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Everton Youth Teams Thread

Eggs said:
….I said 18 months ago that Dobbin is one of those footballers ‘who just look right’. Some footballers look fancy but others are uncomplicated but effective, Dobbin is one of those. He was a little disappointing last season but the coaches clearly know what they have and it’s great to see his profile rising.

it’s a massive leap to the first team but he‘s had an amazing pre-season might get a chance because of the lack of quality ahead of him. Fingers crossed.
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In fairness mate Dobbin’s season was ruined by injury, I wouldn’t say he was disappointing as such just never got a decent run of games, 1 U23s start and about 7 or 8 u18s games. It would have been interesting seeing a fully fit Dobbin playing in the Youth Cup against Chelsea/City , I think he’d have shown his ability then, but didn’t last a full game. As you say it’s a big leap to the first team, I wonder if we’ll expose him to first team training until January then a loan afterwards for the rest of the season.
 
Eggs said:
….the more games these youngsters play against open-age opposition the better.
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There are some proper pro's and good footballers at that level. Lads who in the old fashioned sense need that win bonus. I read a great article in the Athletic a while back about a Liverpool fan, can't remember his name, but is off to Newport now, in his 40's but making a decent career still out of the game. I do wonder if a lot of these lads in academies need a bit of a dose of reality from time to time in those sort of matches to get them into the real world a bit.

I worked with a lad when I was a teacher who played conference level, who was a very good footballer, but used to work in the school of a day and play of a night. It's very incentivised at that level, but it was a tidy packet he got if they won. If not it was often a bit of a wasted trip. It's a bit of an eye opener really.
 
blueloon said:
In fairness mate Dobbin’s season was ruined by injury, I wouldn’t say he was disappointing as such just never got a decent run of games, 1 U23s start and about 7 or 8 u18s games. It would have been interesting seeing a fully fit Dobbin playing in the Youth Cup against Chelsea/City , I think he’d have shown his ability then, but didn’t last a full game. As you say it’s a big leap to the first team, I wonder if we’ll expose him to first team training until January then a loan afterwards for the rest of the season.
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….I really hope he doesn’t go on loan, I’m dead against our best youngsters going that route.
 
catcherintherye said:
I make that 3 players with Barker. I think both of those lads might be playing a year up on themselves. There's a midfielder called Pickford, and another called Ebere who have had some international recognition I believe. Beaumont Clark I've written about on here before, a tricky right winger we got from Manchester United.
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It’s always difficult to tell unless you know their birthdays but I’m pretty sure Barker, Lawrence and Beaumont-Clark are in the right age groups as they’ve all played at the same age level for England for a few years. George Pickford was in the England u15 squad last year along with goalkeeper Seb Jensen, son of Danish goalkeeping coach Brian , and full back Ishe Samuels-Smith, so I’m assuming they’ll be with England u16 s, I know Jensen is. As said earlier, their birthdays determine which England year they are in but they may well be mixed together in the same School years. It’s always interesting seeing the new u18 squads and which Schoolboys are coming through.
 
catcherintherye said:
There are some proper pro's and good footballers at that level. Lads who in the old fashioned sense need that win bonus. I read a great article in the Athletic a while back about a Liverpool fan, can't remember his name, but is off to Newport now, in his 40's but making a decent career still out of the game. I do wonder if a lot of these lads in academies need a bit of a dose of reality from time to time in those sort of matches to get them into the real world a bit.

I worked with a lad when I was a teacher who played conference level, who was a very good footballer, but used to work in the school of a day and play of a night. It's very incentivised at that level, but it was a tidy packet he got if they won. If not it was often a bit of a wasted trip. It's a bit of an eye opener really.
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….good money to be made in the semi-pro ranks. Can cover the mortgage for blokes with young families and a full time job.
 

blueloon said:
It’s always difficult to tell unless you know their birthdays but I’m pretty sure Barker, Lawrence and Beaumont-Clark are in the right age groups as they’ve all played at the same age level for England for a few years. George Pickford was in the England u15 squad last year along with goalkeeper Seb Jensen, son of Danish goalkeeping coach Brian , and full back Ishe Samuels-Smith, so I’m assuming they’ll be with England u16 s, I know Jensen is. As said earlier, their birthdays determine which England year they are in but they may well be mixed together in the same School years. It’s always interesting seeing the new u18 squads and which Schoolboys are coming through.
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Is Barker a 1st year scholar with us? I don't think any of the rest are, and still think Lawrence is 15 as is Beaumount-Clark.
 
