Dominic Calvert-Lewin

[Joey66]

Some bizarre reasoning in some posts, it's like people know nothing about DCL only the minutes he played against Arsenal and the RS. At his best he's a lead the line attacker, but to say that he'd never played on the right before, that he was way out of position shows a lack of knowledge about him. Where do people think he's being playing when Niasse has been playing as striker for the U23s? Answer on the right wing. Is it his best position , no , but he's shown he can adapt to playing there. He's not ready to start regularly for the first team , still got a lot to learn , and there is no way that he can replace Lukaku , poor as he's been lately. RK showed a tremendous amount of confidence in bringing him on . No doubt he was hoping he would help turn the game for us, but the other aspect was in knowing that he would also run his legs off in doing the defensive duties when needed.
If all DCl had about him was that he was a strong attacker , then he wouldn't get any minutes at all at PL level unless the game was won and we brought Lukaku off. Unsy has added another dimension to his play since he's been with us, he can be relied upon to put in a defensive shift too , even to the extent of heading clear in his own box. As I said his best position is leading the line, but few 19 year olds can do that in the PL, eventually we'll know just how good he is , meanwhile he's accumulating minutes in the PL . He hasn't done enough yet to determine anything but some of the posts on here do make you realise just how difficult a time youngsters will get when we play them and we lose.

You can not moan if he tries a youngster or two if they can run Unsy did it with JR in one game and we had pace the thing is playing OAP hasbeens was proved in Barry last night!
nice if they can edge cleverly, and barry of the bench imo!

 

[BlueToff]

First of all, let me say that Barry is an outstanding footballer and has been great during his time for Everton. But the game from our point of view was going to be lost if we couldn't contain their attacking threat by closing them down quickly enough. McCarthy was a key player for this type of game and we were going to suffer whoever came on for him, but we needed someone with the ability to run and close them down. That man wasn't a 35 year old Barry, and what annoyed me more about his performance when he came on was that he was absolutely pathetic in possession of the ball which is one of the main reasons we have him in the team.

So in my opinion there were a few changes that could have been made. He could have brought Cleverley on as he's younger, fitter and always closes people down. I don't care if he's half the footballer Barry is because no one in our squad could have been more wasteful in possession than he was last night.

Other solutions are that Koeman actually mixes the formation up for once and tries something different! For example, drop Barkley back in to centre midfield alongside Gueye, put Mirallas on the left and Valencia up front with Lukaku. Lukaku was isolated, Barkley terrible in the position he was playing and Valencia ineffective in the role he was playing. For the whole second half we offered nothing going forward and we could have actually put them on the back foot for once, by giving Lukaku some help aerially and chasing their back 4 with Valencia, and more attacking intent with Mirallas on.

It angers me so much to see Koeman trying the same tactics week in week out when it's not working. And Martinez was equally to blame for it last season and the one before. We have a £60m+ asset who can score 20-25 goals a season and yet we're playing in such a way that we can only muster up 1 or 2 shots on target per game because of our same rigid formation and style of play.

Something needs to change and it's up to our superstar manager to sort it out. If that means getting rid of 80%+ of our squad then it needs to happen and quick because we're going nowhere.

The only mistake that was made in regards Barry was not having Davies on the bench instead of Clevs IMO. Come on, Cleverley is hopeless. He wouldn't have pressed as he can't do it, just as Barry can't.

And would you have trusted Barkley against Wijnaldum, Henderson , Mane, Firmino etc?

The lad can't tackle fgs.

Something does need to change, and he will sort it out. If not he'll be gone. But it's not as bad as people are making out... yet. Yesterday was a game of two halves, and I'm more worried by these bottlers giving up as soon as the odds are against them than the manager.

 

[BlueToff]

He was ineffective yesterday, but it's not his fault - out of position and against a very good team.

I kind of think he's largely been playing because of the criticism Koeman recieved for not knowing who that Saints player was

It's got f all to do with that mate.

He's playing because he deserves a chance.

He played very well vs Arsenal in that he pushed central and helped Rom out.

He couldn't do that last night as we'd dropped so deep there was nothing for him to help out with up top. That all stemmed from McCarthy's injury.

 

[Woolly Blue]

Lets see him up front with Lukaku against Hull

Just curious.
How come you wouldn't give him a go against Leicester Zat ?

 

[Goat]

Just curious.
How come you wouldn't give him a go against Leicester Zat ?

