Everton striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin has insisted that Carlo Ancelotti has kept him on his toes despite his form in the Premier League since December and has improved his game by dropping "little bombs" of advice.
Calvert-Lewin has scored ten league goals in 14 games since Marco Silva’s sacking and has been instrumental in Everton’s form under Ancelotti.
The striker has emerged as Everton’s main man up front under the Italian despite the presence of big-money signing Moise Kean in the squad.
The 23-year-old has highlighted the role Ancelotti has played in turning him into the player he has been this season and revealed that the Everton manager has been very clear about his role in attack, dropping "little bombs" on the training pitch to change his ways.
He believes the Italian has helped him to be more selfish as a striker and despite the goals, Ancelotti has not allowed any complacency to creep into his game.
The Everton man is aware that he needs to do more to impress the Everton boss, who has worked with some of the best strikers in the game during his coaching career.
“He pulled me aside and the first ‘criticism’ was, ‘you need to stay central’”, Calvert-Lewin told The Times.
“It was like music to my ears because all my career I have been told to run channels.
“There are different ways of being a focal point and I knew what he meant.
"My role within the team is to hit the back of the net and make sure I am in a position to score goals. I’m not going to score if I’m out near the corner flag.
“It just tweaked something in my head to be a bit more selfish in terms of my positioning and be a bit more patient.
“I had scored in a game and he came up to me and said, ‘All my strikers have always scored goals. You need to score more.’
“It is the way he says it. He dropped that little bomb and walked off.
"He is always keeping you on your toes and that’s what I like.
"He is used to working with world stars, so I have still got a long way to go.
“If he says I need to score more, that is what I need to do.”
Calvert-Lewin had only three league goals to his name this season when Silva was sacked in December.
