Four games into the new Premier League season and it’s been a perfect start for both Everton and striker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
Following Liverpool’s earth-shattering 7-2 defeat at Villa Park on Sunday evening, the Toffees sit pretty at the summit of the league standings – their best start to a campaign for more than a century.
Central to those efforts has been the relatively meteoric rise of Calvert-Lewin. Having already notched six times in four outings, his sterling start to the season has been down, in no small part, to the influence of Ancelotti.
Calvert-Lewin Rise Under Ancelotti
Patience Paying Off
The story of Calvert-Lewin is a curious one. Seemingly tossed onto a discarded pile of ‘also-ran Premier League strikers’, the still only 23-year-old has seen his fortunes transformed during the last 24 months.
On the back of Marco Silva’s sacking last December, Calvert-Lewin had already seen his stock rise with improved performances.
However, the changes in the player’s confidence and ability in front of goal have surged following Ancelotti’s arrival into the Goodison Park hot-seat.
Both player and manager are working in harmony, to Everton’s great benefit.
A growing menace in attack, Calvert-Lewin has shared the burden with the increasingly consistent Richarlison, as James Rodriguez’s supply has transformed the Toffees’ front line.
Ancelotti Effect
Loyalty has not only been important for the Englishman’s rise, but so too the rebirth of Rodriguez himself on Merseyside.
As a player who had fallen from his lofty perch in European football, the Colombian has erased the memories of a frustrating last few seasons with both Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, reminding those looking on of his talent, in only one short month in the English top-flight.
Having worked together in both Spain and briefly Germany, Rodriguez’ move to the Toffees is believed to have been driven greatly by Ancelotti’s presence, and his performances have shown how important relations between two have been.
That includes also Allan, who the former Napoli boss had under his wing during his relatively short-lived spell with the Partenopei and has subtly given Everton’s midfield real bite and stability.
Calvert-Lewin is further proof Ancelotti’s faith in a striker who was largely unfancied in Premier League circles.
Heading into the international break for England though, the forward could now showcase his abilities in a Three Lions shirt for the first time in the coming week.
‘More Clinical’
Back in the early weeks of his tenure, Ancelotti’s simple demand from Calvert-Lewin was to be ‘more clinical’ in front of goal, as Everton’s official website puts it.
Not only has the Yorkshireman answered his manager’s decree emphatically, but the increased responsibility given to him by the three-time UEFA Champions League-winning boss has seen Calvert-Lewin thrive.
When Everton managed to seal the arrival of Ancelotti late last year, pundits agreed almost unanimously it was a real coup for Farhad Moshiri’s ambition with the club.
As the pieces knit into place for the Toffees, the Italian has been the seamstress to the club, if you will.
Whilst Liverpool fans will take some shifting from their heady peak right now, it seems the Blue side of the city is making its’ own riposte.
Calvert-Lewin appears to be the antithesis of just that. His first England call-up is testament also, but ahead of one of the most eagerly-anticipated Merseyside derbies when domestic hostilities resume later this month, Calvert-Lewin could again be set to prove his doubters wrong.
Right now, Everton have anything but the Blues. Ancelotti once again has the belief of team that on three separate occasions has won him the European Cup.
Though their may not yet be as weighty, loyalty is currently reaping rich rewards on Stanley Park, with little sign of its’ fruits abating.
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