Mixed results for Everton Youth sides but plenty of promise

The season for both Everton’s Under-18 and Under-21 teams are well and truly underway and both have had mixed results so far.

Starting with last Friday’s game, this is how Paul Tait’s U21s lined up and it’s a measure of the transition that only three of the side were what you could call regulars at the start of last season. They were away, having made the long journey down to Norwich City’s home ground, Carrow Road, for an evening kick-off.

Unfortunately there are no video highlights of this one which is a shame as it sounded like a real to-and-fro encounter.

Everton had ‘keeper George Pickford to thank early on although he was beaten by an unstoppable shot by Dylan Jones after 15 minutes, 0-1.

More Pickford heroics kept the score down before man of the moment, Justin Clarke (pictured below) scored a fine equaliser in first-half added time. In typical fashion, Clarke picked the ball up from deep with seemingly little danger but he dribbled his way into the area before a neat finish, 1-1.

Annoyingly, the Blues went behind again a minute after the 2nd half began and whilst Everton were creating chances they couldn’t restore parity, 1-2.

In the 73rd minute a golden opportunity did arrive as the Toffees were awarded a penalty. Sadly, although Braiden Graham hit the spot kick well, the home goalkeeper made a great stop. It ended 1-2.

The following day Keith Southern’s U18s took on Nottingham Forest at Finch Farm.

An outstanding dribble by Ray Robert set up Ceiran Loney to slam home left footed in the 13th minute, 1-0.

A delightful goal followed in the 33rd minute when the promising Malik Olayiwola started and finished a move from just inside the opposition half, taking a return ball from Shea Pita to finish smartly, 2-0.

The Toffees went into a seemingly unassailable lead 4 minutes later when Ray Robert again led the charge down Everton’s left this time and under-lapping full back Louis Poland received the ball into the penalty area and finished with aplomb, 3-0.

That’s the way it stayed until just before the hour when Hamilton’s smart turn and shot just evaded the covering lunge of Reuben Gokah and into the top corner past Lukjanciks, 3-1.

Just 8 minutes later, the scoreline looked a bit more uncomfortable as Hamilton for Forest took advantage of some sloppy Blues defending. However there was nothing sloppy about the finish in the same top corner despite Lukjanciks’ valiant dive, 3-2 and that’s how it stayed. Check out the video highlights of the game below, there’s some exciting Blues’ football!

To round off an eventful 5 days, the Blues Under 21s took faced a massive test against Doncaster Rovers who currently sit 5th in League One in the Football League Trophy. These games are fascinating as they pitch our younger players against seasoned professionals, some with a point to prove! Thankfully, one Doncaster man without a point to prove, 39 year old Billy Sharp, having scored 285 first team goals in a 20 year, 769 game career, sat this one out!

We lined up (as below) in an unfamiliar 5-2-3 formation bringing in the more experienced Eli Campbell into the middle of three centre backs, pushing captain Will Tamen right and using Aled Thomas to the left. One surprise before the kick off was the inclusion of first team signing Adam Aznou (pictured) playing as a left wing back. The formation bizarrely put 5 naturally left-footed players (Campbell, Thomas, Aznou, Beaumont-Clark and Clarke) in the same starting line-up for the first time I can recall!

It became clear from the start that the Blues would have to weather an onslaught from “Donnie” and that’s how it began with Blues’ ‘keeper George Pickford showing his shot-stopping skills twice in quick succession in the 4th minute.

The manner of Donnie’s opener was extremely disappointing in that we invited it. In the 7th minute Will Tamen took a Toffees throw-in, received it back at knee-height and inexplicably sliced the clearance high into the middle of our penalty area. Despite mass attempts at intervention by 5 covering defenders, the inevitable happened as Hanlan’s 15 yard shot took a deflection to undeservedly beat Pickford, 0-1.

Everton’s best opening to level the scoring came after 23 minutes courtesy of an intelligent cross by Aznou that found opposite wing-back George Finney unmarked at the far post. Finney did great to find the space but his shot lacked a little composure and took a deflection over the bar for a corner kick. Little did we know at that stage how cruel deflections would dictate the game.

Jacob Beaumont-Clark twice almost fashioned goals just before the interval as the Blues fought back.

The best moments of the 2nd half were a brilliant save by Pickford and a crashing 83rd minute header by Tamen that smacked the post and rebounded out. That was until the first minute of added time when Finney made a great right wing run, fed Justin Clarke who cut inside from a narrow angle and smashed the ball in at the goalkeeper’s shoulder-height, 1-1 and looking like a penalty shoot-out. See for yourself below:

Cruelly, with 90 seconds left, Sbarra shot speculatively from 22 yards and the ball wickedly deflected off Thomas’ heel to beat Pickford’s dive, 1-2 and game over.

In summary, no Blues player had a bad game, there were little mistakes against an experienced line-up but they did themselves and the club proud. I’ve picked a few players out for mention:

Adam Aznou

Most Evertonians watching the game would have been watching our recent signing to see how he got on. He played the first half as a left wing-back and the 2nd as a left midfield player as the Blues went 4-4-1-1 to try to make themselves narrower/ more solid. He did very well in both roles. He obviously has class and is quick. Confident at taking players on, he cuts inside nicely despite being predominantly left-footed and weights his passes and crosses well for his team-mates. I was impressed for sure. He was rarely in the traditional back 4 left back position so he didn’t face that many direct contests with a winger but he still won a few 50-50 tackles. He played 81 minutes and looked very fit.

Francis Gomez

Gomez’s arrival last season went under the radar immediately as he was strangely loaned out to Olympique Lyonnaise straight away. That might have had something to do with the club’s then connection with John Textor. He returned to the Blues’ U21s in the spring, impressing so much so that he made his full debut for The Gambia shortly afterwards. Last night I thought he stood out, very assured, always demanding the ball and very rarely losing possession. He reminds me a little of Allan who played for Everton briefly but who had his much better days and prime at Napoli. He was always trying to play the ball forward and defended well also, not overpowered despite being only about 5’8 tall.

George Finney

The Sky Sports commentator almost immediately cottoned onto why supporters are beginning to notice our tall 18 year old right back. He’s been at the club since he was the size of a Jack Grealish shinpad and he appears to be working his way into the public attention. He has a knack of retaining possession in attacking areas when it looks like he’s been caught. His long stride, pace and power often take him into clear space. He defends well and gets into good attacking positions. If he continues to make progress he has a good future.

George Pickford

The biggest compliment I can give him is that people (including me) have stopped saying that he is not related to England’s #1. Damn it…..

He is an excellent shot-stopper and whilst he still needs to bulk his frame a little, that will come with age as he’s still only 18. A little like his namesake, he has good judgement around when to catch or punch aerial balls. He made some excellent stops last night and was desperately unlucky to be on the losing side.

Make no mistake, George Pickford is making a name for himself!

Justin Clarke

He was asked to play as a centre forward last night, a thankless task against some burly defenders. I’ve seen him play there before against people just a little older than him (he is barely 17) and it might be a role he develops into. I think I am not alone in not knowing what his best position is.

When he could escape the shackles of the League One defenders, he caused real and obvious concern. The last thing you want, as a defender, is him running at you! The biggest compliment I can give him is he never once gave up, he didn’t over-react to any tackles or mistakes. He appears to be maturing nicely into a professional footballer from the raw talent that we initially witnessed. He took his goal from virtually nothing, cutting inside and hammering the ball at a height the goalkeeper didn’t want. I also liked his immediate reaction to pick the ball out of the net and get started again. Well done Justin!

My message would be to ignore the results, a lot of these boys are developing into good footballers.

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