Dominic Calvert-Lewin

[Blueomar]

Rage bait posting on a Christmas Day is lovely.

Merry Crimbo!

[Raptor]

Think this would be a great move for him. Serie A is becoming a bit of a home for Premier League players that never really lived up to it for one reason or another

Fiorentina are preparing to offer Dominic Calvert-Lewin a “huge” pre-contract offer as his deal at Everton ticks towards expiry, according to Alan Nixon.

The journalist reported via his Patreon (29 December) that with Calvert-Lewin’s current deal up in the summer and able to sign a pre-contract in January, Fiorentina’s offer is “ready and waiting” to be signed.

Calvert-Lewin has previously rebuffed interest from abroad with an eye on staying in the Premier League, but Fiorentina’s contact offer, which can be tabled in just three days, could turn the 27-year-old’s head.

[Shogun]

Fair. Still get the vibe that if Dyche goes then he'll sign a new contract. Reckon he despises playing for him, though what striker wouldn't?

[brap2]

[TheRam]

He’s started plenty of shite games love .

[Frevski]

Just spotted a stat for him on the BBC website, most offsides for the current year

1st DCL: 39
2nd Alexander Isak: 26

[777Kidnappings]

Fair. Still get the vibe that if Dyche goes then he'll sign a new contract. Reckon he despises playing for him, though what striker wouldn't?

You've changed your tune. Didn't think you'd be the 1 coming up with reasons to keep dyche

[kramer]

He’s spent a depressing amount of his career chasing lost causes for incompetent managers.

He got a season of supply from James and scored 16 goals.

No, he’s not as clinical as you’d like but there’s a solid CF there for a team that actually creates chances instead of just punting the ball up the pitch at an isolated attacker and saying make something happen all by yourself.

[Raptor]

He’s spent a depressing amount of his career chasing lost causes for incompetent managers.

He got a season of supply from James and scored 16 goals.

No, he’s not as clinical as you’d like but there’s a solid CF there for a team that actually creates chances instead of just punting the ball up the pitch at an isolated attacker and saying make something happen all by yourself.

The development of things like Xg have helped put this narrative to bed. He is one of the worst finishers in Europe, it's statistically proven, when he gets chances, created himself, or from others, he generally doesn't score.
Yes, he got 16 in one season, albeit 90% came in a 12 games run, but I'm still not sure what that proves, unless it's simply that he's really good when it's delivered on a plate for him from about 3 yards - name me a striker that wouldn't be?
He's just shy of 28 yet people keep referencing a 3 month run he had 4 years ago, when will the penny drop that that was the anomaly, not the rest of his career?

[kramer]

The development of things like Xg have helped put this narrative to bed. He is one of the worst finishers in Europe, it's statistically proven, when he gets chances, created himself, or from others, he generally doesn't score.
Yes, he got 16 in one season, albeit 90% came in a 12 games run, but I'm still not sure what that proves, unless it's simply that he's really good when it's delivered on a plate for him from about 3 yards - name me a striker that wouldn't be?
He's just shy of 28 yet people keep referencing a 3 month run he had 4 years ago, when will the penny drop that that was the anomaly, not the rest of his career?

Eh, don’t agree.

Yes, he’s underperformed but those chances don’t just fall to whoever’s on the pitch. His athleticism and movement were hugely important in providing that target for James, Digne, etc. There weren’t many defenders who could both keep pace with him and jump with him.

He’s had precisely one manager (Ancelotti) who largely left him to the business of being a CF and he scored 29 in those 2 seasons. Everyone else has left him on an island to fend for himself. Win a header, control the ball, play a pass out wide, sprint into the box, and maybe you’ll have a chance to score. It’s thankless work and he’s done it better than most, even after he’s lost a lot of his explosiveness following the bad injury he sustained the season after Ancelotti left.

It’s gone stale, I’m sure he’s off when his contract expires, I just feel bad the absolute waste of what should have been a much better career.

[Raptor]

Eh, don’t agree.

Yes, he’s underperformed but those chances don’t just fall to whoever’s on the pitch. His athleticism and movement were hugely important in providing that target for James, Digne, etc. There weren’t many defenders who could both keep pace with him and jump with him.

He’s had precisely one manager (Ancelotti) who largely left him to the business of being a CF and he scored 29 in those 2 seasons. Everyone else has left him on an island to fend for himself. Win a header, control the ball, play a pass out wide, sprint into the box, and maybe you’ll have a chance to score. It’s thankless work and he’s done it better than most, even after he’s lost a lot of his explosiveness following the bad injury he sustained the season after Ancelotti left.

