Calvert-Lewin gets first England call-up

Arsenal and Spurs don't have that kind of money presently and Chelsea just finished a mad spending spree. I think Covid finances reduce the risk of us losing him

Besides, I think he's wise enough to know what has happened to previous squad members that have had aspirations that London would catapult their careers into the stratosphere.

Where's Judas Barkley now? Aston Villa on loan, probably warming their bench for the most part.

This squad makes you realise though how good the team was in the 1996-2008 period, we should have won something then. A central midfield of Henderson and Ward-Prowse is going to win you sweet FA.

The way he controlled the ball for the first goal yesterday was Bergkamp-esque.

I think plenty of us on here have doubted him at various points but he has done a great job in answering his critics

Leave for London? Chelsea just bought Werner, Arsenal couldn't afford him.

You're correct of course. It was tongue-in-cheek of me to suggest Calvert-Lewin would tap up others. Merely pointing out that our current status would make it a more plausible tactic than for many a year.

I agree with you and others – he appears decent, grounded, level-headed and focused. He wouldn't have to tap up others – they can see for themselves he has the world at his feet, has Rodriguez and Richarlison busting a gut to provide assists, has Ancelotti for guidance, a chairman willing to spend and a promising new home ground in the pipeline.

However the selfish Evertonian in me that has never really done the Eng-ur-land thing is sceptical and nervous.

I'm probably scarred from years of watching our players called up for England only to have their heads turned by the players and media!!

Bravo!

That is exactly what I thought.

Adds another £20m to his value as an asset to EFC.

Hope he does well and comes back fit - that's the main thing.

Francis you beat me to it - very Bergkampesque finish. The pass from Keane was an absolute gem too - best pass of the season for me.

Onward and upward blues. Another 3 points at the weekend please.
COYBs.

Made up for the player and rightly deserved.

Made up for DCL though, clearly a good lad as well as a striker in form.

I salute your honesty and humility sirs.

I agree with that, it is a really poor, almost derogatory remark. Probably as a result of not being able to articulate himself as he would like.

It's bizarre that Beardsley was called up for England before and after his successful 2 year stint at Everton. Also that Cottee's England career ended as soon as Everton made him the record transfer. Barmby another who lost England involvement during his time at Everton, and Jeffers wasn't called up until he left. I say all of that as at first I though your statement about Lineker must surely be wrong but amazingly it was accurate showing in my mind a considerable anti Everton bias from the England set up of the time.

Just as it looked like DCL and "championship level" had been put to bed in comes Southgate with Conference league England.

The kid just can't catch a break

They don't have a view on us because they take no notice of us most of the time. Don't get me wrong, this goes back before this season but the times I've heard them talking about Everton and they're talking about us Moyes era.

Everton the last 2 years? Really?

They won't know much about Dominic because they won't have watched him, so pull their Moyes era Everton comments out of their database of responses.

I sort of lost interest in England after that failure to pick Kendall and Harvey, but I congratulate DCL and wish him luck with it.

I'd add Kendall and Harvey to that. Before my time, but my father would shudder when you mentioned England. I don't think he forgave them for only giving them one cap between them.

It says a lot for his family that he is so humble and grounded at his age.

My only concern is our players usually come back injured from irrelevant internationals.

I guess we did OK in 86 with Reid, Steven, Stevens, Lineker and I think (?) Bracewell? Funny thing in 86 and 90 was that England started badly, Robbo did his usual going home injured then things picked up when Trevor Steven came into the side. And yet, he seems to have slipped out of the public consciousness as you just hear being harping on about Waddle and Barnes from that era

Bracewell; so gifted but only 3 caps, although in fairness injury cut him short just as he made it on the scene as I remember it.

Tommy Wright said that Pele fouled him when going for that header from which Banks made the famous save over the bar.

Dick I don't think Johnson played for England whilst at Everton, same as Peter Beardsley.

I may find myself forced to root for England.

Nah.

Totally unrelated, but your Tommy Wright foul claim makes me think of what I believe was a foul on Peter Reid in the build up to Luton's goal in the 1985 semi-final.

I know we came from behind to win that but it still grates me!!!

Selfishly though, I just want him to not get hurt and take it all in his stride. The man is in a potentially historic trophy drought ending form run here. Would that get Kenrick to accept him though...?

2020 is an odd year alright.

I don't think Johnson played for England whilst at Everton, same as Peter Beardsley.

Andy Johnson was capped six times by England whilst playing for us.

