 Welcome to Toffy TV, we are here to talk about Dominic Calvert-Lewin, but before we do, this video was brought in association with the Athletic, you can get 7 days free at the moment and then 50% off your yearly subscription, lots of brilliant stuff in the athletics, loads of real journalism, not just clickbait stuff, we have our own Everton designated journalists, of course Paddy Boyd and Greg O'Keefe, they also do podcasts I think as well on. Bad tidings, after the Gladder Street obviously, but lots of great stuff on there, not just evidence stuff, real journalism, football journalism, so check it out, the link is in the description below. This was something we were going to talk about anyway, Dominic Calvert-Lewin because obviously it was the anniversary, it was his birthday on Monday and then it was three years ago since he scored his first goal against Hull City with the defence of Andy Robertson and Harry McGuire, looking clueless so it's always good. But this was something we were going to talk about anyway, Paddy's actually done an article about Dom as well to coincide with that. There was an interview as well wasn't there? I think? There's interviews with other people, not Dominic Calvert-Lewin but other people who've been important in his career so far, so it was good for us to have the chat about it like you said, it ties in nicely with the athletic article as well. This is a ladw for me that's been over the last 18 months easily evidence most improved player but has gone up huge levels, I'd say since Duncan Ferguson took over in December and implemented a 4-4-2 and I think what we're seeing now with Dominic Calvert-Lewin in a 4-4-2 is being able to get on the end of stuff hence his goals have gone and him and the chat. You know him and the Charleston form and an absolutely brilliant partnership? Yeah, they've been as a partnership superb and Dom has absolutely grabbed all of the responsibility I think. As you mentioned three years since he scored his first goal, a little tap in, a striker's goal actually. Obviously we've seen him brought in from Sheffield United. I believe he'd had a really good game against the under 23s for one of the lower teams and he'd caught the eye of David Unsworth who wanted to sign him and obviously knew him from his Sheffield United days though. But it was around the time when we were putting a lot of money into the under 23s, one of the players he wanted and he brought him in and within no time he was on the first team because obviously all the managers have had them just love the fact that he's so adaptable. He works hard, he's got the right attitude, he's got everything, everything is right about what he does. And I think in football circles that goes a long way and sometimes that goes a longer way than talent because talent is something that might just turn up now and again but hard work will always be there and what you find in football. Hard work beats talent if the talent doesn't work hard. Exactly. And he epitomises that attitude but what has happened with him is obviously we've seen him early on and we've seen him playing various positions off the left, off the right wing back. All kinds of different positions and he has developed his game into what we were seeing at the moment or what we were seeing just before this moment. Leading through the article, I think one of the things that was really interesting was he went on loan to Staley Bridges Celtic when they were in the conference at 17. He went and Sheffield United weren't even sure whether he was going to get it or nothing had been said to him about getting a pro contract at that time. It's a big gamble for a kid who's in a youth team to go to a non-league, go to the conference at 17, it's a man's league, people money to professional league. The centre backs not wanting kids to take the mic out of them and give you a whack but Sheffield United felt that with development having to go and play against centre backs. This is something we say about that's under 23s at the moment is that there's a lot of talent in there but these lads are playing against their own age group or 17 year old centre back. It's all about Ellis Sims fragging and saying great scores, a lot of goals but up against lads' own age and nice football where it's all nicey, nicey, behind closed doors but essentially what it is isn't it. Where it's done, all credit to, to go out on loan to a non-league side. He went and played six games, five games with Staley by itself, he scored six goals in a month's loan so quite a good return. He came back and then played a couple of games, made his debut for Sheffield United as a couple of sub-appearances that season and then the following season went out to Chris Wilder, he was the Sheffield United manager now of course at Northampton and played 20 times for them, scored five goals but obviously a higher standard so you'd expect a little bit of an awakening again against big strong centre backs and ended up playing nine games further then for Sheffield United but didn't score a goal for Sheffield United. But on the way, that summer, David on the way, like you just rightly said, to have seen something, seen enough in a ladw 642 and athletic and get around a pitch and luckily for Everton, we were able to get him and there was other teams sniffing around him but I think the, the kind of the biggest thing for that was we brought him in in the August, you know remember when we signed him and it was like he's this, like you lad coming in but we were signing a few as you rightly said at that time so you know you look at it and go out this, it's this just a lad we're not going to see because we'd seen that before haven't we? And yeah, Ronald Cooman, he was quite a straight talking manager I suppose in some respects, Adam making his debut in December so he'd literally been at the club for just over three and a half months and he'd come on in a two-one win over Arsenal, I mean, I actually will even score the win and we're getting beat that night and really from that moment he was involved or okay he didn't play every game but he was