The Everton Under 21 and Under 18s are certain to have a much changed look about them next season. At the time of writing, the club have yet to make an official announcement but reliable sources have said and it’s widely assumed that Paul Tait, U21 coach, will be moving on. Add to that the news that several players associated with the youth teams are on the verge of leaving the club upon expiry or heading towards the last season of their contracts.
As ever, on the young player front, there will be
people spreading gloom about the Academy “failing players’ talent”, about “Moyes not giving youth a chance” and various other sensationalist “news pieces” just to grab attention.
In the vast majority of cases (it’s not an exact science) young players leave the club because they cannot see a path to the first team or, I’ll say it first, they’re simply not good enough!
I do have sympathy for the perception of blocked pathway to the first team. Personally, I think the club could do much more to expose the very top young talent to the senior team and the public at large. If that happened and the top talent got first team minutes off the bench, then players would generally see a routeway which they don’t right now and, importantly, supporters could judge for themselves whether the player is good enough or ready!
I’m not for one minute suggesting that there’s a raft of talent that justify being in the Everton starting team but a lot of clubs, even our close neighbours, give small opportunities to their talented players and some actually flourish quickly. As an example, 17 year old Rio Ngumoha who has made 19 appearances at Liverpool and has broken through to the England national team. Tyler Fletcher (Manchester United and Scotland) is another example of progress and trust.
For the record, the following U21 players will officially leave the club after June 30th contract expiry:
Defenders Roman Dixon, Bradley Moonan, Reece Welch, midfielder Tyler Onyango and forwards Jacob Beaumont-Clark, Kingsford Boakye, Francis Okoronkwo
Putting it bluntly, none of those players deserved to in with a shout of Everton’s current first team and 5 of them were at least 21 years of age with the other 2 aged 20 and frankly, none of them “anywhere near it”
In addition, at U18 level these players are being released:
Goodness Gospel-Eze, Louis Poland, Charlie Stewart and Kean Wren
Of those I was a little surprised by Poland as he had shown up well as a marauding left back but the club also has a competing talent, Harvey Billington who they may see a brighter future with.
If the strong rumours are confirmed, 18 year old centre midfielder Demi Akarakiri (pictured below) who had shown promise last season looks to be opting against the offer of a new contract and going to Serie A with Cagliari whilst 20 year old Coby Ebere (main picture of the post) who had shown great promise the season before last, appears to have joined Serbian top flight side FK Cukaricki despite being under contract with the Blues.
I guess Akarakiri stands a chance of being a success but, despite his impressive strength, control and passing range, he probably had to improve his decision making on the pitch to be nearer the first team picture. Let’s hope his decision-making off the pitch is better! Ebere, on the other hand, had a season to forget last year, often deployed as a winger which did not make use of his powerful frame and when he was moved to centre forward he was less impressive than he had been. Let’s hope he can make a career
There’s also a 14 year old kid called Chigwada who is reportedly jumping ship to the red side of the city and that seems to have caused concern with some. Frankly, all players that age have choices to make, the clubs never really have full contractual ownership of them before 17 years old so there’ll be some losses and some gains across all clubs. Anthony Gordon, for instance, left Liverpool for the Toffees at the age of 11, made 78 first team appearances and just as importantly for the Blues, up to £45 million from his move to Newcastle with a further £4m approximately from the sell on clause to Barcelona. You simply cannot tell what the chances of success are at such young ages and I don’t hear many Liverpool supporters bemoaning the release of Gordon 15 years ago?
One last mention on the departures front must go to winger Isaac Heath (below in red). The club sold him for a nominal fee to Cambridge United recently. He had an inspiring loan spell with Accrington Stanley last season, scooping their Young Player of the Season awards after making 33 appearances with the League Two outfit and scoring 6 goals. There’s a small chance he might have made progress with the Blues had he stayed but, at the age of 21, it was by no means a definite and the club has to be more brutally honest.
Good luck to all the departing players (and coach) and we look forward to seeing who will replace them!
