Everton Youth Teams Thread

[mightymoyes]

...as I recall, I don’t think Hornby was a striker when he was first purchased but he’s been converted to that role.

Yip a central midfielder though he has been used as a striker for pretty much his whole time at Everton. Hes a better finisher than sambou anyway

 

[mightymoyes]

1 more win gets us to 40 points, if I were Silva I'd bring in a few of the young lads especially strikers Simms, Broadhead and Sambou just for a look at what we have when it dosent really matter in the league, you'd never know our striker problem could be solved without costing tens of millions.

Mate simms has only played 1 or 2 times for u23s, not anywhere near PL level, hopefully in time.
Sambou is pretty rubbish.
Broadhead is interesting but nowhere near PL level yet either

 

[Tipp blue]

Mate simms has only played 1 or 2 times for u23s, not anywhere near PL level, hopefully in time.
Sambou is pretty rubbish.
Broadhead is interesting but nowhere near PL level yet either

Never going to get to PL level if you dont play PL Level football, 2 of those players are 21 and in my opinion if they are not good enough now then bin them they'll never be good enough, i also think to improve to a good enough level you need to be playing with and against better players than you.. Thats the main reason I detest the U23 league, players are working away and it's constantly said they are not good enough then suddenly they are 23 and never played for the first team..

 

[davids]

1 more win gets us to 40 points, if I were Silva I'd bring in a few of the young lads especially strikers Simms, Broadhead and Sambou just for a look at what we have when it dosent really matter in the league, you'd never know our striker problem could be solved without costing tens of millions.

A sensible idea,but depends on if his continued position hinges on league placing.

 

[mightymoyes]

Never going to get to PL level if you dont play PL Level football, 2 of those players are 21 and in my opinion if they are not good enough now then bin them they'll never be good enough, i also think to improve to a good enough level you need to be playing with and against better players than you.. Thats the main reason I detest the U23 league, players are working away and it's constantly said they are not good enough then suddenly they are 23 and never played for the first team..

that makes no sense.
sambous contract is up in the summer so he'll be let go, broadhead has a year left to make an impact but its unlikely

 

[Nymzee]

Hornby is showing a similar level of promise that dcl did in u23s, looks strong and can dominate centrebacks but again he has the same problem of not scoring regularly.

Yeh but if he’s similar to DCL, then as per the forum, he isn’t good enough to be a first team squad player. So none of last night’s team are (bar Virginia).

 

[blueloon]

Unsworth’s undoubted strength is organising and setting up a team not to let in goals ,8 goals against in 18 league games is impressive, given the different players he has used. I said this in another thread, possibly a Silva one, that he would make a good defensive coach for the first team , I love seeing the U23s tugging and pushing players at set pieces as they defend man for man.

The downside is it reflects on our attackers,who have a relatively poor return in league goals , i think Sambou has 7 in the league. Last night was as attacking a set up as we’ve had and it showed. As such it’s difficult to know how good Hornby and Sambou really are, in that they haven’t had the same service from the midfield asSimms has had from a very good attacking trio at u18 level. Having said that Sambou really should have had a bigger impact than he has, and I’m still not sure that Hornby won’t revert back to being a Fellaini type midfielder . Thie last few months Gordon has played his best football for us and yet still doesn’t start at U23s regularly, that for me is disappointing. So we could be winning this league early and not have any of them getting PL minutes this season. A bit of a conundrum there.

 

[Eggs]

Unsworth’s undoubted strength is organising and setting up a team not to let in goals ,8 goals against in 18 league games is impressive, given the different players he has used. I said this in another thread, possibly a Silva one, that he would make a good defensive coach for the first team , I love seeing the U23s tugging and pushing players at set pieces as they defend man for man.

The downside is it reflects on our attackers,who have a relatively poor return in league goals , i think Sambou has 7 in the league. Last night was as attacking a set up as we’ve had and it showed. As such it’s difficult to know how good Hornby and Sambou really are, in that they haven’t had the same service from the midfield asSimms has had from a very good attacking trio at u18 level. Having said that Sambou really should have had a bigger impact than he has, and I’m still not sure that Hornby won’t revert back to being a Fellaini type midfielder . Thie last few months Gordon has played his best football for us and yet still doesn’t start at U23s regularly, that for me is disappointing. So we could be winning this league early and not have any of them getting PL minutes this season. A bit of a conundrum there.

....I’ve made this point before, so apologies, but there seems a lot less reticence in regularly playing younger defenders at U23 level (Gibson, Astley, John et al) than forwards (Simms, Gordon). I wonder if this is a strategy or simply because the defenders are seen to be more ready to make the step up.