in virtually every squad. I think he came in at the right time, it's funny because him and Tom Davis came in around the same time and obviously they're both in the first team now and trajectory's a slightly different but they both came in at a time when in terms of the first team we were a little bit like we are now in terms of a lot of players but you swap on for another and there was very little difference apart from the people who were outstanding players like the Carthage and he came in and it was like we might as well give him a go. We'd won one game in ten I think when we'd asked, I don't think we'd beat West Ham that was the only game we'd won in ten after having a really good start and he got in and started playing in positions and not worrying about what the position was just worrying about keeping a share. He did that a lot of the time so when he came in people would… Well if you think about that sorry to interrupt, I was just looking there in that year, that fair season, he made eleven appearances and scored the one goal against Hull but he would have had a lot more if you remember we played Southampton just after Christmas I think it was, I don't know whether it was before New Year or after New Year and he started off front with Ron but he only lasted about eight minutes, he got injured. I've done his ankle I think and went off so he was out for six weeks so that curtailed a lot of games he probably would have been up to like twenty games. And actually he'd be a perfect foil for Romulus Harkin now, he'd do all that work that other people accused Rom of not doing. Well he'd run didn't do but Rom was an unbelievable goal scorer. No no but that's the point isn't it he would do that work now and I think he got in at the right time he kept his head down he didn't worry about where he was playing like we said he started the following season. He started the following season playing right wing back. Having scored the winner then, the welcome final of course for the England. He scored, he played in obviously, did he score in Ruiz-en-Berrach? Yeah he scored in Ruiz-en-Berrach, he scored the winner, everyone won though, good ball Davey Clashon. Yeah he won, it's the only thing Davey Clashon ever did. And then he started the season playing right wing, he provided the cross for Rooney. Yeah he shut the winner off for Rooney and Cumin, we got to our time in Cumin was a bit like, yeah that was crap you'd go off front. And he actually, he put him in remers of France and Rooney behind and it should have been far better. He looked alright and Sandsrow went off after about, well his legs went off after about an hour but the rest of them went off a little bit later. And then on the Monday night, following Monday night we played Manchester City and you were away and I was at the game and I remember it because you've still not watched this game. And I kept on saying to you, oh my god what a centre for with performance that was, it was one of the terrified companies. Oh he destroyed them that night, obviously we got a 1-1 draw, Rooney scored and Davey had a man sent off and then he ended up getting the equaliser but we played really well that night. But he was incredible off front, he just tormented them all night and actually the biggest comment when you could say was the manager couldn't take him off, he was exhausted. The manager had nobody to bring on in this place because nobody could do what he could do even when he was exhausted. And I think he did go off sort of towards the end, very close to the end but he was absolutely exhausted and in that performance I just seen something. And it was funny that you didn't see that performance and obviously you've always been a little bit more, oh I'm not sure about this lap. But that night made my mind up about him because I just thought he had everything in that night. And this was from the previous season when we'd seen, I remember watching him in the Daba when the beaters Catino scored the goal after Pennington scored. And I remember watching him that night and that day and I was just like, he was playing, he had no effect, he looked dead lightweight. And at that time I was like, oh he's another one. But against Man City I was completely convinced and I always held on to that even in some games where he was just looked really poor. I mean even this season we've seen like when we played Burnley away and you were like, oh is he, you know, veiled away. Formation, no. No I know, but that's what's come out of it but like veiled away when we've Moise Keane on the bench and people were like, just play Moise Keane and I was like, we've got a ladir who's played loads of Premier League games and you're giving them stick. And that night in Manchester City he completely convinced me that he could be a centre forward. And I remember on the Sunday we played Chelsea and we played on the Thursday at Split and he come off the bench and all the players looked knackered. But I remember he, the first thing he did was he came on and he did something very similar to David Louise that he'd been doing to company. And David Louise just boosted him up in the air and I thought that's the biggest compliment anyone can pay you. He's basically telling you he will not put up with what you did to him to company on last Monday night. It's show fair, doesn't it show. And that day, the Chelsea game, that day, Sandro being injured and we just started them which was bizarre. And kind of ruined the lad's career for a man because after that he was back out the side. It was like we just, we looked what we could do to wreck his confidence. Yeah we did, that's what you played. David Classon, Tom Davis. Ross Barclay in the end. He was good as that. Have you had a track record? That's what it was. That was what it was, yeah. But now you're right, listen, Dominic Albert Llewman, when I watched him was like he's got some good at it. He's brilliant in the air, great spring on him. You know he's holed up plays quite good but never in the right area. Never gonna get us the goals we need because he does his work, his best work is away from