Huth and the boy Morgan will put him in their pocket bruh.

 

[Goat]

Ive heard that Air traffic control have been told not to have any planes flying over the ground on Boxing Day tho.

 

[Woolly Blue]

Huth and the boy Morgan will put him in their pocket bruh.

Nah, he could dribble between their legs, nut them in their nuts and score before they even noticed.

To be serious though, he's only about ten stone, but the lad's much stronger than his weight suggests

... unlike some posters.

 

[ToffeeTim]

Was nice of Koeman to make the kid play right back

 

[EFCPaul]

My mate who's a Sheffield United fan insists he's garbage and sa they were all surprised that we bought him. When I spoke to him and was saying "I just wish Koeman would give some of the kids a go" he actually laughed out loud when I mentioned DCL.

I hope he's wrong and the kid really grows into a player but it's not a good sign when someone who supports a League 1 team tells me he wasn't even good enough for them.

 

[dannyboy]

My mate who's a Sheffield United fan insists he's garbage and sa they were all surprised that we bought him. When I spoke to him and was saying "I just wish Koeman would give some of the kids a go" he actually laughed out loud when I mentioned DCL.

I hope he's wrong and the kid really grows into a player but it's not a good sign when someone who supports a League 1 team tells me he wasn't even good enough for them.

He must have something about him for Koeman to think he's worth throwing on against Arsenal and Liverpool.

Definitely doesn't look like he's going to a huge impact though. You can tell very early whether a kid has got that magic spark.

 

[EFCPaul]

He must have something about him for Koeman to think he's worth throwing on against Arsenal and Liverpool.

Definitely doesn't look like he's going to a huge impact though. You can tell very early whether a kid has got that magic spark.

That decision to bring him on last night was pure stupidity from Koeman. It wasn't like he came on with the end in sight to just get the ball and waste a bit of time, he came on with what, about half an hour left? Koeman clearly intended for him to be some sort of attacking threat but the right flank was lost completely as an outlet because the kid is not a winger. And even if he was, a seasoned pro like Milner was never going to let a young cub like him get into the game at all.

Feel the sorry for the lad being thrown into the lion's den like that but for me it was just as a big reason we lost the game as Barry coming on was. Koeman got it BADLY wrong and mustn't ever make such a stupid tactical blunder ever again.

 

[dannyboy]

That decision to bring him on last night was pure stupidity from Koeman. It wasn't like he came on with the end in sight to just get the ball and waste a bit of time, he came on with what, about half an hour left? Koeman clearly intended for him to be some sort of attacking threat but the right flank was lost completely as an outlet because the kid is not a winger. And even if he was, a seasoned pro like Milner was never going to let him get into any sort of stride.

Feel the sorry for him being thrown into the lion's den like that but for me it was just as a big reason we lost the game as Barry coming on was. Koeman got it BADLY wrong and mustn't ever make such a stupid tactical blunder ever again.

I can only go by the Arsenal and Liverpool games but he's looked well out of his depth in both. Anyone who wants him leading the line instead of Lukaku has a ridiculous obsession with playing young lads for the sake of it.

 

[EFCPaul]

I can only go by the Arsenal and Liverpool games but he's looked well out of his depth in both. Anyone who wants him leading the line instead of Lukaku has a ridiculous obsession with playing young lads for the sake of it.

Agreed. Still think the lad needs more of a chance, in his proper position, before we fully make up our minds on him. From what I've seen though and what my Sheffield mate told me I'm not holding my breath.

 

[Zatara]

My mate who's a Sheffield United fan insists he's garbage and sa they were all surprised that we bought him. When I spoke to him and was saying "I just wish Koeman would give some of the kids a go" he actually laughed out loud when I mentioned DCL.

I hope he's wrong and the kid really grows into a player but it's not a good sign when someone who supports a League 1 team tells me he wasn't even good enough for them.

Harry Kane looked DREADFUL for ages until he got games for spurs first team...

 

[d4kyxx]

Harry Kane looked DREADFUL for ages until he got games for spurs first team...

That's true. I usually get it right when I rate younger players but Kane is the one player I've got wrong. He looked useless at first but has come on a bundle

I don't personally think Lewin will cut it, he looks out of his depth and he's approaching 20 so it's not as if he's a new kid on the block. None the less I hope he proves me wrong.

At his age though if he was going to be any good he would be scoring more in the u23 and dominating the league. He isn't