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25% passing accuracy: Everton have to drop passenger after diabolical display – opinion

This article is part of Football FanCast’s The Chalkboard series, which provides a tactical insight into teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Everton suffered a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Burnley on Saturday and fingers have to be pointed at striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin after another poor result.

On the chalkboard

The Toffees have now gone four games without a win in the Premier League, with Jeff Hendrick’s goal proving decisive at Turf Moor.

One has to wonder, however, whether manager Marco Silva should think about replacing Calvert-Lewin with another one of his forwards, such as Moise Kean.

Indeed, Calvert-Lewin produced a woeful display in Lancashire at the tip of a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Prior to his 74th-minute substitution – Kean was introduced in his place – the forward had 15 touches of the ball, by far the lowest number of any player to start the game.

He also failed to have a shot on goal, did not complete a dribble and registered a passing accuracy of 25%. The next lowest in the Everton team was Jordan Pickford, the goalkeeper, with 48%.

It is all very well mentioning that he was starved of service as his number of touches suggest, but he was also unable to do anything with the ball when it was at his feet.

No longer potential

Calvert-Lewin is 22.

This is no longer a youngster making his way into the Toffees first-team.

He has made 101 appearances for the club and has scored 21 times. That’s a rate of a goal every 0.2 games.

For a top-level striker, that is unacceptable.

Yes, Calvert-Lewin scored against Manchester City last week at Goodison Park but he also missed a gilt-edged chance when one-on-one with Ederson, and did not even have a shot in anger against Burnley.

The Toffees are in a rut, currently, and are struggling to find any semblance of form.

Sticking with Calvert-Lewin as their starting striker is only going to prolong that wait as they look to get back on track.

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