Dominic Calvert-Lewin opened up about his struggle with injuries as well as the difficult emotional experience he underwent in recent challenging seasons with Everton. The 28-year-old made an appearance on the High Performance Podcast recently.
Speaking about the turbulent 2021/22 season where the Blues avoided relegation by four points, the striker said he put a lot of responsibility on his shoulders and wanted to contribute desperately to the team’s cause after spending a lot of the season out injured.
Calvert-Lewin’s diving header in the 85th minute completed a remarkable comeback for Everton in a 3-2 win over Crystal Palace at Goodison Park, a victory that proved decisive in ensuring their top-flight status.
“That feeling, I’ll never be able to describe it,” he said while recalling the moment. “It was the weight of my own pressure, the football club. I am quite an emotional person so I put that responsibility on my shoulders. I thought, ‘It’s my responsibility to save everybody, save people’s jobs.’
“So when I scored that goal it was a relief. The biggest relief ever. On my birthday, which would have been four, five weeks before I scored that goal, that was a low point for me. I can’t remember why, I think it was built-up emotion, I ended up crying.”
That season had begun on a strong note for Calvert-Lewin who had found the back of the net in the first three fixtures and earned a call-up to the England national team. However, his momentum was hindered by a broken toe and he had to spend over four months on the sidelines. He sustained another injury that kept him out for three weeks during the final stretches of the season and affected his mental state severely.
“I was on my own on my birthday, crying on my bedroom floor for whatever reason, feeling a little bit sorry for myself. I think it was not knowing how to express what I was feeling in that moment, that feeling things were getting away from me, feeling you have all the pressure of the football club on your shoulders and you just want to go out there and play.
“And at that moment, I couldn’t play because I had picked up another injury and it was overwhelming. But I remember thinking to myself, ‘This is a rock bottom moment.’ In my mind I was thinking, ‘It doesn’t get worse than this, you need to pick yourself up and go again.’
“So that was a catalyst for me because I felt better after I cried. I let out that emotion, all that pressure I had put on myself, and thought, ‘I am going to save Everton Football Club.’ I ended up scoring the winning goal.”
Calvert-Lewin’s future is currently up in the air. He hasn’t signed a new deal with the club yet and his contract expires in a matter of weeks. He has scored just three goals in 26 appearances this season and hasn’t been able to replicate the strong form he displayed in the 2020/21 campaign, where he netted a career-high 21 goals. He suffered another hamstring injury earlier this year and has spent just 31 minutes on the pitch since February and the end of the current campaign.