Everton’s opening day fixture was a disaster for Sean Dyche after a poor team selection led to an inevitable loss against Brighton. For Evertonians it is the second season where the opening Goodison game saw a toothless performance and a home defeat.
With John Textor and an unnamed partner bidding for the club, takeover uncertainty and an insipid opening day peformance it can feel like doom and gloom is settling over Goodison Park again.
However there is one aspect of the club that is slowly, steadily improving. Over the weekend the u18s team led by Leighton Baines won 2-1 against Stoke and the u21s opened their campaign with a 3-1 win over Blackburn. Unlike last season, when all three teams lost their opening game it seems the youth at the club are showing the senior team how it is done.
Now is a good time to say results at u18 and u21 simply do not matter. Winning games to the detriment of development is not a good thing. David Unsworth’s young Blues were regular title challengers but teams of previous years were packed with players aged 20 and over who really should be out on loan of have been moved on years earlier.
But this season things are different. And here is why.
Back in November 2018 Everton’s head of academy recruitment Martin Waldron was found by the Premier League to have offered six players illegal inducements (basically extras such as a home or money) to join the club. Everton admitted the charge and were fined £500,000. More importantly they were also banned from signing academy players from other clubs for two years.
Waldron left the club shortly after. While responsible for the likes of Ross Barkley and Tom Davies joining the club (he also tried to recruit Marcus Rashford and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who played for Everton until the age of eight), his position was untenable.
He was replaced by none other than Josh Waldron, his son. An academy director a number of years, Waldron was well liked and when he left the club last year many ex players and coaches lined up to praise his work.
However, Everton were in a difficult position. Finances were beginning to become tight and the academy could no longer recruit. The supply line up to 2020 had been turned off and Everton now are starting to see fewer talented u18 players move up. It’s a problem that will continue to be visible for a number of years as the club catch up.
For Kevin Thelwell and the new-look academy directors and recruitment team it posed a problem. Everton’s first team squad was thin, the u21s had lost a number of players including highly rated Isaac Price to Standard Liege, and Ishe Samuel-Smith to Chelsea. The club’s youngest ever player, Thierry Small, left to join Southampton and others such as Tom Cannon and Ellis Simms were moved on to help with PSR calculations. Everton have faced a major talent drain, meaning very few opportunities to bulk out the first team squad with younger players – a fact Sean Dyche alluded to last season when he declared none of the academy players were ready.
Turning around an academy and u21 mess like this will take time. Like an oil tanker changing course, changes made now will only be evident long into the future. But where first team recruitment is still struggling, at lower levels Thelwell’s plans have started to bear fruit.
Those talented youngsters still at the academy have been nurtured rather than ignored. George Pickford, a talented u18 goalkeeper, made his step up to the u21s for the first game of the season and had an excellent game. Older players like Harry Tyrer and Billy Crellin have stepped aside – clearly a loan is on the cards as they make way for younger talent.
Even as George Pickford’s remarkable rise continues there are also others in the pipeline. Manchester City are reported to be keen on signing England youth international Daniel Lukjanciks. So far it seems he’s staying at Everton and is another who could go on to great things.
Harrison Armstrong has already made an impact on the first team and at 17 he is likely to star for the u21s this year before a loan is explored, led by James Vaughan, who is now head of academy recruitment in order to bring the loan planning and recruitment closer together.
Roman Dixon has developed well with the u21s too and England u19 honours have arrived, followed by a clamour to include him in the first team. The quick right back would probably benefit from a loan at a good level first but looks to be a potential first teamer in future. Against Blackburn he set up one goal and scored another, albiet a bit of a fluke, to highlight his attacking prowess.
Add in a host of talented strikers too. Francis Okoronkwo should be in line for a loan. He is tall, quick and strong and has scored regularly at u21 level. It is a make of break season for him. Meanwhile Dutch youth international Martin Sherif scored the winner in pre season against Prescot Cables and came off the bench to score the third against Blackburn this weekend. Another academy prospect, Welshman George Morgan, is well liked by academy staff and is described as a quick, clinical striker with a bright future ahead of him.
Fans should also keep an eye out for winger Jacob Beaumont-Clark, Ishe’s twin brother Odin Samuel-Smith, who signed a professional contract this week and can play across the defence, and Jenson Metcalfe, who is a talented central midfielder who also got first team minutes in pre season.
The strategy is simple. Step up from the u18s to the u21s. Then it’s out on loan. Finally, if successful, you will get first team minutes. Lewis Warrington fell at the final hurdle but left with plenty of good will. Stan Mills may still make it but he is recovering from a long term injury.
Of the side who beat Blackburn we can expect a few to head on loan. Okoronkwo, goalscorer Isaac Heath and midfielder Luke Butterfield are all candidates to go and get more first team experience elsewhere.
There is another aspect and this is where Thelwell’s team is really beginning to earn their keep. Everton have started to recruit to fill any area where they feel the club is short. Jarred Branthwaite cost the club £750,000 and if he is sold will fetch ten times that. The club needs more of that and recruitment has been decisive.
Welsh youth international Omari Benjamin is an explosive winger with an eye for goal. Released by Arsenal, he has the potential to become Premier League quality. He is joined by central defender Will Tamen from Burton, who a fan told us would go on the ‘big things’ after already making his debut for the League One side. Both played against Blackburn in the 3-1 victory.
Meanwhile at u18 level Everton pulled off a coup by beating Brighton to the signing of 16 year old Braidan Graham. A strong, clever striker, he had already played and scored for Linfield in Northern Ireland and played for the country’s u19s in a summer tournament this year. He scored against Stoke on his u18 debut and could be one to watch.
There are others. Kingsford Boayke arrived from AC Milan and will be involved in the u21s this year, while defensive midfielder Jack Patterson looks like an exciting prospect too. There will be opportunities for attacking players Charlie Whittaker and Mathew Apter, who has developed a habit of scoring spectacular goals at youth level.
The first two under age fixtures of the season do not look like anything special. A couple of wins against non-Premier League sides are nothing to get excited about really. However the ongoing revamp of the academy lies underneath these run-of-the-mill wins. The makeup of the teams is younger. It is more talented. It also comes with a real plan for each player in the system.
Each player has been scouted tracked and signed, or if they were already here they have been offered contracts and had their stay extended by a couple of years while Everton work to get them ready. In the last weeks of the transfer window those who are ready need to be loaned out. Those who are still young and inexperienced will get valuable work with Leighton Baines at u18 and Paul Tait at u21 level.
You never know, we might even see a few finally make the grade for Sean Dyche’s first team. They have a better chance than ever and the talent conveyor belt is only getting stronger at Everton, even with the first team stuttering.
It takes a long time to fix a football club in a death spiral. One thing Everton have got right is at youth level. The rewards will be reaped as it continues to heal from the damaging ban that ended four years ago.