Saying that, Simms does not lack the physicality, but Gordon is now getting much more game time suggesting he’s more highly considered.

Generally speaking, I do think the younger players in the U23 set-up will leapfrog older players in the queue.

 

[Nymzee]

....I’ve made this point before, so apologies, but there seems a lot less reticence in regularly playing younger defenders at U23 level (Gibson, Astley, John et al) than forwards (Simms, Gordon). I wonder if this is a strategy or simply because the defenders are seen to be more ready to make the step up.

Saying that, Simms does not lack the physicality, but Gordon is now getting much more game time suggesting he’s more highly considered.

Generally speaking, I do think the younger players in the U23 set-up will leapfrog older players in the queue.

Most, if not all, the older players will be gone in the Summer IMO.

 

[blueblue]

At this level the way the football is played is more important than winning titles.
I worry that the focus may be the other way around.

 

[blueloon]

....I’ve made this point before, so apologies, but there seems a lot less reticence in regularly playing younger defenders at U23 level (Gibson, Astley, John et al) than forwards (Simms, Gordon). I wonder if this is a strategy or simply because the defenders are seen to be more ready to make the step up.

Saying that, Simms does not lack the physicality, but Gordon is now getting much more game time suggesting he’s more highly considered.

Generally speaking, I do think the younger players in the U23 set-up will leapfrog older players in the queue.

I think Unsworth is more able to get the best out of young defenders compared to young attackers, he finds it easier to fit young defenders into his style. Gordon has always been considered the pick of the 2nd year bunch, even with Simms getting the headlines so I’m hoping he gets more and more games, we’ve nobody else like him. In recent years we’ve had a habit of hanging on to mediocre forwards, Duffus, McAlany, Grant, Dyson etc it’s a difficult one when you want to give them a chance but none ever looked good enough. Unsworth brought Sambou in from Coventry and I think he wanted to give him as much opportunity as possible .... but.

 

[DrEFC]

Mate simms has only played 1 or 2 times for u23s, not anywhere near PL level, hopefully in time.
Sambou is pretty rubbish.
Broadhead is interesting but nowhere near PL level yet either

Broadhead looks like he'd be a nightmare to handle. I'd put him ahead of the other forwards.

 

[Bluelladevil]

Hugely impressed by Adeniran – an exciting box to box player. Seemed very strong in possession and carried the ball forwards through centre of midfield.With him in mind I have been wondering for a while about Tom Davies and whether his best position may be as a defensive central midfielder. He has size and pace and can tackle strongly. He is a good short passer but there would be less onus on him to be creative higher up the pitch which he is being asked to do at present and I think that is a weakness in his game. Playing as a defensive central midfielder means less instances of being caught in possession as there can be more space and time on the ball in that role.On occasions I have seen him hit accurate long passes from deep positions out to runners in wide areas so from a deeper position he could get his head up and hit longer passes. Perhaps a future midfield of Davies in a defensive position and Adeniran playing the box to box role.

Also Silva should surely be considering giving some playing time to Hornby in the first team before the end of the season. His retention of possession with his back to goal when under pressure is extremely impressive as is his weight of pass when laying the ball off. This aspect is a significant weakness in DCL’s game with too many instances when he gives possession away if he is being pressed.The value to a team of someone holding the ball in advanced positions is critical– it allows midfielders and fullbacks to get up the pitch in attacking positions or beyond the opposition’s line of defence. Incessantly losing possession in attacking positions means a team is always likely to be under pressure once possession is lost by the forward. Hornby appears to be big and strong enough but whether he can do it in the premiership we will never know until he is given a chance.

 

[Eggs]

I think Unsworth is more able to get the best out of young defenders compared to young attackers, he finds it easier to fit young defenders into his style. Gordon has always been considered the pick of the 2nd year bunch, even with Simms getting the headlines so I’m hoping he gets more and more games, we’ve nobody else like him. In recent years we’ve had a habit of hanging on to mediocre forwards, Duffus, McAlany, Grant, Dyson etc it’s a difficult one when you want to give them a chance but none ever looked good enough. Unsworth brought Sambou in from Coventry and I think he wanted to give him as much opportunity as possible .... but.

...it’s such a more difficult skill set for forwards, that the number of them coming through will always be fewer. I’m stating the obvious really.

 

[Nymzee]

Markelo looks great, but he’s very similar to Beni who isn’t getting a sniff.