Dominic Calvert-Lewin (“DCL”), my word what an athletic specimen. Arsenal have been loosely linked with the English striker for quite some time now as a replacement for Auba/Laca but with Everton fighting relegation at this point, I find it very hard for them to give up on their talismanic striker up top but let me hurt myself again and dive into what makes DCL such a wanted man in North London. DCL broke into Everton 5 years ago but turned into a star in the 20/21 season. Just header after header, tap-in after tap-in, he turned into one of the league’s lethal strikers last seasons with over 21 goals in all competitions for Everton. The thought of DCL being the our striker up top for Ødegaard, Gabi, Saka and ESR is something I’m desperate for but would mean Arteta would have to switch these things up going forward in how he uses the striker. Future Mikel can worry about that later but we first need to nab this guy up as we inevitably will miss out on Vlahović. Let me go into what we can expect out of DCL if for some miracle he finds himself at the Emirates:
APEX PREDATOR IN THE BOX (Heading): Immediately when you watch DCL up top, the first thing you always notice is his aerial prowess. Standing at 6 ft 2in, what DCL does better than just about every forward in the world may be outside of Lewandowski and Cristiano is time the jumps on his headers to allow himself to meet the ball at the peak of his jump. When a striker is able to master this skill with of course an exceptional amount of athleticism (like if I did this well, it wouldn’t mean jack shit), it doesn’t matter what defender is covering you, if the cross is played in well enough, the striker will get clean contact with the ball. Absolutely nothing a defender can do in these type of situations. DCL scored 16 league goals last season with 7 of them coming from his head, let’s go into some examples of his aerial prowess starting off his goal in the Merseyside Derby:
Why I love this goal so much is that Digne doesn’t have to do much with this cross from the left. All he does is loft it to the back post for DCL to feast on. But what makes it of the highest quality is that the timing of his jump gave Gomez and Andy Robertson absolutely no chance to defend. It doesn’t matter if you’re Nesta or Maldini, when DCL gets a ball that he likes coming across the box, not a thing any defender can do to stop him from getting on the end of that cross. Just a random thought but Joe Gomez is so poor on this goal. He doesn’t track DCL’s run and lets him latch on to Robertson for an easy header, just careless defending.The next DCL header is one against us of the same ilk:
DCL on this goal doesn’t have to do much but time his jump perfectly to meet the ball at the peak of his jump. Kolasinac unlike Robertson in the previous goal attempts to head the ball away but again stands no chance with DCL in this battle. The power he is able to generate in these type of aerial duels compares with any striker in world football in my opinion and is such an easy outlet for teams if given space out wide to whip in quality crosses for him.
APEX PREDATOR IN THE BOX (ATHLETICISM): When you look at DCL’s size and how he moves across the pitch, you’ll marvel at how fluid and natural his gait is which allows him to glide past defenders with ease. When looking at DCL compared to Vlahović, it is easy to see how natural and fluid his movement is around the pitch than somebody like Vlahović which allows him to hang on to the last defender for through balls as well as getting on the end of low crosses in the box that most players usually can’t get to. DCL is very lean but also muscular at the same time which allows him to move with ease but also be up for battles with center backs when needed. This next goal I’m about to highlight can be used for the header portion but I think his athleticism stands out in this goal against Spurs:
I absolutely love this goal here. Lucas Digne puts this ball on a plate from the left flank and DCL just towers over the Spurs defenders in the crowded box. There’s just no player in the Arsenal squad that can produce this type of athleticism in the box consistently and provides such a deadly outlet for the Arsenal skill players to play into if given the opportunity. The next goal from DCL I will show is just pure freak activity from the #9 against us:
Just an unreal goal from DCL. The air that he gets off the ground to get his right boot on the ball is something I imagine only a handful of players can at the moment in world football. We don’t help ourselves with how we let him get a free run into the box and Luiz assisting the goal with his shoulder within the first minute of the game but the ability to produce goals in these circumstances through his athleticism is something Arsenal can definitely use out of our striker at the moment.
APEX PREDATOR: POACHING: DCL at his finest in the 20/21 was owning every square inch of the 18 yard box and turning anything into goals. Elite strikers in world football are able to create tap-in finishes through well timed runs and natural instinct to get on the end of crosses and turn them into goals. When looking at DCL’s career goals in the top flight, not many are out of the box as he has made a living getting on the end of crosses and being a nuisance to Premier league defenders. What DCL has improved on over the past few years is becoming more willing to make runs into the box and trusting his teammates to find him in dangerous areas for the easy finishes. The goal below against Chelsea is textbook definition of poaching:
There is nothing much to this goal but just straight-up poaching from DCL and me laughing at Chelsea.
DCL has also gotten quite adept at hanging on to the last man when his team is driving towards goal and getting on the end of simple through ball, just so simple and effective. Below is a prime example of this combination of athleticism and skill :
Just easy as you like, so simple and yet so effective if you are able to create the separation between yourself and defenders. Here is another goal that shows another facet of DCL’s game with him taking a through ball out the air and sliding it past the keeper:
CONCLUSION: DCL’s game as an all-around striker is not as refined as Vlahovič, not as skillful as the likes of Alexander Isak but what he does have is effectiveness in the offensive third which is all that really matters when you analyze his game as an old-fashioned #9 striker/center forward. DCL is not as natural with his back towards goal when trying to connect play which will be interesting to see how Mikel would work with that as he seems to favor strikers who can connect his team as a vocal point up top which is why he preferred Laca through the middle and Auba out wide (also why he plays Gabi out wide). If DCL played with his back towards goal more, shouldn’t hurt his overall product in front of the net as he does have the athleticism and work rate to get his body in front of goal when building up play, something that Laca lacks dramatically. Regardless, what DCL doesn’t provide technically when connecting play, he more than makes up in him make those willing runs into the box which you all can really ask for from our striker, simply putting himself in positions to score which is what I think Arteta is looking for with the playmakers we have at our disposal but nobody to get on the end of our passage of plays. DCL’s xG has grown incrementally over his career which can be attributed to better positioning in the box and something I think Arsenal needs, a player who can make us more athletic in the spine of our team with also more effectiveness and efficiency in the offensive third:
Like I said at the beginning, the chances of Arsenal getting a star striker from relegation fodder desperate for goals gives us probably no chance for us to nab him this window but like I’ve said in multiple blogs, me not expecting anything from this club means I can’t be hurt when things don’t go well, I’m numb to them hurting me. Lettuce pray we get the 3 points tomorrow against Burnley.
Images credit: Everton FC, NBC Sports
Featured Image credits: Everton FC