the penalty box. And when you play him at one centre forward and he's further back than your number ten. It was always an issue. But it, you know, the first season, one goal in the 11th, second season under Cumin. Played 44 games in the second full season, scored eight goals and four Premier League goals. Okay, third season obviously Cumin had gone. And we had, all of the ice didn't mean we'd had all of that. And then Marko Silver come in and he ended up with eight goals again in 38 games. Six Premier League goals, so his Premier League goals are going up. But even under Marko Silver, he was still at those, because of the way we played. You see, Everton, for years, I played at one centre forward. We'd have a joke going. We'd have a manager's contract, I can only play once like it. And it didn't benefit him, but it did in a way. But what I would say is, everything that was thrown at Llecargo in terms of criticism, Llecargo knew that by all that needless, not needless of course, but by all that running around would not do anything because he understood that the rest of the team couldn't back up what he was doing. And he figured that out where maybe other people didn't. And he just stayed in the box. And if there had to be runs made, he was just like, no, no, let someone else do that. I'll do what I'll do. And if the ball goes in the corner and they get it and come back out of it, whatever. But if I'm over there, what am I going to do? Because if the ball comes in the box and he's sort of figured that out whereas Don being a young player wanted to chase everything, like a dog. He just wanted to chase everything. And you're right what you've just said. Where he was failing to score goals, he was actually building up his appreciation of the runs he had to make. I think there's two different kinds of centre forwards. There's centre forwards that come through, and I like Michael Owen. They've got natural ability, Franny Jeffers, Robbie Farley, people who understand how to put the ball in the back of the net, but also that last movement, that last split-second move when the player plays the ball into the gap and they go. And that's it. That's all they know. Everything else, you know, we, Llynyddachau, only there's them kind of players. There's other kind of players, the other centre forwards. You do all the day to wake, and some of them become good centre forwards. And that's what Dom seems to be becoming. He seems to have learned it all the wrong way round, but sometimes that's the best way to do it, because you can have players who can put the ball in the back of the net, but they don't have the enough fit. They don't work hard. They don't have the dedication. They don't go to on loan to conference sides and see what the other side of football is. They don't get that understanding for it, and they never will. So all the God-given talent, if you want to call, putting the ball in the back of the net, like we've seen before, it's wasted, because what's the point of it? And we've seen some of those players, but we've had loads of hard workers over the time. One that naturally I think of is Marcus Bent, who come into a side, who run all day, and got the odd goal, but because we had Tim Kale, it just worked. It just worked, and we tried to replace him with like James Beattie didn't work, and the counter was almost the perfect fit. Almost. But it shows you that. With that talent, if you've got the intelligence and you can start figuring out where you need to be, then you can sort of get the halfway between the work rate and where you should be, and that's where he looks like he is now. Yeah, he improved. I mean, to be fair, he was brilliant in when Marcus Silver had his first bad spell, and then we started off with the winner card after he scored a brilliant goal. I think it was the only goal he did score till the end of the season, wasn't it? But his performances were brilliant. It almost didn't matter, because I received the challenge, it was excellent, and it was a sigur to score a goal, so don't done all the work and the benefit, which was brilliant. It worked, it all worked, and the other question marks over there, it was, can he get the goals? Because we played it one striker, and when you played it one striker, if you ain't Romelu Lukaku or Jamie Vardy, lads who are going to bang in, Harry Kane, are going to get into 20 goals. Liverpool and cities forward to slightly different, but he still scored loads of goals, but once I'm up in those teams, Leicester and Tottenham, and Ron for us, it was one main man. Was he going to be that person? The irony is, at the end of last season, he was making chances, it's such a threat up front, but away from home, we had games like Fulham and Crystal Palace, where they had chances, and he never took them. But the irony is, he's still not taking those chances. That's the mad thing, he's not though, because if you think about the Arsenal game, and you think about the Chelsea game, he's still not taking the chances, the difference is, that he's now creating more chances, because he's in a 4-4-2, so he's creating more chances, and he's taking them, but he's still not anywhere near the finished article, because he's still not taking those chances, that win you big games, or get you back into big games, like the Arsenal chances, like the Chelsea. And I'm not saying they were absolute sitters, they weren't, but the point is, is that they're the ones that they absolutely fight. Well that's his next level, isn't it? That's the next thing he's got. So if we look at his career as in a trajectory, we're talking 38 games last season, eight goals, six Premier League goals, so his best season, one, four, six, in terms of Premier League goals, over three seasons. This season, coming in and off the side again, you know, Michael Silva had lost faith in him almost, because obviously he had other options, we had the Charleston, who me and Piff did the video on the summer scene, he's actually about to strike it, and he is a wide player, but he can do both roles. You know, it's there. It was a lad who we paid money for, who