Everton supporters have had about enough of Dominic Calvert-Lewin but Sean Dyche will not give Beto his chance too easily. Michael Keane might be first.
The clamour is inevitable for a reason. Once the backbone of England discourse, it has seeped in at club level more than ever. And the Premier League ought to worry if Sean Dyche has learned how to harness it.
This was a fine start to the weekend for Barclays-wide clamour. Matheus Nunes started and assisted the only goal in a win for Manchester City against Southampton, for whom Adam Lallana’s control was crucial. Pablo Sarabia helped inspire a remarkable comeback for Wolves against Brighton. And then Beto rocked up to salvage a point and Everton’s unbeaten run.
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The Goodison Park boos promised to be biblical before then. There is precious little point in describing a Dyche’s Everton performance in any particular detail in 2024. If you have seen one you have seen them all. And home fans had seen enough after 90 minutes of Fulham generally having the better of the game and certainly most of the ball.
Alex Iwobi’s opening goal added insult to injury, the former Toffee finding the gap inside Jordan Pickford’s near post after a searing run from Emile Smith Rowe to bring a tear to Arsenal eyes on the hour.
And from there only one result seemed likely. Everton had a few efforts but Fulham did not struggle to contain them. The deployment of Michael Keane as a centre-forward was predictably pilloried yet, damning as it is, he is among the club’s best finishers. If that chance had to fall to anyone then many a supporter would rather it be him than Dominic Calvert-Lewin.
The goal-allergic striker had been taken off by then to complete a hat-trick of like-for-like changes which so infuriated the home fans. Jesper Lindstrom replaced Jack Harrison on the right wing, Orel Mangala tagged in for Abdoulaye Doucoure ahead of a shift of midfield running and Calvert-Lewin made way for Beto, because Dyche will cut earthworms from his diet before he sacrifices a rigid structure and defined system.
An injury to Dwight McNeil meant the whole thing did eventually have to be scrapped five minutes from time, leading to Keane’s venture forward as Jarrad Branthwaite made his latest return. And the 31-year-old contributed to the penalty area chaos which Beto capitalised on to convert Ashley Young’s cross and break Fulham’s resistance.
Beto’s emotion at full-time and in his post-match interview was clear, and will only endear him more to the supporters. There is no suggestion that he puts in more effort than Calvert-Lewin or that the levels of investment are different between the centre-forwards, but these moments build important connections which can be difficult to foster otherwise.
While there is sympathy for Calvert-Lewin not only due to his injury struggles but because the coaching transition from Carlo Ancelotti to Dyche must be historically disorientating, his case for minutes becomes significantly weaker the more he plays. It is an unforgiving system he has been asked to spearhead and a series of thankless tasks he is required to do.
He accounted for seven of the nine headers Everton centre-forwards won on Saturday evening; supporters will only remember one of the other two.
The continuing uncertainty over Calvert-Lewin’s future cannot help. Dyche refused to contemplate leaving him out on the grounds of an expiring contract and negotiation impasse – “I don’t do that. Get the shirt on, play hard, those are the rules” – but Beto emerging as a legitimate alternative would be the biggest threat to his chances of playing.
Dyche chose the stick instead of the carrot when discussing the Portuguese this week. “Beto has to keep working at his game,” he said in a simple enough assessment which hints this one goal might raise the volume of fans calling for a change, but will not sway the manager just yet.
If Beto keeps pushing at that door and Calvert-Lewin offers such little opposition, it will open soon enough. Then again, knowing Dyche it’ll be Keane who walks through first.
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