Hopefully DCL, will keep improving and get better, and hopefully he doesn't get any injuries playing for England.

Jamal#19

Was Trevor Steven not before Linekar?

Linekar made his debut in 1984, obviously not a Everton player at that time and Steven was 1985 when playing for Everton.

Steven won more Medals than Linekar and was a better player.

I think you are a bit young to remember, but Everton have been in the top English League for a long time and there are a lot of great England players that played for Everton. One won a World Cup medal playing for England , and there where more before that.

Most of them better than Linekar , because Everton won something when they played.

And good news for us... hopefully he'll get more marginal decisions. Last season VVD shoved DCL over when thru on goal and not even a free kick was given. It won't be as easy to be so biased for refs now (I hope)

Good luck DCL you've earnt it lad

Answer - Harry Kane and Michael Keane.

Who'd'a thought it!

That's my beef!

I wonder what our European cousins think of him.

Won the U20 World Cup and scored the winning goal in the final. About to become a full international. 8 goals already this season.

He'd be talked about in very significant terms surely? No idea what kind of transfer value that would equate to (not that I want him sold).

I have little interest in the England team, but the players do, so it is a good thing that DCL can see that his efforts are recognised by Gareth Southgate.

Rumour has it United sniffed round in the summer and were told £80m or get stuffed.

That was after the Project Restart when Calvert Lewin suffered a drought. Now? Who knows...

Would have been unheard of in the past.

However Southgate has won me back over.

I hear you but I have been more inclined towards them since Southgate took over. I mean, yes he's a bit sterile, a suit, but I think he's a decent chap and honestly Kane and co don't have the obnoxiousness of Terry and co.

Regards the 'pest' comment, maybe taken out of context. I'd say DCL is more of a bully - not like some all-brawn workhorse like Troy Deeney, Glenn Whelan, Andy Carroll etc... but DCL can mix it. Hes fast, physical, can hold his own. Becoming more dominant in the air (thanks Dunc).

Pest is a bad word. Like someone else suggested, I'd say Jamie Vardy is an elite pest (no disrespect as I would have loved to see him play for Everton), Suarez is a pest, Tim Cahill was OUR skilful pest.

Just a shame its probably too late to see DCL versus someone like Chiellini, Bonucci, Godin etc - because I think our DCL could hold his own against those types of elite-level-bully defenders.

In the 70s, the England setup wasn't good compared to the likes of West Germany, and the latter tended to use half-a-dozen players from the same successful club team, like Bayern Munich. So many folks suggested England do similar, but it was never done. For example, in 1970 I simply could not grasp why Kendall and Harvey weren't included alongside Alan Ball. Everton had just won the league with a large points tally and tremendous quality football, in my view comparable to Brazil's. It was as if England deliberately shot themselves in the foot by insisting on picking some bang average players like Peter Storey and Alan Mullery, and I for one just naturally lost interest in it all.

Why indifferent? Our players have played and become injured, or been tapped up by players of other clubs. England performances have been pathetic over the years, with cliques between players from different clubs. And because of a tranche of the support who disgrace themselves wherever they go.

But Since Southgate came in I'm much more invested in the National team. My best mate from school went to live in America, and is still there. He's always telling me that the Americans are much more nationalistic than the British. I once went to a rodeo in Texas, and I kind of have to agree with him!

The older I get the more I view being “nationalistic” as a bad thing. We are all people after all and nationstates are purely mental artificial constructs.

Hard work, determination, fitter, stronger, has massively helped improve his all round game over the last 3 seasons. But in my mind he's not top class and would struggle against top international 'dirty' defenders.

But, he deserves his chance and will benefit long term because I think he accepts and works hard to improve his weaknesses.

He's had game time to learn and improve in our first team. Holgate another similar highlight developed out on loan but once given his chance took it.

Both players developed by playing real competitive games against professionals. That's what's needed to really improve, along with the drive to learn and improve.

So many youngster's don't get the chance or mentally struggle when thrown in at the deep end. This is why loans can work, but each player is different and develop at different rates / ages.

DCL has had many critics and many wanted him loaned out where he may have struggled. Thankfully it's worked out well.

Firstly is the amount of dull, defensive orientated games against poor to average teams. I stopped watching friendlies many years ago or would prefer to watch a high quality friendly or fierce rivalry e.g. Spain vs Portugal, Norway vs Sweden.

