What Makes Dominic Calvert-Lewin Leeds United's Key Player? | w/ Jonny Cooper
Dominic Calvert-Lewin has established himself as Leeds most important - but how has Daniel Farke got the best out of him? In this video, we break down Dominic Calvert-Lewin's playing style, strengths, and tactical role, looking at how the 29-year-old has become the Premier League's hardest-working striker. From his aerial ability, shot conversation rate and willingness to lead the press, Dominic Calvert-Lewin is one of the Premier League's best strikers - but can he now do it for England? Check out the Opta Analyst website: https://theanalyst.com/ 📬 Sign up for the Opta Analyst Newsletter here for free: https://theanalyst.com/sign-up Follow Opta Analyst: Twitter: https://x.com/OptaAnalyst Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoptaanalyst Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/optaanalyst/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@optaanalyst QUESTION - Have a question about a player or data? Drop it in the comments! dominiccalvertlewin leeds leedsunited
Transcript
Dominic Calvert-Lewin is the hardest working striker in the Premier League, but how have Leeds got the best out of him? We're joined by Opta data team lead Johnny Cooper for a deep dive into the striker's data. Johnny, thank you for joining us. How are you? >> Oh, good. Thank you. How are you doing? >> Do you know what? I'm excited cuz I'm a big fan of Calvert-Lewin. I think he got a lot of stick and there was a lot of question marks around his move to Leeds. But how's Daniel Farke getting the best out of him now? >> Well, I think yeah, just to just to touch on what you were saying there about when he when he joined, there was quite a bit of a yeah, like I say, a bit of a backlash because just looking at his numbers from the previous seasons where I think he was like five goals, seven goals, three goals, two goals in his previous four seasons. We obviously had Patrick Bamford for a few seasons where he was very well known for missing quite a few chances. I think he still has the record in the Championship for the most big chances missed I think in one season. And we still won the league that year. And he still scored a lot of goals, but it kind of felt like Calvert-Lewin was going to be doing very, very similar things. He didn't perform his xG by the most of any player over the previous four seasons. So we're obviously seeing that and thinking, oh no, we need somebody to score goals in the Premier League and we don't really have that many backup, um, you know, options. But just looking at his numbers under Farke, his best shot conversion rate under a single manager in the Premier League is under Daniel Farke, which is 20% and his next best was was Rafa Benítez, which is 19%. Farke's getting him in the positions to score the goals. That was a big problem, you know, 90% of his goals have been first-time shots. So he's scored 17 Premier League goals for Leeds and none of them have been from outside the box, which is a record which he's taken from Lee Chapman, which was in the first ever Premier League season. Um, so he's definitely somebody who, you know, he's a fox in the box to use that expression and and yeah, we we we basically we we get him the chances in front of goal, particularly with the way we play. We have a lot of long throws, a lot of set pieces. Um, you know, we are generally a team who, you know, likes to put the ball in the box and and and go fairly long. I think we're second or third for long passes since we changed formation and our passing accuracy has really dropped, which was unusual compared to under Farke when we were in the Championship. We were top for passes, top for passing accuracy. We were bottom for, you know, long pass percentage, whereas now we're definitely going going much longer and that's, you know, that's borne out in the, you know, in the stats with Calvert Lewin. He's contested the most aerial duels since we changed the formation. You know, he's won the most aerial duels of any striker, so he is, you know, very good at that. And yeah, that's certainly, you know, backed up in what we're watching at Elland Road and beyond with, you know, we're used to seeing the ball go go up to Calvert Lewin and hopefully him him, you know, stick stick with the ball with >> I think what goes unnoticed, especially to other fans, is how hard he actually works. What can you tell us about the stats behind that and and where else does he stand out? >> Yeah, definitely. I mean, again again that's something that is is borne out with the eye test when you're watching him because he is constantly chasing defenders. Obviously, he's up there on his own, you know, hasn't got a striking partner. He's top for high pressures, high intensity pressures applied to opponents since the start of December again since we changed the formation. You know, he's he's he's almost 250 ahead of any other player in that time. Same for the opposition half, he's 1,583 since the start of December. And then the next most is Igor Thiago, um 1,144, and then Tierney Barry on 1,148. They're the only three with 1,000. And Calvert Lewin's done over 1,500, which