During an appearance on FilthyFellas Youtube, Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi revealed that former Chelsea manager Frank Lampard drew comparisons between him and Mateo Kovacic, writes the HITC.
Lampard’s prior experience coaching Kovacic influenced his perception of Iwobi’s suitability for a midfield role. Kovacic, known for his commanding presence, has established himself as one of the Premier League’s finest players in that position since joining Chelsea.
Alvaro Morata even referred to the former Real Madrid talent as “one of the best midfielders in the world,” as quoted by Football.London. Iwobi, who primarily operates as an attacker for Everton, discussed the occasion when Lampard deployed him in midfield after joining the club and drew parallels between his playing style and that of Kovacic.
“First game, [I] think it was Brentford, came on, got a cameo and I managed to get an assist. Andros [Townsend] scored a good goal. Then next game, it was Leeds and I started, I did well.”
“In training, he compared me to, even the coaching staff…he compared me to Kovacic. He said that Kovacic is the sort of player that likes to turn and run with the ball and I used to do that in training, [he] said he wants to experiment that.”
‘Have you played in midfield?’ I said, ‘yeah, I played there. That’s where I grew up playing.’ Tried it and it just worked, he enjoyed me there.”