Calvert-Lewin setback compounds awful week for Everton
It’s not been a good few days for Everton as a first home defeat on Sunday was followed by news that Abdoulaye Doucoure suffered an injury in that game and now Dominic Calvert-Lewin could be facing a longer rehabilitation than expected.
Everton have confirmed that Calvert-Lewin’s return from his recent injury and other complications is going to take longer than initially expected.
I don’t want to sound overly pesimestic but this season is increasingly beginning to eerily resemble the first quarter of last term.
Then, like now, the Toffees got off to a flyer with a new-look attack before a seemingly endless series of injuries disrupted the side leading to another ultimately depressing, underacheiving campaign and a mid-table finish.
Obviously, these constant injury problems are a massive problem, undermining all the good work being done by the manager or coaches and it’s one that doesn’t seem to have any clear reason that I can identify. And, of course all these injuries constantly expose the lack of depth and options in the squad.
Why are the Blues so vulnerable to their players suffering the endless knocks and mishaps that almost like clockwork seem to come along to derail every season? Is it a problem with training schedules or fitness or something else, who knows?
Furthermore, several key players now appear to be regularly plagued by injury issues raising some serious questions about their long-term future.
Calvert-Lewin for example, has now spent large parts of last season and most of this one so far, injured. It’s not a good sign for a still young player to be so injury-prone.
The England international is the key player Rafa Benitez is looking to build his attack around and so his problems must be a real concern for the manager.
Both he and Richarlison have been absent for several weeks now, although it’s more understandable for the Brazilian to be out after all his excertions over the summer and the roughhouse treatment he received against Burnley. But, it actually looks as though he will be more likely to play against Watford on Saturday.
As all the bad news was coming out this week, in a statement that almost went under the radar, Everton announced this week a new addition to Benitez’s staff; fitness and rehabilitation coach Christian Fernandez.
The coach has joined from Newcastle United after five years in the northeast and is someone Benitez knows well.
His arrival seems timely given all the setbacks these past few days. Let’s hope he can make a positive difference and help reduce the epidemic of injuries that have afflicted this team.