Everton Youth Teams Thread

[maccavennie]

Interesting indeed, for me a year ago he was an exciting prospect as a 17 year old left back with 4 other capable LBs ahead of him but plenty of time to develop. He wasn't as good as any of those 4 as a complete package, yet he had something that he did better than each of them in one aspect e.g better crosser than some, better goalscorer than others . Then he started to fill out a bit, blossom and show new talentsin a quiet under the radar way, a capable performance in a back 3 second half in the 3-3 Derby draw, a rocket of a shot from his right foot in November, more capable performances as a CH , then as a RB and of course the goals ratio continued to be very good. I would say he's going to be a LB but he's almost as good on the right , he can cross/ shoot with either foot so doesn't have to pull it back to the " stronger" foot.

If , big if, he's the one selected at RB on Wednesday then he'll need to be protected in a better way than Galloway was, and he might get that if McCarthy or Besic is playing ahead of him . Everything suggests that this is just a short term exposure to the first team I'm fine with that. Equally I want to get a glimpse of just how good he can be when playing against better players. Our season has gone stale on us league wise , him and Davies could be just the reviver we need.

Hopefully if Lennon is fit and played in his correct position, he would certainly help Connolly I reckon with him being excellent at tracking back.

 

[mightymoyes]

Davies 17
connolly 19

agree with your points though, different playing a 17 year old as opposed to a 20+ year old.

Btw was meaning to ask you, when ledson,walsh and davies are all fit then how would they line up for the u21s do you think?

Also would connolly usually play LB with galloway LCB ?

18

 

[catcherintherye]

Davies 17
connolly 19

agree with your points though, different playing a 17 year old as opposed to a 20+ year old.

Btw was meaning to ask you, when ledson,walsh and davies are all fit then how would they line up for the u21s do you think?

Also would connolly usually play LB with galloway LCB ?

Hi mate, Connolly is still 18 and a good 6 months off being 19 and Davies will soon be turning 18.

How they all fit is a bit of a mystery to me, especially when you throw into the mix Joe Williams. The truth is we have had these 4 lads and known each of them were very talented for a number of years now. People were talking about Williams as a 13 year old lad being very talented.

The honest answer to your question at this stage is that I don't know. I can give you a rough idea of what the plan is, but often plans can go astray and it will be interesting to see what the result of that is.

Theoretically speaking Walsh and Ledson should both be first choice central midfielders, or next in line, but also could be the ones least in need of under 21 time. They should both be ahead of Davies but with his performance on Saturday and potentially another couple of cameo's, who knows?

I think a lot will depend on the manager. If Martinez stays I sense Ledson will be with the first team like Galloway/Browning this season. I think they will get Walsh out on loan and try to loan out Williams to lower level opposition. If they are unable to do so I think Williams and Davies will be Unsworths preferred option (who has never really played Ledson much).

If we get a new manager, who knows? They may dictate who Unsworth plays, or alternatively they may give him more autonomy over when players get loaned out.

I'm curious to see how they all come back to Finch Farm in the summer. My ideal preference would be Walsh to get a loan to the championship after excelling in league 2, Ledson and Davies to be in the first team squad (mixed in with some under 21's) and Williams to be loaned out to a football league team.

 

[catcherintherye]

Interesting indeed, for me a year ago he was an exciting prospect as a 17 year old left back with 4 other capable LBs ahead of him but plenty of time to develop. He wasn't as good as any of those 4 as a complete package, yet he had something that he did better than each of them in one aspect e.g better crosser than some, better goalscorer than others . Then he started to fill out a bit, blossom and show new talentsin a quiet under the radar way, a capable performance in a back 3 second half in the 3-3 Derby draw, a rocket of a shot from his right foot in November, more capable performances as a CH , then as a RB and of course the goals ratio continued to be very good. I would say he's going to be a LB but he's almost as good on the right , he can cross/ shoot with either foot so doesn't have to pull it back to the " stronger" foot.

If , big if, he's the one selected at RB on Wednesday then he'll need to be protected in a better way than Galloway was, and he might get that if McCarthy or Besic is playing ahead of him . Everything suggests that this is just a short term exposure to the first team I'm fine with that. Equally I want to get a glimpse of just how good he can be when playing against better players. Our season has gone stale on us league wise , him and Davies could be just the reviver we need.

A good summary and I know you have been singing his praises for a while. He was a real unsung hero in that derby 3-3 game.

I remember seeing him as an under 15/6 in our very strong team. He never stood out but was always a bit taller than the rest and had a lot of versatility. In another year group he'd have been the star man but he was a bit overshadowed.

Slowly though he began to kick on, especially when he found a regular position for himself. I think he will keep growing for a bit and may well end up over 6 ft tall and quite a versatile player. He understands his position and will filter back in well, and try to keep it all very simple. As with Davies (in relation to Ledson/Walsh) I'll be fascinated to see (if Martinez remains or not) how Connolly ranks against Kenny come the pre-season.

As for the Derby I wouldn't play him there, I would play McCarthy there, which won't be popular but after the cup Semi Final I'd have no qualms with putting him in. I think Besic will play right hand side midfield in the derby so will offer him some protection.

@Zatara I didn't see the question you asked about Galloway and Connolly and didn't respond, but seems most sensible to put it in here in a Connolly post. I would say there has been bit of variety. I don't remember seeing them play together much, but I think increasingly it has been Galloway at left back and Connolly at Centre Half.

 

[Zatara]

I see my error now on Connolly

Everton site 23/9/97
Wikipedia 23/3/97

So, yes still 18 not 19 as i thought

@catcherintherye interesting on him playing CB with Galloway LB. Also like you said with Kenny also there at RB this summer will be crucial for a few players development whether with us or on loan.

 

[LAToffee]

What academy players has Klopp brought into his team?

 

[kithnou]

Great left foot strike for the goal, and nice right foot volley hitting the post from Dowell.

 

[blueloon]

Great left foot strike for the goal, and nice right foot volley hitting the post from Dowell.]

Great for these youngsters to run out at Goodison to Z Cars, as ever shame they haven't provided more highlights, they clearly have good footage. 10 mins of clips would have been nice , there were some good mentions of young Feeny in the reports that would have been worth seeing. They've had some good results of late pushing them up the league , and if it wasn't for a poor start to the season with only 3 points from the first 5 games they could well have pushed Sunderland for 2nd spot, United cearly the strongest team.

 

[mightymoyes]

What academy players has Klopp brought into his team?

last game he started randall, ojo and smith.

 

[Eggs]

last game he started randall, ojo and smith.

.....Randall is 20, Smith is a 22 year old Australian and they paid £2m for Ojo.

 

[mightymoyes]

.....Randall is 20, Smith is a 22 year old Australian and they paid £2m for Ojo.

i know that but they've all been brought through by liverpool, think ojo joined when he was 12 or 13.

 

[bluebrotha77]

i know that but they've all been brought through by liverpool, think ojo joined when he was 12 or 13.

Ya smiths been there since he was 14,ojo joined in 2011 from mk dons and randall been there since around 6 years old according to the all knowing google

 

[Zatara]

Spain won the world cup with 5 Barca players who came up via their youth team in 2010.

Germany also had 5 Bayern players who came up via their youth team in 2014 when they won it.

Shows that having a group of players all familiar with each other and sharing a culture/style can be beneficial.

 

[mightymoyes]

martinez: "i have complete faith in our young players if we ever need to use them". few hours later no defenders on the subs bench and oviedo having a stinker!

 

[bluebrotha77]

martinez: "i have complete faith in our young players if we ever need to use them". few hours later no defenders on the subs bench and oviedo having a stinker!

And mori gone now