Little Ralphy
Player Valuation: £15m
I'm not sure any are on the Barkley/Rooney kind of level, but Dowell for me is the one if given the right chances, could make the breakthrough.
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I'm not sure any are on the Barkley/Rooney kind of level, but Dowell for me is the one if given the right chances, could make the breakthrough.
bluebrotha77
Player Valuation: £20m
Ya actually forgot about davies.looks good at the minute as well.ya id agree noone is really standing out above the rest but what we do have is serious potential.so while there might not be a serious stand alone talent(rooney,ross)shining at the minute we do have the potential to have 3 or 4 quality players in a few years.
Sometimes like in galloways case an injury to a player that we might not have back up for can catapult you into the first team as well even though another player might be playing better and maybe more deserving of a chance.
mightymoyes
Player Valuation: £70m
if he couldnt even make the bench for the home fa cup game against D&R i doubt we'll be seeing him this season unfortunately. hope im wrong though, would like to see him given some minutes too
Philw
Player Valuation: £50m
There should be regulations and rules preventing them doing this imo. Financial considerations shouldn't come into it at these age groups.
There is mate but there's all kinds of ways around it.
Until kid signs professional terms they can literally walk out on any club at any age and there's nothing that club can do about it.
Our best under 16 can speak to anyone he wants during a 2 week window at the end of May and choose to leave, this is the same at any club.
The only compensation we get is what is written in to the new elite performance plan contracts drawn up by the FA that all grade 1 academy kids have to sign and it's a set figure for every year they have been developed.
For example a 9 year old leaving our academy (or any other grade 1 academy) to City (or again any other academy), City would give us £3.5k, once he's 10 that's £10k, at 11 it's £42k and so on, it increases year on year but those figures mentioned there are the exact figures we will get. It does get higher the longer they've been here and in the later years it's considerably higher. It doesn't matter on his ability it's the time he's been trained here. If we release him, he can sign anywhere for free, the clauses only have to be paid if we still want the lad.
The moral is though, as long as the clubs can convince the parents to move there child on by whatever means (£££££) there is very little we or anyone else can do about it.
Little Ralphy
Player Valuation: £15m
On the other side of the coin, we can also do this to other clubs.
Yes, and we do.
Little Ralphy
Player Valuation: £15m
I know mate, we're actually really good at it. I just wanted to put a positive note to it as I agree it's an issue with City etc. but we're actually masters at doing this to clubs ourselves.
Well most have been covered already , except one of my favourites who's currently our top goalscorer for the u21s with 5 goals, despite playing mainly at left back... Callum Connolly. At 18 he's nowhere near the 1st team and nowhere near doing a Barkley. He can play midfield , centre back and they played him RB for the u18s recently ,so he's versatile. He can't strike a dead ball like Baines , drive into the box like Coleman, cross like Garbutt, probably not as defensively sound yet as Galloway but he has something above all of them . He has the ability to get into the right position in the box to score goals which he can do with both feet and has also scored a few with his head .When Galloway gets into the box he sometimes overruns the play or gets into the wrong position, Connolly seems to have a natural instinct to arrive in the right place at the right time and to finish. Its a bit of an unfair comparison as Galloway has been up against PL defenders who dont give him the same room Connolly gets at u21 level but Connolly certainly has it at his current level.
Its not just this season or at Everton he's been doing it . I first noticed him about 18 months ago when he scored 2 goals in one game for England u17 and scored another in the next game, again from LB. The last time I saw him play for England on tv (U19s I think) he ghosted into the box to pick up a pass and was brought down, earning a penalty. Many young FBs would have gone wide towards the corner flag to accept the pass, content with just crossing the ball.He's also developed more physically in the past year and is tall enough to be a CB and to trouble any GKs if there's a high ball in the box. See the goal he set up for Leandro against Newcastle recently. His increased physicality has certainly helped his defensive abilities too.
We were willing to pay £4 mill for the 22 year old Byram as cover at RB, so hopefully we will give Connolly enough time to develop and see if he can cut it at a higher level in a position , LB, which is arguably the strongest we have , so no need to rush him. He's got 4 years until 22 but I think we'll know before then if he has what it takes.
catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
This is a good shout. Connolly has really come on in the last 12 months or so, and might be close to overtaking Kenny. The parallels are interesting there, with Connolly almost being a left footed mirror of Kenny (ie full back, can play centre aback and also can play in midfield.)
I think a lot depends on formations. I see him being a very natural left sided centre back in a 3, when we've played that for the under 18's he's looked very natural.
catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
Davies looks very physically imposing. I know you've said you've seen him out running and it's definitely something I've noticed in his development over the last 18 months. It really shows as a footballer you are rarely the finished article at 16 in fact it's more the start of the journey. There's also a lot more to it than just footballing skills, getting bigger and stronger makes a huge difference.
When I first saw Tom I thought he was a neat and tidy player and captain of a very strong youth team. I was never convinced though as I thought he lacked the leadership abilities Ledson and the technical skill of Walsh. However with his increased physicality though he has carved a bit of a niche out for himself. He looks fitter and stronger than most he goes up against which has taken him from as I said a tidy midfield player to one who has a big influence on games. I can see why England seniors picked him out to train with them as he is most suited to dealing with the demands of the mens game. The lad deserves a lot of credit for that as it's definitely not easy.
Williams is a bit the opposite. A very unsung hero but Unsworth thinks very highly of him, he did say recently though he lacked Davies's physical strength. It can't be long you'd imagine until he is out on loan somewhere trying to prove his point.
As for the original question there is a bit of a paradox there, as it's "who will be the next to break through" and "who will be the next Barkley". Both questions have different answers.
For who will get an opportunity with the first team next, I think it will be Dowell (or Pennington if he's not counted) as they are closest to the first team.
The next Barkley? I don't think anyone of them currently had the package Barkley had. Barkley and Rooney are unique to that, in my years of following youth football the only 2 I've seen from Everton (possibly Rodwell too). They had physicality and skill.
What we currently have are a number of players (mentioned in this post and some of the others) who are at a similar level to an Osman or a Hibbert. Not the most special players in an age group but very solid pro's who will make a good career out of the game and stand a decent chance of getting an opportunity at Everton.
If I was pushed, I think Evans is the closest thing we have to a star player coming through. He has the physical profile to match the skill.
You know when I was thinking about the FB comparisons in my head I included Kenny but left him out for ease of understanding. Certainly in his Wigan loan Kenny was ahead, and a better crosser from FB than Connolly but its the physical side that Connolly has shot ahead on, with any luck we can develop two good versatile FBs.
Dowell and Ledson post loan will be closest to first-team come the end of the season. Evans I'd say is almost there ability wise but physically no and could benefit from a loan.
Coffee and TV
Player Valuation: £25m
U21s playing Accrington Stanley in the Liverpool Senior Cup semi-final tonight