Koeman gives no promises to Calvert-Lewin

WHAT happens next to England’s World Cup winners? If Dominic Calvert- Lewin is a prime example, life is about to become even harder.

Ronald Koeman’s decision to send Calvert-Lewin on as a late substitute reaped dividends, as his cool right-footed finish, confidently dispatched after Davy Klaassen sent him darting through in the 81st minute, was enough to end the resistance of MFK Ruzomberok in this Europa League qualifier.

Yet if he was expecting any praise from his hard-to-please manager, Calvert-Lewin (below) would have been mistaken.

‘We need more forward players,’ said Koeman. ‘We lost one forward (Romelu Lukaku) and if you count the players we need more competition. The explanation is not so difficult. Dominic is a promising boy, I counted on him last season but it is all about training and competition to succeed.’

It took Everton 28 minutes to engineer a proper sight of goal but Wayne Rooney could not apply any magic, his chip sailing over. Rooney had one of those evenings when little came off and the disjointed nature of his side’s play made it impossible for him to build a rhythm.

Ruzomberok had spirit and energy but they lacked class and though opportunities fell to Erik Daniel (twice) and Dominik Kruzilak, none were sufficient to cause £30million goalkeeper Jordan Pickford any concern on his competitive debut. Both sides smashed the ball in every conceivable direction other than close to the goal after the break. Having spent £100million so far, it wasn’t unfair to expect better from Everton.

‘The two clean sheets are good,’ Koeman noted. ‘I think we did a bit better than in the first game in terms of our defending. But we know that we can improve with our ball possession. It was a good physical work-out and that is what we needed in pre-season.’

And thanks to 20-year-old Calvert-Lewin, the work-out ended in a victory. While he celebrated, Koeman barely flickered. The

hard work starts now. MFK RUZOMBEROK (4-3-3): Macik 7; P Maslo 7, J Maslo 6 Kruzliak 6, Menich 6 (Lacny 46, 6); Qose 6.5, Takac 6 (Sapara 71, 6) Kochan 6; Gal-Andrezly 6, Haskic 6 (Gerec 80), Daniel 7.5. Subs not used: Kunca, Kupec, Kostadinov, Hadjduch. EVERTON (3-5-2): Pickford 7; Keane 7, Jagielka 6, Williams 6; Davies 7.5, Schneiderlin 6 (Barry 81min), Gueye 8, Klaassen 6, Baines 6; Rooney 6 (Mirallas 86), Sandro 6 (Calvert-Lewin 69, 7). Subs not used: Martina, Stekelenburg, Holgate, Lookman. Referee: Michael Tykgaard (Denmark).