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Everton Youth Teams Thread

Eggs said:
...I’m more concerned with our continued to failure to have a run in the FA Youth Cup. I always think that’s a great indicator of talent at U18 level, yet it’s many years since we’ve reached the later rounds.
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Possibly, but the game at u18's to seniors is such a different game.

lack of distance in the cup could show poor coaching into how to play as a team. Could just be simple tactics.

Either way something isn't right. I do like the look of Gordon, he's at the stage where we will find out in the next year or two whether he can make it as hes the first to make it into the 'will he make it?' bracket for a long time, and now is part of the first team squad.

Otherwise there isn't really anyone who we could go 'yeah, possibly, give him some time in a comfortable game' etc.
 
Eggs said:
...not trying to defend Unsworth and I haven’t analysed last night’s team, but I often wonder if his hands are tied regarding certain players he has to select as part of club strategy.

He might not have a free reign when it comes to selection.
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I think that's where the problem lies what is the club's strategy , thought when brands arrived we would see a clearer strategy regarding a playing style that would filter from top to bottom .
Maybe until the academy ban is lifted we won't see a clear strategy
 
blueloon said:
I’m warming more and more to Adeniran as someone who’s differentiating himself from the other three with his attacking play from midfield, more powerful than pacy compared to Gordon. It’ll be interesting to see if he can score more goals.
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Yeh he's more of a CM was just pointing out none were wide players and none were really a number 10. Very bland.
 

Final score Everton u18s win 2-1 at west Brom to stay 3rd-Dobbin/hughes with goals, and move 3 points behind 2nd and 6 points off top with 1 game in hand at minute,but city are 1up in there game so we will probably be 9 points behind with 2 games in hand for us,,,Everton u18s are away to Derby next saturday,the current top 2 play each other there next game in 3weeks so if we keep winning we could get closer
 
Everton Under-18s' boss Paul Tait was proud of his side’s resolute defensive performance following a 2-1 victory over West Brom in the U18 Premier League (North)

First-half goals from Lewis Dobbin and Rhys Hughes set the Blues on their way to victory in an extremely impressive opening 45-minute display.

Baggies forward Mo Faal clawed the hosts back soon after the opener but Welsh midfielder Hughes' pinpoint free-kick re-established a well-deserved lead.

"I thought it was a very professional away performance," Tait told evertonfc.com.

"It was a tough game because West Brom have some really good players.

"Second half, I thought we defended really well and always had a threat on the counter-attack."

Everton started fast and within three minutes were ahead. Dobbin looked lively from the outset and soon got his goal.

Great hassling from Sean McAllister got the visitors on the front foot. He had the awareness to slip the ball to the forward and Dobbin did the rest, planting the ball with his right foot into the bottom-right corner of the Baggies' goal.

The Blues carried a consistent threat but their advantage didn't last long. The hosts hit back seven minutes later when Faal was able to prod home after a scramble in the Everton penalty area.

Despite that setback, the Blues continued to look the more purposeful team. Joshua Hosie on the right found Dobbin, who came agonisingly close to restoring Everton’s lead.

Everton remained in command throughout much of the first half and 10 minutes before the interval, they were back in front.

Excellent work by Dobbin on the edge of the area drew a foul challenge. Hughes put the ball down and curled a lovely free-kick past Jamie Emery in the West Brom goal.

After the break, the Baggies hit back and forced the resolute visiting defensive performance from which Tait drew enormous satisfaction.

"I thought Reece Welch in the middle of the defence did really well," said Tait. "Some great defensive work I was really happy with. We dug in and stuck at it, but always looked a threat as well."

Despite West Brom having much of the second period, the young Blues continued to carve out goalscoring opportunities.

Excellent counter-attacking football opened up the hosts, with both Dobbin and McAllister going close.

A late flurry from the Baggies was repelled by more terrific defensive resistance as the Blues clung on to earn a hard-fought victory in the Midlands.
 

