catcherintherye
Player Valuation: £80m
A good post and I thought I'd add my two pennies worth alongside it.
I have no idea why Walsh and Dowell haven't had international recognition. They have both been rated very highly for a number of years within Everton. However players like Yates and Holland have been quite widely capped. In the end it's about different opinions. I would always take a clubs view of a young player though as they see the players more often. I've always thought England squads at youth level can be a bit clingy and have got some coaches involved like Aidy Boothrood who are not the best judge. They will probably go and watch particular youth teams and pick heavily from geographic areas at particular times. At the moment there are always lots of Chelsea/City players in there, teams when I've watched we have regularly matched and for the most part out performed.
It is odd though, as there is little doubt if you were picking a right hand side of midfield player Dowell would be held in far higher esteem than Holland. But Holland does have different attributes and the England manager may value that (he is an orthodox winger).
Dowell has always been played well above himself. When I first saw him for the under 18's as an under 16's I was a bit "so what" about him. he was a slight lad and I always thought he was on the periphery of games. He also seemed to make less of an impact of games than say Donuhue who played up a couple of years like Dowell. This is where though, just watching the matches only gives you a small picture. What has emerged is that Dowell has developed physically a lot over the last 3 years, which has allowed the technical skills he has to come to the fore and the coaching staff at Everton could obviously see that. (Whereas Donuhue may have peaked a little earlier).
Dowell played very well in pre-season and linked up brilliantly with Barkley and Lukaku in particular. I think you are right to say he would be a good bench option. I thought his performance at Sunderland was very good. He is much stronger now and he glides past players in a way that reminds me of Ozil. he also has that vision and would lay on chances for Lukaku and Barkley which that vision.
The only question mark I ever had about Dowell was that he would be on the periphery of games. He now looks to be far more involved in games and was more central away at Sunderland.
Martinez clearly has a set plan for young players. With the exception of Browning (who at present is a moderate success) it has yet to really come to fruition. Over the next 18 months it will be crunch time for his approach as a number of potential young players reach maturity. His plan involves them getting x number of games at a league club, y number of sessions with the first team, z number of games from the bench before being ready to push for a start. It sounds a good idea, but there does have to be a flexibility if the system doesn't suit a particular player, or someone like Dowell is ready to go in without going on loan. If he is ready to play a part for the first team it doesn't make sense to go out on loan (as it didn't for Galloway).
I like him, I wouldn't say he is head and shoulders above Ledson, Walsh, Kenny or even Evans but I think he just suits what we need a little more. All of the above have first team players ahead of them in their preferred role doing a good job. Since the decline of Peinaar and Osman we have missed a clever player. I think Lukaku would benefit massively from Dowells intelligence and would make a lot of chances for him.
As regards the others you mention, particularly Evans I think he's a little more than just a poacher. His dribbling skills, physique and speed are very impressive.
As a general rule we shouldn't underestimate the players. The last half a dozen games at Under 21 we've been involved in have featured just 1 under 16 player from any team (a left back for Southampton). It puts into perspective how in the space of 2 years we had Kenny, Ledson, Dowell & Evans who all featured quite regularly as schoolboys. That was unusual and does point to talent there.
