Simon Jordan rubbishes suggestion Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin should start for England
Simon Jordan has rubbished suggestions that Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin should replace Harry Kane in the England starting XI.
The Tottenham Hotspur forward has come under immense pressure after a lacklustre start to his European Championship campaign, failing to score and being substituted off in both games against Croatia and Scotland.
Speaking on talkSPORT [10:52, 21/06/21], ex-Crystal Palace owner Jordan hit out at sections of the English media after Gareth Southgate said Kane would definitely start against Czech Republic on Tuesday [Sky Sports].
Jordan dismissed the thought that Calvert-Lewin could take his place, leading Palace winger Andros Townsend to audibly laugh.
“You can announce your team whenever you want,” he said.
“He’s having to do it because of segments of the ridiculous British press piling on and suggesting that Harry Kane shouldn’t be playing in these games, or should be considered not selectable because of who’s going to go in his position…Dominic Calvert-Lewin? With respect, no he’s not.
“So I don’t think Gareth Southgate should even have indulged it and picked the team as normal.
“I just think it’s silly, Harry Kane has performed well all season.”
DCL deserves respect
It wasn’t even necessarily the words used by Jordan, but the way he presented his argument was extremely condescending.
Anyone listening to Jordan’s tripe would have thought he was talking about a League One striker potentially replacing Kane in the starting XI, not someone who has just scored 16 goals in the Premier League.
Calvert-Lewin’s strike rate for the Blues last season was seriously impressive, with his goals coming in just 33 appearances as he missed some through injury.
He’s now hit 29 Premier League goals in the past two seasons, yet Jordan thinks it’s such a ridiculous thought that he should replace Kane in Tuesday’s crunch fixture with Czech Republic?
Anyone who has caught a glance at The Three Lions at Euro 2020 so far knows Kane has been well off the pace, and that’s why he has been taken off in both games.
We’re not suggesting Kane has to be benched on Tuesday, but it was more the incredulous tone of Jordan, and idle sneering of Calvert-Lewin, that we took major exception to.
He deserves better than that.
In other Everton news, a journalist has accused this Blues-linked manager of greed in major Jurgen Klopp warning to Farhad Moshiri.
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