Everton Youth Teams Thread

blueloon said:
That was our downfall , outnumbered in midfield first half , Oliyawola is a talented 15 year old but not a patch yet on what Armstrong would have given .
Then they had 9 behind the ball 2nd half., when I thought we created enough chances to get an equaliser, so I don’t agree with this “ they outplayed us” . People tend to go overboard whenever the youth team lose , we lost to a team who tracked back , defended well and ran their socks off .
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Yeah i don't think we were outplayed at all. It was 90 minutes of attack vs defence and on pretty much any other night Graham puts away one of his 6 gilt edged chances and we win confortably. They did put bodies on the line and work hard though.

The game was lost by our 4-2-4 and then 4-1-5! Formations just completely losing the midfield battle and not having any real semblance of play outside of clipping balls over the top.

Hard to say whether it's Wally Hall having a smaller pitch or the absence of Baines/Armstrong but it just wasn't clicking enough.
 

atrottel said:
I'd say they 'outplayed us' in the sense that (apart from the last 15 minutes) a loose midfield ball either always went to a Plymouth player or to an Everton player who was immediately closed down. And they were very clever playing the ref with that close pressing and their slighter size. Very soft free kicks given all game (and we failed to react to that tactic).

Added: from a more positive point of view, I thought Van Schoor had another decent game.
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🤷‍♂️ well it’s all different views , outplayed to me means a more skilled team who play football that we couldn’t match, I don’t view that as the case. Outfought seems more appropriate to me , outthought too in the way they played the ref , pulled all their players back behind the ball and stuck to their game plan. At this age we rarely have players with the skill to break down such a defence.

I’m disappointed with the result but not unduly upset . My big worry is the flexibility in tactics and movement I saw in pre season and in other games wasn’t there tonight . We know few of these players will make it , but there’s talent there if it can be developed properly.
 
EFC_FRANCIS said:
Yeah i don't think we were outplayed at all. It was 90 minutes of attack vs defence and on pretty much any other night Graham puts away one of his 6 gilt edged chances and we win confortably. They did put bodies on the line and work hard though.

The game was lost by our 4-2-4 and then 4-1-5! Formations just completely losing the midfield battle and not having any real semblance of play outside of clipping balls over the top.

Hard to say whether it's Wally Hall having a smaller pitch or the absence of Baines/Armstrong but it just wasn't clicking enough.
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Yep I posted similar in another response so won’t repeat it all. We’ve played 424 before but I don’t ever recall us trying to play that way for so long. Graham and Clarke were wasted, both have shown they can pick up the ball deeper and go through the middle and score or set up chances . Hopefully some lessons were learned.
 
Southern:

"It was a poor start, a catalogue of errors in the first 90 seconds which culminated in us conceding the goal. We didn’t start in the correct fashion at all.

"Even for the next 20 minutes or so, we never really got going. We were shellshocked, I think, by the poor start. We grew into the half a little bit and had some opportunities, but so did they.

"We asked for more at half-time and I think we got more in terms of effort and energy, but we just couldn’t find that decisive, creative moment. We fashioned some good opportunities but just couldn’t capitalise on them.

"They came with a game plan, and we gave them a leg-up early on and given them something to hold onto. I thought they deserved it. Their industry, their effort, their willingness to put their bodies on the line, their collective team spirit, it all showed how you can win a football match and it’s a big learning curve for our lads.

"I thought we fell short in those areas which I’ve spoken a lot to the boys about in the last few days and weeks. It was a difficult evening.

"We should have scored and should have got back on level terms in the second half, I felt, but we didn’t. They have to take their medicine, we have to as staff. We'll reflect and hopefully be better for the outcome."
 
EFC_FRANCIS said:
Yeah i don't think we were outplayed at all. It was 90 minutes of attack vs defence and on pretty much any other night Graham puts away one of his 6 gilt edged chances and we win confortably. They did put bodies on the line and work hard though.

The game was lost by our 4-2-4 and then 4-1-5! Formations just completely losing the midfield battle and not having any real semblance of play outside of clipping balls over the top.

Hard to say whether it's Wally Hall having a smaller pitch or the absence of Baines/Armstrong but it just wasn't clicking enough.
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Is the pitch smaller ? I thought Goodison was one of the smallest in the PL ?
 

