One of the most pleasing aspects of the recent fine form Everton have shown at home, are the performances of Dominic Calvert-Lewin up front.
Throughout a difficult and at times immensely frustrating season for Everton, one of the constant issues has been the seemingly endless problem of finding someone to lead the line.
Manager Marco Silva has tried several different options, including playing Richarlison as the central forward and trying to revive the Everton career of Cenk Tosun.
Calvert-Lewin himself also had short spells in the side early on in the season as the focal point, showing glimpses of his ability but without ever quite convincing he was ready.
But nothing seemed to work despite some early moments of promise. In particular Richarlison had quite a long spell in that role and while he had some good games at times, when the team was struggling generally, he often lost his way and seemed to get frustrated at times.
I had thought he might be able to adapt to that position and perhaps he still can long-term with his strength and ability in the air. But it was clear that he wasn’t really suited to playing through the middle and it was negating his impact on the attack.
As the Blues season wobbled badly particularly around the Christmas and New Year period, there seemed increasing urgency to think of signing another striker in the summer.
Several players have been linked with a move to Goodison Park. And it did seem increasingly likely that the club would be prioritising a forward in any transfer plans.
Meanwhile Silva was experimenting with his team trying to stabilise things and find a winning formula and eventually settled on the side that we are seeing now.
He has shifted Richarlison from the left to the right and given fellow Brazilian Bernard a run on the left of the attack. This switch has been hugely successful with both South Americans developing a strong partnership with their respective full-backs, Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman.
And in addition Silva, perhaps out of desperation, gave Calvert-Lewin another shot at leading the line.
That decision has been perhaps the most unexpectedly successful move. The young England forward appears to have upped his game to another level since his sporadic starts earlier in the campaign.
His performances have been immense. He has worked his proverbial socks off pressing defenders, running the channels effectively, winning the ball in the air, holding it up well and bringing others into the attack.
This work has allowed the other forwards to play off him and created space and chances for them. It has been very successful in helping Everton to play much further forward and to dictate the pace and tempo of these games.
During this run the Toffees have also started very quickly and usually scored early, which immediately settled the team and enabled them to play with greater freedom and composure.
So given how well and how consistently Calvert-Lewin has performed, it has now raised questions about whether in fact the Blues do need to spend say 40-50 million quid this summer on yet another striker.
The only problem is that at the moment Calvert-Lewin isn’t perhaps scoring enough goals despite having some chances. That is something that he does need to improve on. Perhaps that will be the next stage in his continuing development.
I also think that the Toffees need more goals from others in the team. Hopefully next season Richarlison and especially Bernard will score more often, playing in a settled functioning attack. It would also be good to have a few goals from midfield too.
And again don’t forget that Henry Onyekuru should be finally joining the Blues this summer after a two-year hiatus, so further increasing Everton’s attacking and goal-scoring options.
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So now ironically it might be problematic if Everton sign another striker and he takes Calvert-Lewin’s place. At the moment the Blues attack seems to be becoming very well-integrated and increasingly dependent on Calvert-Lewin’s own contribution and role.
The danger might be that in seeking to improve the goal-scoring productivity of the forwards it might disrupt an emerging set of partnerships that is creating a really dynamic, fluid attack.
Anyway that is the dilemma Everton are now facing. It wasn’t an expected dilemma but it just might save the Blues a small fortune and give a young English player the chance to develop and become the footballer his talent suggests he can be.