'No communication!' - Abdoulaye Doucoure blasts Frank Lampard for 'unfair' treatment at Everton & claims former manager was 'only one that didn’t trust me'

Doucoure, who joined the Toffees in 2020, played under Lampard during the coach's brief stint at Goodison Park. Lampard took charge of the Merseyside team in January 2022 and lasted less than a year at the club. Doucoure did not feature in the coach's last two matches as he was banished from the first team towards the end of Lampard's tenure and was asked to train with the club's under-21 side.

Now two years after the Chelsea icon's sacking, the Mali international opened up about his experience of playing under Lampard as he told The Overlap: "Frank Lampard was the only one that didn’t trust me a lot and I think he made a mistake with me to be honest because you know I’m a hard working guy. I’m a very humble person. I work hard in training. Obviously, he can make a choice.

"I never like, you know, contest the choice a manager makes. But obviously sometimes you have to be fair. And I think he was not fair with me. Because leaving me on the bench for so many games and don’t give me really my chance. And that’s why just upset me with him."

He added: "Yeah, he didn’t talk. It was no communication between me and him. I never go to see him to ask him any kind of, ‘why am I not playing? Why this? Why that?' And they said you need to train with the under-21s or train alone. I said, ‘look, I’m going to train alone because you know I know how to look after myself’.

"Luckily it was not long because after that he was sacked I think a week after so I just trained like alone for two or three days. And the week after I was back in the team and we were winning against Arsenal and I was almost player of the match. So you know imagine how football is, you know."

After losing his Everton job, Lampard briefly rejoined Chelsea as their caretaker boss, following Graham Potter's departure. In November 2024, he moved to Championship side Coventry City. Since Lampard took charge of the team, the club has seen a significant rise in their form as they are now sitting in the 12th spot after 31 matches.

Doucoure will be back in action for David Moyes' side on Wednesday as they lock horns with arch-rivals, Liverpool, in the final Merseyside derby at Goodison Park.