Everton: Jamie O’Hara slams Dominic Calvert-Lewin, striker will be ‘gutted’ after what he did v Aston Villa
Jamie O’Hara has hit out at Dominic Calvert-Lewin after he missed a golden chance to put Everton ahead in the Premier League draw with Aston Villa at Goodison Park.
The former Tottenham midfielder claimed Calvert-Lewin should have lifted the ball over Emi Martinez rather than trying to go low as the goalkeeper was only ever doing one thing to prevent the goal.
He did claim that due to the amount of time the striker had between receiving the ball and getting the shot off, it may have been more difficult for him, but insisted he would be gutted to have missed the chance.
Speaking live on Sky Sports News [14 January, 2:50pm], O’Hara shared: “I mean he’s through, he’s clean through, he’s one-on-one, it’s a really good opportunity. When he’s running with that ball to go one-on-one with Emi Martinez he is thinking ‘I’m in on goal, I have to make sure this goes away’.
“Sometimes as a striker when you have too much time to think about it is when you mess it up. He’ll be disappointed, you can see when he missed the opportunity he was disappointed.
“A player of his quality should be tucking that goal away. Just lift it a little bit, it’s low, Martinez is going to go down and he’s going to make himself look big. He’ll be gutted, Calvert-Lewin at half-time knowing that was a huge opportunity.”
O’Hara is right to be critical
Everybody loves Calvert-Lewin and understands what he brings to the team, but having gone as long as he has without a goal despite starting the majority of games when he is available has got to open him up to some criticism.
When you’re on a run without a goal, you can’t ask for a better chance than the one he was presented with running through on goal one-on-one with Martinez with almost the entire goal to aim at and he’s rolled it straight at the foot of the goalkeeper.
It was a very similar save to the one Martinez made in the World Cup final, and the calibre of the goalkeeper made the chance harder than it would otherwise have been, but in Everton and Calvert-Lewin’s situation, those chances are precious.
He will have to step up his game in the coming weeks to help fire Everton out of the relegation battle, or risk losing his place with Beto keenly waiting in the wings to step up should he be called upon by Sean Dyche at Goodison Park.
In other Everton news, a new Amadou Onana exit update has emerged.