catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
Another impressive win for the under 18's. I had mentioned Brewster as one to watch a few weeks back and was pleased to see him back in action. Given the injury troubles he had it was mainly about seeing him back on the pitch before making any huge statements about him, but given his potential it's a relief to see him playing again.
Brewster himself was part of our much spoken about strong year group. He was the main striker in this team and scored a hatful of goals up to under 16's levels. I remember him getting 4 against Chelsea (who were our nearest competitors nationally) and they just couldn't get near him. He also got exposure to the under 18's as a 15 year old in the mini derby a few years back. Back then he looked quite a little lad, with lots of pace but an excellent spring in the air. Most weeks as an under 15/16 you'd hear about our results and it would be "we won 6-1 and Brewster got 2" or "8-2 for the under15/16's this week Brewster got 5" etc. He would be on the score sheet and often more than once in a game.
I had very high hopes for him as an under 16. He was definitely our best attacking prospect since Chris Long and in all likelihood you'd probably have to go back to James Vaughan to find someone with a similar reputation at equivalent age. As a first year scholar as an under 17 I anticipated seeing him getting opportunities in the under 21's. He had his whole season wiped out with injuries which was a great shame. He looks like he's getting back to his best now though and as his scoring stats show he can be unplayable in his own age group.
What I have noticed most since he has come back after a year out is how much more physical he is. He has really had a growth spurt over the last couple of years and is much more physical now to go along with his pace and finishing skills.
As some have said the acid test for Brewster is now going to be whether he can kick on in the under 21's. In the end the under 18's is only so impressive. His strike partner Broadhead is also performing brilliantly but he is not anywhere near being ahead of Keiran Dowell who is a similar type of player in the same age group. Being able to transfer those skills into men's football is going to be the key challenge.
Others have noted with the under 18's they have a far more settled team this year which may be preventing Brewster and Broadhead getting game time in the 21's. I am not sure if this has been a deliberate decision or it's bee forced upon us a little given how successful we have been.
It could well be that they have decided to try and keep the 18's together a bit better than in previous years. There's little doubt last year that we threw away the chance of a second league title with our desire to push older under 18's into the reserves and out on loan. Ledson and Kenny in particular didn't play for the 18's, while Dyson, Walsh & Dowell featured very infrequently despite being eligible. Given the injury problems that Brewster & Donuhue had it left the 18's very stretched and it was remarkable we came second. This may have led to coaches in the 18's wanting to keep a more settled team this year.
Alternatively it could just be as almost a reaction to the previous policy. In spite of what other clubs say very few of them have even come close to operating a system like Everton have the past 3 or 4 years where they have regularly played schoolboys in their reserves teams. Kenny & Ledson were training with the reserves as under 16's a policy which has continued with Dowell. Our under 21's has looked closer to an under 18's side. This has meant that you now have a group of 18/19 year olds who have cemented a place with the under 21's and therefore there simply isn't the space to move players into. The classic case might be Broadhead, performing brilliantly for the under 18's but currently Dowell would occupy his place in the under 21's.
This is not a problem as such as it will only increase competition for places. I think we may have gone a bit far promoting under 18's so keeping them together for an extra 6 months and giving them less frequent opportunities in the reserves won't do them any harm.
As a final point Brewster as a massive Evertonian. He used to be a regular ballboy a few years back.
Brewster himself was part of our much spoken about strong year group. He was the main striker in this team and scored a hatful of goals up to under 16's levels. I remember him getting 4 against Chelsea (who were our nearest competitors nationally) and they just couldn't get near him. He also got exposure to the under 18's as a 15 year old in the mini derby a few years back. Back then he looked quite a little lad, with lots of pace but an excellent spring in the air. Most weeks as an under 15/16 you'd hear about our results and it would be "we won 6-1 and Brewster got 2" or "8-2 for the under15/16's this week Brewster got 5" etc. He would be on the score sheet and often more than once in a game.
I had very high hopes for him as an under 16. He was definitely our best attacking prospect since Chris Long and in all likelihood you'd probably have to go back to James Vaughan to find someone with a similar reputation at equivalent age. As a first year scholar as an under 17 I anticipated seeing him getting opportunities in the under 21's. He had his whole season wiped out with injuries which was a great shame. He looks like he's getting back to his best now though and as his scoring stats show he can be unplayable in his own age group.
What I have noticed most since he has come back after a year out is how much more physical he is. He has really had a growth spurt over the last couple of years and is much more physical now to go along with his pace and finishing skills.
As some have said the acid test for Brewster is now going to be whether he can kick on in the under 21's. In the end the under 18's is only so impressive. His strike partner Broadhead is also performing brilliantly but he is not anywhere near being ahead of Keiran Dowell who is a similar type of player in the same age group. Being able to transfer those skills into men's football is going to be the key challenge.
Others have noted with the under 18's they have a far more settled team this year which may be preventing Brewster and Broadhead getting game time in the 21's. I am not sure if this has been a deliberate decision or it's bee forced upon us a little given how successful we have been.
It could well be that they have decided to try and keep the 18's together a bit better than in previous years. There's little doubt last year that we threw away the chance of a second league title with our desire to push older under 18's into the reserves and out on loan. Ledson and Kenny in particular didn't play for the 18's, while Dyson, Walsh & Dowell featured very infrequently despite being eligible. Given the injury problems that Brewster & Donuhue had it left the 18's very stretched and it was remarkable we came second. This may have led to coaches in the 18's wanting to keep a more settled team this year.
Alternatively it could just be as almost a reaction to the previous policy. In spite of what other clubs say very few of them have even come close to operating a system like Everton have the past 3 or 4 years where they have regularly played schoolboys in their reserves teams. Kenny & Ledson were training with the reserves as under 16's a policy which has continued with Dowell. Our under 21's has looked closer to an under 18's side. This has meant that you now have a group of 18/19 year olds who have cemented a place with the under 21's and therefore there simply isn't the space to move players into. The classic case might be Broadhead, performing brilliantly for the under 18's but currently Dowell would occupy his place in the under 21's.
This is not a problem as such as it will only increase competition for places. I think we may have gone a bit far promoting under 18's so keeping them together for an extra 6 months and giving them less frequent opportunities in the reserves won't do them any harm.
As a final point Brewster as a massive Evertonian. He used to be a regular ballboy a few years back.