EFC_FRANCIS said:
Southern:

"It was a poor start, a catalogue of errors in the first 90 seconds which culminated in us conceding the goal. We didn’t start in the correct fashion at all.

"Even for the next 20 minutes or so, we never really got going. We were shellshocked, I think, by the poor start. We grew into the half a little bit and had some opportunities, but so did they.

"We asked for more at half-time and I think we got more in terms of effort and energy, but we just couldn’t find that decisive, creative moment. We fashioned some good opportunities but just couldn’t capitalise on them.

"They came with a game plan, and we gave them a leg-up early on and given them something to hold onto. I thought they deserved it. Their industry, their effort, their willingness to put their bodies on the line, their collective team spirit, it all showed how you can win a football match and it’s a big learning curve for our lads.

"I thought we fell short in those areas which I’ve spoken a lot to the boys about in the last few days and weeks. It was a difficult evening.

"We should have scored and should have got back on level terms in the second half, I felt, but we didn’t. They have to take their medicine, we have to as staff. We'll reflect and hopefully be better for the outcome."
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Pretty honest assessment and echoes with how I saw it.
 
EFC_FRANCIS said:
Southern:

"It was a poor start, a catalogue of errors in the first 90 seconds which culminated in us conceding the goal. We didn’t start in the correct fashion at all.

"Even for the next 20 minutes or so, we never really got going. We were shellshocked, I think, by the poor start. We grew into the half a little bit and had some opportunities, but so did they.

"We asked for more at half-time and I think we got more in terms of effort and energy, but we just couldn’t find that decisive, creative moment. We fashioned some good opportunities but just couldn’t capitalise on them.

"They came with a game plan, and we gave them a leg-up early on and given them something to hold onto. I thought they deserved it. Their industry, their effort, their willingness to put their bodies on the line, their collective team spirit, it all showed how you can win a football match and it’s a big learning curve for our lads.

"I thought we fell short in those areas which I’ve spoken a lot to the boys about in the last few days and weeks. It was a difficult evening.

"We should have scored and should have got back on level terms in the second half, I felt, but we didn’t. They have to take their medicine, we have to as staff. We'll reflect and hopefully be better for the outcome."
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No idea why he got the job after Baines moved on it just seemed like it was a safe move with no real thought about succession planning. Hopefully either TFG or the new CEO get to grips with the youth setup in the summer because for the first time in a while we have a lot of promising U18s.
 
Lots of good points made so far about the match last night, always enjoy reading your opinions ladies and gents.

I was sat around the halfway line last night and have to shout out the entourage of friends and families that Plymouth brought up. Good numbers and pretty vocal too. Their boys did them proud with an excellent performance.

I thought the game was pretty even overall. They dominated the first half, especially the first 30 mins. The early penalty really rocked us and we were struggling to put any passage of play together at all. 2nd half we came out much stronger and pinned them back into a really low block. I actually think our coaches made a big mistake with the first subs (Olayiwola and Loney off, Stewart and Akarakiri on). We were in complete control at this point and had a good rhythm to our play and this really messed us up. Clarke moved to the left to accommodate Stewart on the right and Clarke pretty much disappeared from the game. We still had good chances to equalise though, Braiden Graham certainly didn't have his shooting boots on.

I'd echo the point made earlier about feeling the absence of Armstrong. His athleticism and overall quality on the ball hid a lot of issues with this 442/424 system. I wonder if/when we'll see a change to another shape and if we even have the players to do it. Looking at the squad at the moment, you'd have to call it top heavy at the very least. With Gardner having to fill in at right back and centre back too, the midfield is looking bare bones. Might be time to promote one of the 18s forwards to the 21s and promote a few young midfielders into the 18s.

To end with a little positivity, it was only 1-0 and we did create enough chances to draw in my opinion. Good performances from Lukjanciks, Van Schoor, Foster and Clarke. Clarke is still the star of the team for me and the only player in this batch that really excites me. It will be interesting to see how he fairs against bigger, faster, wilier opponents when he gets his chance with the 21s.
 

….well done Neil Dewsnip as their ex-DOF putting a group together capable of coming here and beating a club like ours. Takes attitude and quality to do that. It’s a game our lads might never forget.

