royal blue mersey 
18-04-2024 14:56
18-04-2024 14:56
Everton winless at youth level as well
The Toffees at Under 21 and Under 18 level have, within the last month, seen a few extended breaks from action and a few repeat fixtures but, sadly, the common feature is that both sides are winless recently. Everton malaise with goalscoring is not exclusive to the first team right now..
Most recently, the U21s played away to Crystal Palace for the second time in 8 days, the latest game being Tuesday night, the semi-final of the Premier League International Cup. It was a hard-fought game and, in fairness, a spirited display from Paul Tait’s men against a side boasting a few players with Palace first team experience. In contrast, Everton had two players in Reece Welch and Tyler Onyango who have a total of 95 minutes in the Toffees’ first team between them and none of those recently. The game ended in a 4-2 defeat and ended their cup journey to the final at the last hurdle. The scoreline was however, harsh on the Blues.
That result means the U21s have, in their last 4 fixtures, lost 0-2, drawn 0-0, lost 2-3 plus this latest 2-4 reverse. The line-up was as below - A key weakness during the game was the inability to hold the ball in attack as Katia Kouyate, better perhaps as a left-winger, was forced to play at centre forward. This was due to injuries to Francis Okoronkwo, Martin Sherif, Coby Ebere and the suspension of Charlie Whitaker who could also possibly do that role. That is not to say it was all down to Kouyate, the tactic of playing long balls towards him was over-used and ineffective against Palace’s robust rearguard.
The Blues had gone 0-1 down disappointingly in first half added-time as a break down Everton’s right side of defence was clinically punished. Three minutes after the break and a long unchallenged run from Palace’s own area ended up with a very soft goal. I’d compare it in its nature to one of the horrible goals conceded by the first team against Chelsea in Monday night’s drubbing!
To give the young team some credit, Jenson Metcalfe’s deceptive shot/ cross crept its way into the far corner of the net to give hope with 30 minutes remaining. That hope was damaged within 8 minutes as a soft goal down Everton’s left this time gave them a mountain to climb, 1-3 the score. Again, the fighting spirit saw a penalty bring the deficit back to 2-3 as Metcalfe was fouled then scored the spot-kick with 7 minutes remaining.
Predictably, given Everton’s luck, as they pressed forward with centre back Tyler Onyango having been thrown forward as an emergency centre forward, a breakaway goal with Palace’s forwards 3 v 1 (Welch the last defender) gave the scoreline a harsh look.
Pick of the Blues’ players was captain Lewis Warrington with a battling display. Worth mentioning the display of goalkeeper Billy Crellin who made several fine saves and youngsters Harrison Armstrong and livewire substitute Joel Catesby who gave very good accounts of themselves also. In the previous game against Blackburn Rovers last Friday, the only goals scored were by Charlie Whitaker following good work by Tyler Onyango and Katia Kouyate’s shot, following Jenson Metcalfe’s fine through ball, which had just enough pace to beat the goalkeeper. A few other welcome sights were a runout for Dutch first-team loanee Arnaut Danjuma against Blackburn and a major positional change for Tyler Onyango, having converted from centre midfield to centre back. There’s a bit more analysis of that change in a separate review of Under 21s “senior” players.
Meanwhile the Under 18s have only featured once since early March and that was most recently in the eagerly awaited mini-derby against Liverpool. 2-2 the outcome with a coolly taken goal from winger Joel Catesby making his return from injury. Right back George Finney also scored, picking a great moment to athletically run into space to slide the ball home as the visiting goalkeeper closed him down. The blues could not hold onto the lead unfortunately as Liverpool’s Young, with a goal remarkably similar to Catesby’s meant it was “honours-even”. No, goal-machine Coby Ebere did not score as he did not feature! Ebere had most recently featured as a substitute for the U21s so maybe he has begun his step up. Action from the game is below: Next up for the Under 18s is a trip to Derby County on Saturday 20th April while the Under 21s travel to Leeds on Monday 22nd April.
Most recently, the U21s played away to Crystal Palace for the second time in 8 days, the latest game being Tuesday night, the semi-final of the Premier League International Cup. It was a hard-fought game and, in fairness, a spirited display from Paul Tait’s men against a side boasting a few players with Palace first team experience. In contrast, Everton had two players in Reece Welch and Tyler Onyango who have a total of 95 minutes in the Toffees’ first team between them and none of those recently. The game ended in a 4-2 defeat and ended their cup journey to the final at the last hurdle. The scoreline was however, harsh on the Blues.
That result means the U21s have, in their last 4 fixtures, lost 0-2, drawn 0-0, lost 2-3 plus this latest 2-4 reverse. The line-up was as below - A key weakness during the game was the inability to hold the ball in attack as Katia Kouyate, better perhaps as a left-winger, was forced to play at centre forward. This was due to injuries to Francis Okoronkwo, Martin Sherif, Coby Ebere and the suspension of Charlie Whitaker who could also possibly do that role. That is not to say it was all down to Kouyate, the tactic of playing long balls towards him was over-used and ineffective against Palace’s robust rearguard.
The Blues had gone 0-1 down disappointingly in first half added-time as a break down Everton’s right side of defence was clinically punished. Three minutes after the break and a long unchallenged run from Palace’s own area ended up with a very soft goal. I’d compare it in its nature to one of the horrible goals conceded by the first team against Chelsea in Monday night’s drubbing!
To give the young team some credit, Jenson Metcalfe’s deceptive shot/ cross crept its way into the far corner of the net to give hope with 30 minutes remaining. That hope was damaged within 8 minutes as a soft goal down Everton’s left this time gave them a mountain to climb, 1-3 the score. Again, the fighting spirit saw a penalty bring the deficit back to 2-3 as Metcalfe was fouled then scored the spot-kick with 7 minutes remaining.
Predictably, given Everton’s luck, as they pressed forward with centre back Tyler Onyango having been thrown forward as an emergency centre forward, a breakaway goal with Palace’s forwards 3 v 1 (Welch the last defender) gave the scoreline a harsh look.
Pick of the Blues’ players was captain Lewis Warrington with a battling display. Worth mentioning the display of goalkeeper Billy Crellin who made several fine saves and youngsters Harrison Armstrong and livewire substitute Joel Catesby who gave very good accounts of themselves also. In the previous game against Blackburn Rovers last Friday, the only goals scored were by Charlie Whitaker following good work by Tyler Onyango and Katia Kouyate’s shot, following Jenson Metcalfe’s fine through ball, which had just enough pace to beat the goalkeeper. A few other welcome sights were a runout for Dutch first-team loanee Arnaut Danjuma against Blackburn and a major positional change for Tyler Onyango, having converted from centre midfield to centre back. There’s a bit more analysis of that change in a separate review of Under 21s “senior” players.
Meanwhile the Under 18s have only featured once since early March and that was most recently in the eagerly awaited mini-derby against Liverpool. 2-2 the outcome with a coolly taken goal from winger Joel Catesby making his return from injury. Right back George Finney also scored, picking a great moment to athletically run into space to slide the ball home as the visiting goalkeeper closed him down. The blues could not hold onto the lead unfortunately as Liverpool’s Young, with a goal remarkably similar to Catesby’s meant it was “honours-even”. No, goal-machine Coby Ebere did not score as he did not feature! Ebere had most recently featured as a substitute for the U21s so maybe he has begun his step up. Action from the game is below: Next up for the Under 18s is a trip to Derby County on Saturday 20th April while the Under 21s travel to Leeds on Monday 22nd April.