Any idea as to how much impact Ancotti is having onto the youth teams? Have they begun to play a different philosophy or is it still Dino Rhino ball?
 
blueloon said:
I’ve never considered myself a “ tactician “ there are far more impressive people on GOT for analysing tactics , but accepting that hindsight is a wonderful thing, you could see the flaws last night. A flat back 5 who didn’t really press forward, a front 5 lined up like the 5 dots on a dice with huge gaps between John at right wing back and Quirk forward right which allowed them to play it around in midfield and Braaf pick up the ball unchallenged and run with it.
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It was a strange team. I do find it odd that Simms isn't starting most games for Everton at under 23 level. He's clearly the best striking prospect we have and is scoring fairly regularly. Unless he's carrying an injury it does seem odd we started a right winger as a lone forward.

It's also worth noting, Manchester City's side were a lot younger than Everton's last night. Their average age was under 18, ours was just over 19. They have struggled this season and are towards the bottom of the league and we seemed to go there to shut up shop.

It's a bit of a wake up call for lads like Banningime and Adenarin who I believe are both promising, but are 20 & 21 respectively and being given the runaround.

As for Unsworth while I think some of the criticism has been unfair, it does look increasingly as if results were being propped up by holding onto players who in all likelihood had no future at the club. Evans, Feeney, Charley etc.

I think we've created too much of a log jam at under 23's level. Lads such as Simms, Dobbin, Onyango etc should have been getting a lot more exposure a lot earlier.
 
Abraders said:
Any idea as to how much impact Ancotti is having onto the youth teams? Have they begun to play a different philosophy or is it still Dino Rhino ball?
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No discernible impact that I can tell. Read the last U23s report from Friday and people were baffled by the 5-5 no recognised striker starting lineup. The meagre highlights from Saturday’s u18 make it difficult to tell anything but it appeared we played with one striker Dobbin and behind him a 4-2-3 or a 5-4 or even 4-5 system. Either way , there’s no signs of starting formations adopting 4-4-2 with two strikers despite both u18/23 teams having strikers on the bench. Odd really , I’m sure it will sort itself out as we have some young strikers with potential, and as far as I can tell only one striker got a full 90 minutes between both games.
 
blueloon said:
No discernible impact that I can tell. Read the last U23s report from Friday and people were baffled by the 5-5 no recognised striker starting lineup. The meagre highlights from Saturday’s u18 make it difficult to tell anything but it appeared we played with one striker Dobbin and behind him a 4-2-3 or a 5-4 or even 4-5 system. Either way , there’s no signs of starting formations adopting 4-4-2 with two strikers despite both u18/23 teams having strikers on the bench. Odd really , I’m sure it will sort itself out as we have some young strikers with potential, and as far as I can tell only one striker got a full 90 minutes between both games.
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Thanks for that insight mate.

I'd personally be open to Rhino leaving to take on managerial duties elsewhere and have a proper go, paving the way for Don Carlos approach to be taken aboard the youth.

If our youngsters are prepared tactically for what Carlo needs, the pressure on them stepping up into the team should be alleviated somewhat and could only be seen as beneficial for the club as a whole.
 
Abraders said:
Any idea as to how much impact Ancotti is having onto the youth teams? Have they begun to play a different philosophy or is it still Dino Rhino ball?
Click to expand...
blueloon said:
No discernible impact that I can tell. Read the last U23s report from Friday and people were baffled by the 5-5 no recognised striker starting lineup. The meagre highlights from Saturday’s u18 make it difficult to tell anything but it appeared we played with one striker Dobbin and behind him a 4-2-3 or a 5-4 or even 4-5 system. Either way , there’s no signs of starting formations adopting 4-4-2 with two strikers despite both u18/23 teams having strikers on the bench. Odd really , I’m sure it will sort itself out as we have some young strikers with potential, and as far as I can tell only one striker got a full 90 minutes between both games.
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I've said for a while, before we start rolling a specific strategy across the youth teams, we need to settle on one for the first team. People were all for us introducing Silva's preferred style two years ago, but now Ancelotti's is totally different. So would we be ditching the old way and starting again, or carying on with the style we've forced them to implement despite it not tallying with what the first team is playing?

It's why it's difficult to adopt this one style philosophy throughout the club. It's fine when you're Barcelona and you have total faith that your way is the best way, but when you're a club like us it's a big leap to put all your eggs in one basket.
 

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