scored goals in Italy, why isn't he playing, and no real way of playing him, Michael Silva had some aspects of the game right, but didn't know how to change enough to get the best out of people. Will he have the Guilfey-Sigarton problem? Well, Sigarton as well, but then after balls, and to be fair, he did drop Sigarton, and it was probably one of our best performances on the bench. But, until Michael Silva was sacked on that and scored many goals, he scored two in the League Cup, which was excellent, and he scored a Bournemouth, which was a brilliant goal, but his best one of the season was Man City, when he robbed Coleman at home, because that was the kind of goal I wanted to see him getting. I mentioned it before, for the Chelsea game, but the big thing, sorry, just let's go back a few months, ended the season with one goal in 13 games or something, as for the number nine, he'd asked for it the year before, and I remember we were looking, and he'd wore it at Wigan when we were there, and he'd wore it a couple of things, and we were looking and going, is he putting pressure on himself then? We did a video at the last year saying, should he done the card? And we were like, is he putting just a bit of pressure on himself? He hasn't scored, but you know what, I like that. I like the fact that he's gone, give it to me, and I'll have a go. I want to be evidence number nine, and I like the humble side of him, he's obviously a Yorkshire lad, you listen to what runs through, right through that article in the Athletic with people who've talked about him, people at Staleybridge, people at Northampton, humble, wanted to work hard, David Undridge at the same. He went to war for Duncan, because he loved Duncan, he said he's been the biggest influence on him. He scored goals, he was brilliant, and since then he's been incredible. I don't think up until football stopped, and I think there was only. Out of all the English plays, he scored the most goals since December or something, and only a couple had scored more than him. He comes in and he's like, there's a well-class manager who works with some big players, and he's got a lot of skills, he's a well-class manager, he works with some big talent, he says almost immediately this lad can go right at the very top. And since then, obviously we've gone and he's gone like that, and as it stands football has obviously stopped at the minute, he's got 15 goals and 31 games this season. He hasn't started all of those games. He's got 13 Premier League goals, there's only three or four players in the Premier League who've got more goals than them. And they let some of them have penalties? Penalties, some of them have played most of them are playing the teams in the top three. And they've started most of their games where this lad had quite a big spell off the side because he was in and out. So, I guess the question is, if we're following his career like that, how good can he be? He's just signed a new five-year deal. So, club of backdom, he's backed himself, you know, he obviously thinks he can get better. And he can get better because as I've just said, there was a miss against Crystal Palace, so it should have made a four-one. Chelsea, Arsenal, the Sitters, and he said after the Palace game himself... Would have had the winner against United, of course, as well. Should have had the winner. But he said himself, I don't like it when it don't score now. And that's a big change, isn't it? That's a big change as well. Stop playing for the team, stop playing for yourself a little bit, all the things again that make good strikers. And I think, as long as he keeps working hard, and as long as he doesn't suddenly think that he's something that he's not, which I wouldn't thought he would. And as long as that, because I think everything's got to do with the moment with that partnership, and it works so well. Both work really hard, but they're both slightly different. And I think he's just, I think what he's got to start doing is, you know, you look at some of the goals, the goal he scored against Newcastle, the composure was brilliant, and I just wonder whether he's still, there are opportunities where he's still had that snatching or thinking too hard about them. I think even on the season, this is where they go back to what I've seen before, but even on the season when we played like to feel it away, maybe he thought he was only going to get one or two chances in the game. Now I think he thinks he's going to get more chances because there's two of them, so he's taking more time and therefore he's scored him more goals, but he's, to get more opportunities, we've obviously created a lot more opportunities, but it's still that same kind of opportunity, and that shows you how we've changed the style. The chances he's missing are the same chances he was missing before, and I think that's a big part of his game now, he's got to get better at. Like I said, last season he had to full them and he had to kiss the palace away. They were chances that could have won us that could have won us to gain that day. And it was that, he's got this little thing or he did have this little thing in his game where and I've seen this in the 21s in the summer as well in the Euros where the ball will be slid across and he sort of thinks can I get that or not where strikers don't, the strikers are very top on somebody else. They don't think I'm going to get that. But I think he's improved at that. No, I know he has, but I still think that's the one. You look at the Arsenal chances. It's gamble. Look at the Arsenal chances. Jaroson puts them across and he's almost thinking he's going to come here with a goal there and it's almost got to be that thing of I'm going to commit to it. He did it against Newcastle and he got his reward. It looks scruffy when it goes in but he's almost half he halfs makes the decision but he gets his aerobics a great one run for it and there'll be more of them this season and that's where he's just got to get a little bit better where he's against Arsenal and also the one against Chelsea where it's just like