Jamie Carragher shares if Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin should be in England squad for World Cup
Jamie Carragher feels that Dominic Calvert-Lewin has an outside chance of being in the England squad for the World Cup after his Everton goal against Crystal Palace.
The England international started his second consecutive game and was rewarded with a brilliant goal as the Toffees earned a 3-0 win, with arguably their best performance of the season so far.
And Carragher, speaking to Sky Sports [25 October], admitted that he is probably behind Ivan Toney in the running for the position and only one of Calvert-Lewin and Callum Wilson should go because their injury records make them a “risk”.
“I don’t think you can take both Callum Wilson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin,” he said.
“I think they’re almost a similar type of player, and similar as in they pick up injuries. They would be a risk to take.
“You’re not that confident that they would see out the tournament as well, so if you’re going to take one then you take one of them if you like.
“I think Ivan Toney is similar to Harry Kane in a lot of ways and different to Calvert-Lewin and Wilson. I think Toney is actually a lot better with his back to goal.
“He actually comes short, he’s got a great awareness of what’s around him. Little touches around the corner, he’s a really clever footballer.
“He’s not quite got Harry Kane’s passing ability but we see that a lot from Harry Kane, where the ball comes into him and he’s very aware of what’s around him. Laying the ball off, clever, cute passes, and Ivan Toney has that as well.
“I would take Ivan Toney for that ability to hold the ball up, bring people into play and also for penalties. I think it would be one or the other in terms of Calvert-Lewin or Callum Wilson, and then Rashford has to come into the equation with the way he’s performing this season.”
Quality
It’s probably not really a hot take to suggest that if Calvert-Lewin had been fit and firing for the last year or so then he would most likely be on the plane as a near certainty.
But the fact he has barely played over the last 18 months for Everton while someone like Toney has been shining at the top level in a relatively poor team means he probably shouldn’t be in the squad.
There is also Tammy Abraham who has shone in Serie A with Roma, and all three are of a similar profile of tall, rangy target men who are good with their feet and provide good cover for Harry Kane.
It’s probably best for everyone that Calvert-Lewin doesn’t go to the World Cup so he can continue to build his fitness ahead of the second half of the season for Everton.
However, the World Cup is the pinnacle of football and if he were to get called up then it would be hard to blame him for going or Southgate for calling him up as he tries to put together his best squad possible.