I’ve played in Plymouth plenty over the years and it’s not quite the football outback posters might think. There’s significant employment around Devenport with its docks and naval base, always decent semi-pro players living around those parts bringing up youngsters with football interest.

As I posted last night, I wouldn’t be surprised to look back at their team sheet in 3 years and find there was a very decent one on the pitch last night. Disappointing for us but well done Plymouth.
 
oglop44 said:
Lots of good points made so far about the match last night, always enjoy reading your opinions ladies and gents.

I was sat around the halfway line last night and have to shout out the entourage of friends and families that Plymouth brought up. Good numbers and pretty vocal too. Their boys did them proud with an excellent performance.

I thought the game was pretty even overall. They dominated the first half, especially the first 30 mins. The early penalty really rocked us and we were struggling to put any passage of play together at all. 2nd half we came out much stronger and pinned them back into a really low block. I actually think our coaches made a big mistake with the first subs (Olayiwola and Loney off, Stewart and Akarakiri on). We were in complete control at this point and had a good rhythm to our play and this really messed us up. Clarke moved to the left to accommodate Stewart on the right and Clarke pretty much disappeared from the game. We still had good chances to equalise though, Braiden Graham certainly didn't have his shooting boots on.

I'd echo the point made earlier about feeling the absence of Armstrong. His athleticism and overall quality on the ball hid a lot of issues with this 442/424 system. I wonder if/when we'll see a change to another shape and if we even have the players to do it. Looking at the squad at the moment, you'd have to call it top heavy at the very least. With Gardner having to fill in at right back and centre back too, the midfield is looking bare bones. Might be time to promote one of the 18s forwards to the 21s and promote a few young midfielders into the 18s.

To end with a little positivity, it was only 1-0 and we did create enough chances to draw in my opinion. Good performances from Lukjanciks, Van Schoor, Foster and Clarke. Clarke is still the star of the team for me and the only player in this batch that really excites me. It will be interesting to see how he fairs against bigger, faster, wilier opponents when he gets his chance with the 21s.
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Clarke did look the standout last night, I do rate Thomas though. He was nowhere near his best last night until the final 30 however.

You could see Graham has a spark as well, it’ll be interesting to see how he develops physically.

Eggs said:
….well done Neil Dewsnip as their ex-DOF putting a group together capable of coming here and beating a club like ours. Takes attitude and quality to do that. It’s a game our lads might never forget.

I’ve played in Plymouth plenty over the years and it’s not quite the football outback posters might think. There’s significant employment around Devenport with its docks and naval base, always decent semi-pro players living around those parts bringing up youngsters with football interest.

As I posted last night, I wouldn’t be surprised to look back at their team sheet in 3 years and find there was a very decent one on the pitch last night. Disappointing for us but well done Plymouth.
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I thought the lad who played left wing first half for them (11? Blonde lad I think) was superb, looked a real handful and like he had ‘time’. Usually a good indicator he’s playing below his level.
 
jerseytoffee said:

Everton urgently need to fix Farhad Moshiri academy downgrade – The Toffees Online

thetoffees.online thetoffees.online

Interesting article, didn't realise the hours had been reduced for the lower ages Hopefully this can be sorted under TFG.
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This came out originally in the “ I paper” last November , it is/was behind a paywall so it generated some but not a lot of discussion . Someone referenced it here again a week or so ago .
One of the most interesting bits in the article was the “ game model” and how the Academy would work on a flexible style of play with 3 different models , 442, 343, 433 and how players would be coached to be flexible . We’ve been doing that since pre season in the u17/u18 games I’ve watched streams of . But it didn’t happen last night, which is a worry. I wouldn’t disagree with Keith Southern’s statement but saying “ We asked for more effort and energy “ at half time smacks of a lack of tactical nous of what was wrong and the changes that needed to be made in the shape we were playing , even if done with the same players.
 
I lose track of, forget, or just don’t see some of the loans and deals that are made at u21 level in a transfer window. This is what I think happened this time , have I missed anything ?
Out : Stanley Mills Oxford; Charlie Whitaker Notts County .
Loans: Harrison Armstrong Derby; Bradley Moonan Prescott Cables .

I thought some others like Luke Butterfield would have been out on loan too.
 

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