hit the target. We've got another player there. And I think as he gets more relaxed and more confident in being number nine and what he is also is... You missed that same chance against Man City at home at 2-1 as well. If you remember when she gets him put them in he dinked it over at this and put it wide and it's like hit the target. I think what he is though he's a great example to other players he's a great example to someone like Tom Davis who's struggling at the moment and I think Holgate had a similar thing to him this season. Do what you can to get better. Get yourself in the team get yourself working hard don't worry about anything about where you're playing or anything just get yourself in the team and once everyone thinks that you're at a level then everything else will go away and then you can start once and maybe that's why givens he wanted the number nine almost like that was the confirmation that he was part of the first level like a psychological thing but I think Tim Howard used to wear 24 because he said something like it's almost like I'm not part of the squad I've got to work for the number one even though I'm never going to take the number one or something silly like that I think by taking the number nine he's almost gone whatever, don't do it I've bet on myself now I've given myself that challenge I want to be a great example for Moes Gwyn for a lad who's not really fan this feat he's got a way to be a lad slightly different because obviously Moes Gwyn is people feel like he's took a step down and he can't get in the team but even though he hasn't really took a step down because he's gone from being maybe fourth, if he was at your vintage which you probably wouldn't be like fourth, fifth choice player and haven't he stayed a choice striker so it's but with the opportunity to become one of the fronts it's not working out isn't it it's just what I meant I meant if you look at them in a caldered loon I mean Moes Gwyn was there and we'll see this lad not being able to go I think what he needs is an example to all the plays in the 23 years to have been off the instagram lifestyle I mean listen this lad used to have to be on instagram lifestyle and he bent it off and to be fair it has come back a bit later no no you know what I'm talking about you know what I'm talking about maybe you don't have to bend it off that's a tough decision he bent the instagram lifestyle off and he decided it was all about football and I think that's the message I'd say to the 23s some of them if you're on the edge get knocking on the door and go do you need, I'm left footed do you need someone to play on the left I'll come in and do for you I think Anthony Gordon's got a touch of that of wherever you need me I'll play there for me you need someone to be the back up left back do you know what I mean that's what you've got to do and once you're in there and once that manager knows he can go back to people like Gary Neville who said I never had any talent but I was always there I was always there it ends up winning everything there's so many plays like that through the time who have elevated themselves with hard work first and that's the thing forget about everything else forget about who you think you are or what you think you are because you play for a professional football that means nothing all comes anyway that's what the best players know that's what the best players know in a situation now where people like Ronaldo's got hotels and giving them to people islands and giving them to people to live in and stuff while stuff's going on in the world and what that does is you look at them and go you've never skipped a leg day in your life have you me? Still working out now 34 so I think like we said before absolutely brilliant improvements to the point where hopefully we're all going into a summer transfer market where you're not going we're desperate for the centre forward because we've got three and then you've got Ellis Sims who are my followers he's acting looks and goes Ellis Sims is the other way though he's got the other thing he's got the gold score and such now and he's worried what he needs to do is add the attitude of Dominic Cavill doing and I think that's harder no it is because if it's not your natural game although it's difficult because you can have centre forwards who will run around all day but naturally they don't get in the right area but if you've got the instinct you need to add that because the Premier League is unforgiving and someone like Ellis Sims has got an opportunity Sims hasn't gone and like you said only I think we've seen Anthony Gordon once to get better and better so fingers crossed but it's brilliant it's brilliant that Dominic has improved it's brilliant he's just signed any five-year deal and when we start playing football again it'll be brilliant to see him scoring some goals again and getting past this so let us know what you think in the comments section below is he is he Everton's most improved player certainly over the last 12 months and is he shocked here because I know that there's a lot of people he was still very critical in September, October, November of whether he was any good you know what we've seen we see comments of he's a champion needs alone needs alone he's a championship player he's this he's that as he surprised you and now you're just confident that he can just get better and better let us know in the comments section below don't forget to check out the athletic free subscription for seven days 50% off your yearly subscription the link is in the description below use your time use your time to go and read that article read that article there's other stuff on Everton earlier in the week stuff about no penalties we still haven't had a penalty in the Premier League so go and check all out which if we had he'd have backed them up because he's a brilliant penalty taker if he takes them he's a good penalty taker though so there you go go and check that out make sure you subscribe get this video thumbs up if you want more videos like this longer tail videos join us on patreon see you later