Secondly, it may be a European thing. There are now, more than ever, so many European countries therefore teams and more games. I love the fact Gibraltar have an international team, but I don't want to watch them.

Thirdly, I think as age / free time (and possibly money) becomes more precious and less to go around, the commitment to weekly club football becomes more important and stronger. More so in a highly competitive and enjoyable league to watch as the Premier league.

Still love a major event though, ie World Cup!

The later national teams have mostly done a great job of doing the wrong thing, with the wrong players, in the wrong way - all with ridiculous media hype beforehand, then assassination at the same hand afterwards.

With a couple of exceptions, most of the tournaments have been thoroughly depressing. One long false dawn spanning decades. I sometimes watch, not often, and more for technical reasons than with enthusiasm. I'll watch DCL though.

To clarify - for England.

I was glued to the telly in 66 and am in awe of that team but Ramsey soured my taste for England when overlooking Kendall and Harvey the fact that Peter Storey kept Kendall out is one of the biggest injustices in football it was like replacing Randolph Nearenough in ballet dancing with Rab C Nesbitt.

Brian Labone was a great player, you are lucky to have seen him play. I didn't get to Goodison till later on, I had to watch them on TV at that time.

You can't play for Everton if you can't handle expectation.

This is the mentality we have been craving.

Alan Ball was known as the midfield dynamo, bags of energy (or pressing as it might be called now). But as part of the Holy Trinity, I believe his play was more seemless and needed less effort, because those three fantastic players blended as the perfect and elegant well-oiled machine. We can see this kind of thing currently, with Rodriguez and the current midfield, where there is so much economy of effort.

But because Ball didn't have Kendall and Harvey in the England team, I believe he had to work harder, the England midfield 'machine' being far less well-oiled and functional than the Holy Trinity. That effort from Ball, with the heat and altitude of Mexico, resulted in him returning knackered, and his form slumped in the 1970-71 season, and he ended up being sold to Arsenal. I see that event as the start of Everton's decline, with the mid-80s successes being a too-brief respite from that decline.

If the Holy Trinity had played in Mexico, resulting in 6 Everton players in the England side, it might have been a different story for Everton, and of course for England in that tournament. This is of course speculative, but very plausible.

The irony of it all is, after Mexico, England briefly responded to calls for the England side to have more players from one club team, and they briefly experimented with it unsuccessfully. They chose 5 (I recall) Liverpool players for a game around 1971, only for it not to work well. Liverpool were starting to rise, but were not at the same level as the 69-70 Everton team!! So the process of my having less interest in England became complete. At that point I thought the entire England setup to be a model of mediocrity and football played by donkeys. My view hasn't changed.

From the era you mentioned until present day, it's almost a perverse achievement in itself to be so poor for so long. The home of football...

In 1970 England shot themselves in the foot by not choosing the Holy Trinity, and then went into decline.

The following year Everton shot themselves in the foot by breaking up the Holy Trinity, and then went into decline.

At least Everton show signs of renaissance, unlike England.

Link

On Calvert Lewin:
“Dominic's development has been really impressive. He's transformed into a complete striker. I remember when I got here he was nothing like the player he is today. It's down to the work he's put in. He's in the gym every day, he's always working on his finishing. And playing under Ancelotti he'll keep getting better and better. He's had a superb start to the season and without doubt deserved his England call-up. He must be a nightmare to play against and he has an incredible leap on him like Cristiano Ronaldo.”

On Everton:
"We want to win a cup. The supporters here are really passionate and they have been waiting for this for too many years. I think now that we have Ancelotti, and with the signings he's made, we can win a cup and fight for a Champions League place. Obviously it's difficult in England because you have the [big] six, but we're a different team from last season. We had a lot of injuries then and we've signed quality players in the positions we needed. We've made a really exciting start to the season and Ancelotti is keeping us focused and motivating us. I really believe we can qualify for the Champions League.”

On James:
“He's a very special talent. He's the No.10 for his national team, he's got an outstanding pedigree – Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Porto. He'd walk into any team in the Premier League. I watch a lot of Premier League games – what team wouldn't want James Rodriguez? He's made a brilliant start at Everton, and I really hope it continues so we can achieve our targets this season.”

This is very reassuring for me. I read in the summer, perhaps with words put in his mouth (as suggested by Jay Wood who saw the non-translated version) that he was wanting to play Champions League football and ready to give us just another year to get there. Here he seems very excited by Everton and committed to the cause. Nice one Richi, come back fit!