Eggs said:
….good money to be made in the semi-pro ranks. Can cover the mortgage for blokes with young families and a full time job.
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The thing was for him was that hours required were radically different being part time. It allowed him to have his career in education, but also make some decent money on top. So he had a stability and a longer term plan. It seemed from his comments the money could be comparable, but it required on them winning a lot!
 
mightymoyes said:
Yeh barker was 16 in Feb, the other 2 are still 15 so I assume in school but all must be same international age group
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Yep that’s it in a nutshell. International year starts 1st Jan, “ Scholar/ school year” 1st September hence you sometimes get mix of Scholar years in an international team. A good example is Reece Welch who played in same England teams as Dobbin/Onyango despite being a year below them in Scholar terms.
 
catcherintherye said:
Picking of young players to break through is obviously very difficult, as you see them in youth team games but you don't see them training and how they get on. You're right he had a difficult year last year, but he was injured a lot. In a strange way it probably hasn't done him any harm, he certainly seemed to do some growing in that time which would have helped.

You're right that he always looked right. The age group he was in was not a special one by any stretch, but he was very much the standout. I know they wanted to get him into the 23's earlier, and as a 16/17 year old probably struggled to really make that impact. Though this season, he just looks streets ahead of the opponents he is playing at that level. That doesn't mean he is necessarily good enough for the 1st team, but it's a good sign. I didn't get that feeling about Tom Cannon and said as much, and the same with Ellis Simms, who for me just doesn't look a natural at this level (in the way you describe Dobbin as looking "right" Simms just doesn't to me).

Dobbin you'd think is going to be pushing Gordon for his spot. They play in similar areas and Gordon as yet hasn't completely kicked on. I know people often want bespoke plans for players etc, but I always think that sort of stuff normally delays the inevitable. You will get opportunities, but you need to take them. Most of the young players who did well here just fitted in naturally from the 1st minute. Rooney being the obvious one, but Barkley, Rodwell and Michael Ball all looked at home in mens football. I remember watching Franny Jeffers debut at Debut (or one of his early games) and his movement was fantastic.

The big take out from that interview was the part where he says he wants to stay in the managers mind. That's the right attitude for me. Get yourself in his eye line and try and keep yourself there. With the club seemingly reigning in some spending, there are opportunities there for younger players if they really want to take them. I also really like the look of Charlie Whittaker, but do think he needs to grow a bit, but he scored a brilliant goal at the weekend for the 23's, and was a bit (dare I say it) Gerrard esque how he powered with the ball through the middle of the pitch, and slammed in from 25 yards.
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….you know better than me, but do Dobbin & Gordon ‘play in similar areas’?

Dobbin seems to attack more centrally than Gordon. Gordon more of a conventional wide player with his genuine pace, Dobbin seems to link & then get on the end of things well. Not physically big, not sure who I’d compare him to, perhaps the Dutch lad, Depay.
 

Eggs said:
….you know better than me, but do Dobbin & Gordon ‘play in similar areas’?

Dobbin seems to attack more centrally than Gordon. Gordon more of a conventional wide player with his genuine pace, Dobbin seems to link & then get on the end of things well. Not physically big, not sure who I’d compare him to, perhaps the Dutch lad, Depay.
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I agree. For me Dobbin is like Richarlison in style whereas Gordon was more like Bernard. I hope Dobbin can score enough in the u23s to force his way into the first team reckoning. His target should be getting on the bench by the end of the season.
 
catcherintherye said:
Thanks mate. Funny England call it the under 17s.
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Just standard international practice mate, they usually term it born on or before 1st Jan of a certain year. What you are seeing now is NEXT YEARS (2022) u17 s, they start bringing them together in camps August/ September ready for any international competitions next year. Come 1st Jan 2022 all will be 16 , hence u17s next year.
 

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