Farhad Moshiri’s damage to all aspects of Everton Football Club is causing headaches at academy level after the former owner’s mismanagement has dismantled the pathway that allowed Anthony Gordon and Harrison Armstrong to progress to the club’s first team.
During Moshiri’s reign Everton’s academy – an elite top tier academy in England – decided to switch from full time coaching to a hybrid model, which cut the number of hours of training available to players.
It also means Everton cannot recruit academy players under the age of 14 from around the country and are instead resticted to a much smaller area.
The lower amount of coaching time and restrictions on recruitment mean the chances of another Harrison Armstrong emerging from the academy are less likely under the current academy plan.
The club’s academy is still rated category one – but the changes made a couple of years ago under Farhad Moshiri mean the club is now falling behind local rivals when it comes to academy recruitment.
According to Head of Academy Graham Prosser, who spoke to the Independent before the Friedkin Group takeover, returning the academy to its full time coaching plan was step one to bringing the club back to where it needs to be.
It said: “We’d love to have one. We had one previously and it’s an area we’re looking to address which allows us to increase our contact time as well as support our recruitment.
“It would be a huge thing for us to be able to do and from our point of view it has worked. Anthony Gordon came through that programme, Harrison Armstrong came through that programme.
“It’s not that you have to be part of a full-time programme to be successful but it would allow us to increase contact and engagement with young players.”
Prosser also explained how Everton’s plan for a youth team gym and training ‘dome’ were also put on hold by the previous regime amid huge spending cuts at the club.
Everton do have plenty of talent at pre-u18s level. Late last year young midfielder Jon Nsangou scored a hat trick in an England u15 squad friendly, with fellow academy youngster Jake Broughy also scoring in a 4-4 draw. Both are highly rated and are expected to follow in the footsteps of Malik Olayiwola, an attacking midfielder who has moved through England u15s to the u16 squad. He is now a fixture in Everton u18s and played in the defeat to Plymouth in the FA Youth Cup this week.
Olayiwola is a perfect example of good academy recruitment. He was signed from Manchester’s Moston Tigers Under Eight in 2017. Incredibly 10 of his teammates were also signed up by professional academies (including two others by Everton) and Olayiwola impressed so much he even got a photo opportunity signing his contract with then manager Ronald Koeman.
Since then the academy has been battered by a number of issues. A two-year transfer ban for offering illegal incentives to under 14 players saw previous Head of Academy Martin Waldren leave the club in 2018, meaning a block on new recruitment until 2020. The effects of that will soon be visible at higher levels.
Kevin Thelwell and team have tried to plug the gap with some clever recruitment at academy level. Braiden Graham, Justin Clarke and Cieran Loney have all fleshed out the squad at u18 level, while long term contracts for Roman Dixon, Harrison Armstrong and Douglass Lukjanciks have helped to secure the future of some of the longer term prospects.
In September Everton announced they were looking to recruit scouts tasked with finding talented youngsters from the age of five – but they will be restricted until Everton move to a full time training model once again.
The academy is not the only thing Moshiri tore apart while at Everton. The women’s team also suffered from drastic underfunding. In recent days the Friedkin Group have moved to fix the problem with six new signings and an instant upturn in results. Rumours abound the Friedkin’s are also looking at a permanent home for the women’s team and it could also mean games played at Bramley Moore when the stadium opens.
The women’s team was the third bullet point on a list released by the Friedkin Group when they took over the club. It said: “Fostering a distinct on-pitch and commercial strategy for the women’s team.”
Interestingly, the second point on that list (just below investment in the first team) was: “Cultivating home-grown superstars through Everton’s Academy.”
After the damage done in recent years this will have to be a priority for the incoming owners.
I didn’t know they’d gutted the academy. Absolutely catastrophic ownership
Thanks for the article