Sean Dyche insists Everton should not make a decision on Dominic Calvert-Lewin's future this month as no one has yet made moves to sign him.
For now, the focus remains on helping the underperforming Toffees striker find his scoring touch again. But the Blues will not bring in specialist striker coaches to solve their problems in front of goal. Only Southampton have scored fewer goals than Everton so far this season, halfway through the Premier League season.
The Saints are at rock bottom and if Everton don't find the net more often than the fifteen they already have, they will move closer to the south coast.
The 27-year-old Calvert-Lewin has been without a goal since September 14, his second of the campaign. Dyche claims other teams have had fewer quality chances than his Everton side but have scored more.
Although when it comes to 'big chances created', the Blues are bottom of the pile in the Premier League with 20, while their XG is around 17.
“It is not always the provider's fault, it is sometimes the last moment of truth,” says Dyche. “That's why strikers and goalscorers are in high demand. Getting there is one thing, the next challenge is being productive and the quality of production, and then it's the finishing.
“There are teams that have fewer quality chances and score more goals. It's all there, it's not just about the creation, but also about the finish.”
But he is not considering bringing in a specialist coach to help his strikers, with Beto conceding just one goal and Armando Broja without one in his four games since recovering from an Achilles injury.
“The thing about striker coaches: if it was that easy, every club would be doing it all over the world and have loads of strikers,” he said. “Academies look for top strikers all over the world and yet clubs buy strikers who have developed through their development [own] path.
“It is a very difficult skill to simply teach someone to smell a target. It's like an intuition. Teaching intuition is very, very difficult.”
Calvert-Lewin has less than six months left on his contract at the club so the temptation may be to cash in if a bid comes along, but Dyche insists speculation about Serie A side Atalanta is wide off the mark.
“No contact from anyone,” he said. 'There will undoubtedly be rumors and conjecture. That's the nature of it. If that happens, we'll think about it. Since there has been no contact, no conversations are necessary.”
But what could be a concern for Calvert-Lewin is that on-loan Chelsea forward Broja started for him against Nottingham Forest last week and could perform again at Bournemouth this weekend.
“Are [Calvert-Lewin] The numbers are somewhat harsh on him as there were two goals that were own goals, which skews the numbers. Some of the production was better to give them the opportunities, and some of it was the moment of truth to take the opportunity.
Meanwhile, Dyche has no interest in Neal Maupay's comments on social media this week. Maupay is on loan from Everton at Marseille and was placed on X in the aftermath of the club's 2-0 defeat to Forest last weekend.
He wrote: “When I have a bad day I just look at Everton's score and smile.”
Dyche said: “I think it's fair to say there is a bigger picture for Everton Football Club that I am focusing on and I don't think I have to worry too much.” Asked if disciplinary action could be taken, Dyche added: “I don't think we'll be concerned about that.”
Maupay has not played for the Blues since 2023. He has scored just one goal since joining from Brighton in 2022 and spent last season on loan at Brentford.
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