Gary Neville believes the rise of Dominic Calvert-Lewin under Carlo Ancelotti at Everton demonstrates the point of having a great coach. The 23-year-old has reached new heights under Ancelotti and has developed into a top player as a result of Everton having a world-class manager.
Gary Neville said: “We’ve spoken before about the emergence of Raheem Sterling into a really top player under Pep Guardiola, and it’s interesting that speaking to Everton fans over the last two or three years, there’s always been that feeling that ‘he’s not good enough, we need to get someone else’. But all of a sudden, a manager has come along that can really get performances out of him that are 20 to 30 per cent higher than the previous managers have. You wonder what might have happened if the next manager hadn’t fancied Calvert-Lewin or didn’t have the same quality as Carlo Ancelotti. It really does demonstrate the point of having a great coach. We’ve got great coaches in this league with Jurgen Klopp, Jose Mourinho, Pep Guardiola, Ancelotti and more. They really do improve players and they improve players all the time. A club’s greatest investment should be in the coach. The coach should be your best paid person in the club. It’s something Sir Alex Ferguson always said as they have the biggest influence. Calvert-Lewin now is thriving under Ancelotti and looks a top player. I thought he looked fantastic last week against Belgium for England in the way he handled that game. Now, he’s convinced his own people – which is something you have to do as a young player. Most definitely, Everton are an improved team and we’ve been saying for a number of years that they need to step up. The investment has been good the past couple of years, and there seems to be a greater confidence. That win at Spurs earlier in the season really did help them and gave them that lift as Everton would’ve been looking at Spurs as a team to go and aim for. Since that point, they’ve done really well. They’ve got a good manager and a good spirit about them, and that’s a good result for them against Liverpool.”
Calvert-Lewin continued his impressive start to the campaign when he netted his tenth goal of the season in all competitions against Liverpool at the weekend. The England international rose highest inside the box to head the ball into the corner of Adrian’s goal to make sure Everton took a point from the Merseyside derby. It was the forward’s seventh Premier League goal of the season, putting him to the top of the scoring charts in England’s top division. The draw at Goodison preserved Everton’s unbeaten start to the season and kept them top of the Premier League table, and Neville believes the Blues are an improved team this season.
