Dominic Calvert-Lewin: My dad put a bit of pressure on me, but it has helped

Dominic Calvert-Lewin. Picture/ AFP

Dominic Calvert-Lewin is one of the finest strikers in the English Premier League currently. The English footballer played for clubs such as Sheffield United, Stalybridge Celtic and Northampton Town before moving to Everton in 2016. Since then, Calvert-Lewin has appeared in 139 matches for the club and scored 39 goals. The 24-year-old footballer seems to be at the beginning of a peak in his career and is raring to go. In an interview, he speaks about his early days in football, his confidence, his inspiration and more.

Excerpts from the interview:

YOU SEEM TO EXUDE BELIEF, WHERE DOES THAT INNER CONFIDENCE COME FROM?
I'm not entirely sure really, it's just a part of who I am, who I've been you know, I've always believed that I would eventually get to the premier league and I would play in the premier league for whatever reason, that would just the belief I had in myself. My dad was always the go-to man for football advice, he'd come up and down the country to watch me, from being a young kid and I think it was his belief in me which kind of passed onto me and I had it in myself you know. If I didn't have a good game he always believed, because he knew what I was capable of that I was capable of more, so sometimes he did put a bit of pressure on me but I think that's helped me at this level now.

WHAT ARE YOUR MEMORIES OF FIRST KICKING A FOOTBALL? WAS IT THEN WHEN YOU REALISED YOU WANTED TO BE A PRO?
I'll be honest, I always wanted to be a footballer, from the moment I joined the Sheffield United academy, I was aware from a young age that if you played in the academy, you had a good chance of progressing as a footballer so I think I used to play the age above quite often, from the age of under 11s, under 12s, I'd always play for the 13s/14s and when I was 14 I'd play for the 16s so I always played up which kind of, everyone was always bigger than me because I was only small at the time, the only skinner so I think that helped me progress quicker but just from a young boy I always wanted to play football.

WHEN YOU THINK OF THE NUMBER 9, WHAT COMES TO MIND?
I'd say goals. Becoming Everton's number 9 is something I worked very hard for. It wasn't easy at first, when I first joined the club, I was 19, I played out wide, never in my whole life had I played as a winger before and next thing I know I'm playing in the premier league as a right-winger or a left-winger, and then I only became a centre forward when I was 17. Then I'm leading the line in the premier league when I'm 20 years old, so it was all learning for me, I wasn't going to...some young players hit the ground running straight away and there's all this hype but for me, I was more concerned with just keeping a steady upward trajectory of progression and small steps, small steps and keep progressing to where I am now and that's still the same kind of belief that I have now and i just want to keep progressing and just keep reaching the heights.

BEEN SOME BRILLIANT NUMBER 9S OVER THE YEARS…WHICH ONES DO YOU TAKE INSPIRATION FROM AND WHY?
Easy... Big Dunc. Big Dunc, I see him every day, I speak to him every day. He's been great ever since I joined the club, even when I wasn't a mainstay in the starting 11 he still believed in me from the start and he would do extra finishing drills with me and whatever it may be and perhaps if I was going through a tough time he would say ‘you're the man la, you're the man' which you know to hear that from big Dunc who's been there and done it, scored the goals he has, Everton fans love big Dunc, he's been a great mentor for me, mentally more than anything, to kind of keep focused and keep track on what I'm doing.

YOU SEEM LIKE YOU'RE LOVING LIFE AT THE MOMENT...
Yeah, I'm enjoying my football, particularly under this manager. He understands me, understands who I am as a person, who I am as a person which is the most important thing and he just gives me that belief you know I enjoyed playing, I enjoy winning games, but when we're not winning, I don't enjoy it as much so as long as we keep winning and I keep scoring then happy days.

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