It’s gone stale, I’m sure he’s off when his contract expires, I just feel bad the absolute waste of what should have been a much better career.

That's fair enough and I do agree that injuries haven't helped, but maybe what you said is more a reflection of how poor he is, if those are the only conditions that he's able to succeed?
Its easy to look at the period under Carlo, but you'd have thought Dyche, Benitez, Lampard, Silva, Koeman, Ferguson or Allardyche might've found a solution or formation that enabled him to score goals, yet they didn't, but they have managed it with other strikers.

[AjaxAndy]

That's fair enough and I do agree that injuries haven't helped, but maybe what you said is more a reflection of how poor he is, if those are the only conditions that he's able to succeed?
Its easy to look at the period under Carlo, but you'd have thought Dyche, Benitez, Lampard, Silva, Koeman, Ferguson or Allardyche might've found a solution or formation that enabled him to score goals, yet they didn't, but they have managed it with other strikers.

Tbf to DCL only Lampard, Benitez and Dyche have had him post his coming of age under Ancelotti. Some players developed at different rates to others and it felt like we were really on to something with him before injuries ruined him for 2 years and then Dyche's tactics completely isolated him.

I think if he signed for someone like Chelsea or Arsenal as backup and just played 20 mins here, a cup game there etc he'd soon find his scoring touch again, mainly because the chances created would be of a high standard and once one went in the confidence would return.

I don't think he'll ever be a 20 goal a season striker but just ask him to be someone converting high quality chances and not chasing his own flick ons game after game and I feel he'd get double figures and look a different player to the one we have.

Ideally I'd like him to stay and we get a manager who uses him better but it's not happening and I don't blame him for wanting a fresh start somewhere.

[Raptor]

Tbf to DCL only Lampard, Benitez and Dyche have had him post his coming of age under Ancelotti. Some players developed at different rates to others and it felt like we were really on to something with him before injuries ruined him for 2 years and then Dyche's tactics completely isolated him.

I think if he signed for someone like Chelsea or Arsenal as backup and just played 20 mins here, a cup game there etc he'd soon find his scoring touch again, mainly because the chances created would be of a high standard and once one went in the confidence would return.

I don't think he'll ever be a 20 goal a season striker but just ask him to be someone converting high quality chances and not chasing his own flick ons game after game and I feel he'd get double figures and look a different player to the one we have.

Ideally I'd like him to stay and we get a manager who uses him better but it's not happening and I don't blame him for wanting a fresh start somewhere.

I'm not sure, I think there's a tendency for fans to hype up their own players, but proof will probably be in the pudding and let's see where he goes next.
I do think it's telling that despite all of our financial issues he's still here. I appreciate a lot of that might be down to his injuries, but teams will take a punt on players, and particularly strikers, if there is evidence, and in a data driven industry if the stats are showing underlying good numbers to back it up, but there isn't any of this for DCL.
There was talk of Newcastle, which I could see as they need something, but that's a huge gulf in class from Isak. You might be right about Chelsea and Arsenal, but that's probably in his wildest dreams, I'm not sure he'd even get bench time, let alone 20mins

[The Doc]

He's just not a natural footballer, I can't see past it if he's not putting it in the onion bag.

Yeah he does some things very well, including working hard, but our problem is scoring goals and he's a big part of that.

[kramer]

That's fair enough and I do agree that injuries haven't helped, but maybe what you said is more a reflection of how poor he is, if those are the only conditions that he's able to succeed?
Its easy to look at the period under Carlo, but you'd have thought Dyche, Benitez, Lampard, Silva, Koeman, Ferguson or Allardyche might've found a solution or formation that enabled him to score goals, yet they didn't, but they have managed it with other strikers.

What do we mean by “only” conditions? I would say that having a few set situations where making a run into the box is likely to yield a chance (e.g. James cutting in from the right, Digne picking up the ball on an overlapping run) is a basic requirement for success for all but the very best forwards.

I think there’s been a dearth of suitable creative players here almost regardless of manager, through a mixture of them having horrible taste in players or being dinosaurs that no proper creative player would want to work with. Silva was maybe the only one who had the right mix besides Ancelotti and he simply didn’t play DCL enough, often preferring Tosun or Richarlison to his own detriment given how well target men like Mitrovic and Jimenez have done for him at Fulham.