Anyone criticising Dominic Calvert-Lewin’s lack of goals this season is ignoring a wider issue.
Since scoring 21 during a superb 2020/21 campaign under Carlo Ancelotti, Everton’s England international has found the net just six times in 29 games. Only one of those has come this season.
But Calvert-Lewin was never the sort of centre-forward likely to create something out of nothing. The 6ft 2ins targetman relies on quality service. The sort of service the players available to the now-departed Frank Lampard seemed incapable of providing with any sort of consistency.
It is no coincidence that Calvert-Lewin’s goals have dried up since Everton sold Lucas Digne to Aston Villa before terminating James Rodriguez’s contract in 2021.
Vitaliy Mykolenko, while a relentless worker, does not possess the same devilish delivery from left-back. And while history may not look back all too fondly on James’ brief Everton career, Lampard could only dream of possessing a player capable of slicing through defences like the former Real Madrid playmaker.
In 2020/21, Digne, James, Richarlison, Andre Gomes and Gylfi Sigurdsson set up 12 of Calvert-Lewin’s 21 goals. All five players have since departed. He averaged 2.5 shots per game that season (WhoScored). In 2022/23, he is averaging just 1.2 shots per game in comparison; a lack of creativity leading to a lack of chances.
Calvert-Lewin and Hakim Ziyech a match made in heaven at Everton
But reports suggesting that Everton could reinvest £25 million of the sum they will earn from Anthony Gordon’s prospective sale to Newcastle United on Hakim Ziyech, per Sky Sports, should give Calvert-Lewin hope that the post-Lampard era can be far more prosperous. For him, at least.
While inconsistent at Chelsea, Ziyech’s superb spell at Ajax is proof of how effective the mercurial Moroccan can given the confidence and the freedom to perform week-in, week-out. He assisted no fewer than 20 goals for the Dutch giants in 2019/20. No one in the Eredivisie managed more than his 3.7 key passes per game either.
“Ziyech has got everything,” former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino told talkSPORT at the time. “He’s a bit like Riyad Mahrez. He can dribble and go past you, he’s quite direct, a great set piece taker. (Ziyech) has a fantastic assist record. He just sees passes.
“I think he’s one hell of a talent. He destroyed Real Madrid (in the Champions League). A real talent who I think would be a fantastic addition to Chelsea.”
Ziyech struck up an excellent understanding with Olivier Giroud at Stamford Bridge. So much so that the 2018 World Cup winner admitted that he would relish the opportunity to reunite with the one-time FC Twente talisman at AC Milan (Football365).
“Ziyech is a great player,” Giroud said. “We have had a great connection even though we played few games together.
“He has a top left foot, has experience and he is very good technically. It would be nice to play with him again.”
‘A great player’
Giroud, while a more well-rounded, technical footballer than Calvert-Lewin, still shares a lot of similarities with Everton’s number nine. He, too, is at his most effective when presented with inch-perfect crosses from wide areas.
The sort of crosses Ziyech has made a livelihood out of providing.
Anthony Gordon, Demarai Gray and Alex Iwobi are all decent ball-carriers and dribblers, but they lack the cutting edge of the creativity of a James Rodriguez or a Lucas Digne. Ziyech, then, could be the sparring partner Calvert-Lewin has needed since 2021.
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