Dominic Calvert-Lewin is desperate to find a sustainable solution to his injury problems.
For two years now, all manner of issues have prevented one of Everton’s most important players from having the consistent impact we know he is capable of providing. This season it has been knee, shoulder and, most troublesome, hamstring problems that have limited his impact.
As a result he has travelled to Germany to seek specialist help. Also as a result, it is hard to see how Everton can enter another season as dependent on his fitness as they have been for the past two - attacking support is as crucial for the club as it is to relieve the pressure and weight of expectation the 26-year-old clearly feels.
What remains important is that while he does everything in his power to strengthen his career, Calvert-Lewin deserves all the support he can get - he wants to be playing football, he has wanted to help Everton through 24 months of hardship and it will have been as hard for him to watch from the sidelines as it will have been for many supporters as they watched from the stands.
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I last spoke to Calvert-Lewin in the aftermath of the draw at Leicester City, when he earned and then scored the penalty that initially gave Everton the lead. In a rollercoaster of a game he had been impressive. He looked fit and strong and afterwards he was clearly overjoyed at having been able to make a positive impact. Asked how it felt being able to celebrate again with the fans of the club his talent is pivotal to, he said: “I’ve missed it so much, it’s why I play football - for the sheer emotion and my love of the game and the fans’ love of the game. There is no better feeling than scoring a goal and celebrating in front of the fans and I have missed that.”
It is moments like that, and his stand out performance at Brighton - a game he did not score in but in which his display was crucial to the 5-1 victory that changed the trajectory of Everton’s relegation battle. Watching him then having to leave the pitch just before half-time, first at home to Manchester City with a groin scare and then at Wolves with his latest hamstring problem, was devastating.
But he has responded in a way that should offer encouragement to all Blues. As social media is lit up with pictures of glorious sunsets, golden sands and spectacular views from footballers escaping the pressure cooker of the relegation battle and now enjoying a break before pre-season, Calvert-Lewin has travelled to Munich to seek specialist conditioning help at a state-of-the-art clinic. It is a measure of his determination to rebuild fitter that, as his teammates holiday, he is in the gym and on the treadmill as data analysts crunch his performance numbers. Whether it works remains to be seen.
Last summer, Calvert-Lewin did similar - he may have scored the survival-clinching diving header against Crystal Palace but that followed a campaign of injury frustration too. He went away and worked on his fitness to the extent that his club coaches were blown away by the condition he was in when he turned up for pre-season. I remember speaking to first team coach Chris Jones while watching Calvert-Lewin train just outside Washington DC on the club’s pre-season US tour. As Calvert-Lewin scored training goal after training goal, Jones told me of the delight felt at his condition.
That was part of the reason it was hoped Everton might be able to depend on him until the January transfer window provided another opportunity to strengthen - hopes then shattered by the knee injury Calvert-Lewin sustained on the eve of the new campaign. That injury, described as a “freak” incident by Frank Lampard, left Everton without a recognised and trusted senior striker for the start of the campaign and the side did not recover for the rest of the season.
Everton cannot afford to place such a burden of expectation on Calvert-Lewin again. Reinforcements must be signed and are the priority of the next transfer window. Should they arrive they too will help Calvert-Lewin by reducing the pressure on him. But Calvert-Lewin deserves support from all Everton fans as he continues his battle with his body. He is fighting to make a difference and that is a positive sign.
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