dele Alli and Donny van de Beek joining on transfer deadline day.

Lampard, who has been out of work since being sacked by Chelsea just over 12 months ago, was appointed as Rafael Benitez’s successor on a busy day for the Premier League side.

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A former midfielder himself, he identified the Toffees’ engine room as a serious issue, with the club languishing in 16^th in the table.

The board were quick to bring in new faces for their new boss and Manchester United’s Van de Beek was instantly rescued from his Old Trafford nightmare on a loan deal.

Alli, meanwhile has left Tottenham for good on a free transfer – although he is set to cost £10million once he plays 20 games.

Given how drastically the landscape at Goodison Park has changed in such a short space of time, Everton fans are well within their right to be somewhat confused as to how they could look when their league campaign resumes on 8 February against Newcastle.

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Lampard typically alternated between a 4-3-3 and a 4-2-3-1 formation during his time with Chelsea, trying to develop two no.8’s in Mason Mount and Kai Havertz.

It relied on a stoic holding midfielder like N’Golo Kante to allow his midfield partners to get forward or simply just to drift between the lines.

Both Van de Beek and Dele will be required to perform similar roles, with both players blessed with the technical attributes and goalscoring abilities to cause opposition midfielders serious problems.

Allan would be required to perform the Kante role, screening a back four which has conceded 35 goals, allowing the likes of Richarlison, Demarai Gray and Dominic Calvert-Lewin to wreak havoc up top.

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