is, you know, unbelievable, really. Uh and like I said, that is integral for us is that we because we don't have as much of the ball anymore. Again, we used to be a team who would control possession. Even when we came up into the Premier League, we were trying that and that's before we changed the formation. We were still trying to play out from the back, whereas now it's very much a lot more, you know, the other team are going to have more of the ball. So, we need players who have, you know, high intensity, high energy, you know, can close people down. Calvert Lewin obviously struggled a bit, you know, injury-wise at Everton, but I was looking at, you know, his minutes per game. Two of his top three in the Premier League have been the last two seasons at Leeds. So, he's played 84 minutes per game this season, 78 minutes per game last season, and then his top minutes per game was 87 in 2020-21. And that was also when he had his really good season where he scored 16 goals. So, the more he plays, obviously, the more likely he is to score. I think that's again his three best minutes per goal in a season of those three seasons when he's playing the most. Um, so you know, kind of kudos to our uh, medical team for keeping him keeping him fit. Um, cuz that's you know, like say, obviously looking at those stats where he's constantly chasing, constantly running, he's you know, he's he's kept himself in you know, in great condition and another thing as well for us is that we don't really have anybody who can replace him now. That's part of the problem is that he's been so good and he's so integral to the team that if he's not in the team, I do I do worry a little bit. We have got Lucas Mecha who comes in, he's quite a interesting footballer in that one minute it could be bouncing off him and then the next minute he can just put, you know, put the ball in the back of the net brilliantly. I think like his minutes per goal or assist was the best of any Leeds player last season in all competitions. So he is he's quite effective but he can't do what Calvin Lewin can do. So, um, yeah, Calvin Lewin sort of made himself our most important player or one of our most important players and yeah, a lot of that is his his off-ball work. >> Obviously at Everton he worked under a under a lot of different managers. What are the differences between his time there and his time so far at Leeds? >> I do think it is just the time he he's on the pitch. I think that was obviously that was such a a massive massive issue for him before. Um, it's difficult to say whether he was just you know, was he got like say, he's played under so many different managers. He's probably been asked to do so many different things by those various different managers. I think you know, the best example is obviously Carlo Ancelotti when he was there that full season. He played loads of games that season. That was his best scoring season in the Premier League and then last season was his second best. Obviously Carlo Ancelotti is an incredible coach. So I think of all the coaches he's played under you'd have to say he was he'd be the best given his you know, Champions League titles and Premier League title everything. Um, but I think just having a stable manager like Daniel Farke who obviously believes in him and just having that consistency um, because there's not really any other manager other than Ancelotti and Sean Dyche, I think really who sort of he's played a lot of games under. This is his, you know, probably his most consistent spell. So, I think we're seeing, you know, that's why we're seeing the best of him. And now in my opinion, a deserved England call-up. Obviously, he's not going to displace Harry Kane, but what can he offer that Kane maybe doesn't? >> Yeah, well I think well Harry Kane is obviously very good in the air, scores a lot of headed goals, but he does like to drop deep. He's not a somebody who's a particularly a striker who stands up there and is waiting for the ball. He likes to come and get the ball, obviously. Whereas I think Calvert-Lewin will be, you know, he's not not anything like that. He's very much a, you know, he plays in the opposition half. He's in the, you know, he's in the final third, he's in the opposition box. He will stay sort of in between in between the sticks, basically. And he he will be there. He'll be the one who can, you know, if we need a goal with a lack, we know with 10 minutes to go. He's a great option to come on. Like I said about his aerial duels, winning a lot of those. It's having that sort of physicality and having that that different option. And I think looking at the England squad and looking at the strikers, there's Kane, there's Calvert-Lewin, there's not really another striker in the squad, so I would be surprised if he didn't get quite a few minutes during, you know, obviously we've got three-week break, so he's got, you know, a good chance to to get them in cuz I think there's there's Anthony Gordon and Eberechi Eze. Um, there's a couple of other players who are more sort of winger, Foden types, whereas Calvert-Lewin is a striker. He's not going to be drifted out wide. He's, you know, he's a striker, so