Leon Osman

 
Leon Osman's path to a regular berth in the senior squad was a frustratingly long one.  By the 2002-03 season, the lad from Skelmersdale was not only getting winning goals for the Reserves but good reviews from Andy Holden.

Osman was undoubtedly one of our most talented midfielders to come through the Youth Academy.   However, his career didn't initially blossom as hoped — for a few reasons:

1. He sustained a particularly bad injury which kept him out for about a year at arguably the most important stage in his development;
2. He is not the biggest or strongest player around and seemed slow to mature physically;
3. In some ways to be a bit too 'polite' to become a dynamic, forceful player who would 'dominate' midfield. But then that was never to be his style anyway...

There always seemed a question mark as to whether he would get these required qualities before he was 'given up on'.  But he finally started to impose himself and hoped to become the kind of positive creative midfielder Everton have been crying out for.

In October 2002, Osman went on loan to Carlisle, where he was a great success.  He was Carlisle's player of the month for October.  He played in three Football League Trophy matches but Everton kept Osman out of Carlisle's 2002-03 FA Cup campaign, and he returned to the club in January 2003 with a bang — scoring a hat-trick for the Reserves in a 4-1 hammering of Manchester United. 

It wasn't quite enough to convince David Moyes that he would be worth a punt, filling the gaping hole labeled "creative attacking midfielder" in his otherwise well-balanced squad-building programme, though. Osman was given just two substitute appearances (v Spurs and Villa) amounting to no more than 5 minutes on the pitch and he must have been wondering what a young player has to do to get a decent chance.

Be that as it may, Leon Osman was at least granted a 12-month extension to his contract, allowing him another season to dazzle in the Reserves.

David Moyes was considering giving him a run out as Season 2003-04 developed: "We still see him as really good potential but to step up from the reserves means you have to have either a great deal of pace or a strong physical presence and that's where we need to work with him to build that up.  He is most definitely in our thoughts for the future though."

A tipping point arguably came when he was given a much-appreciated loan spell at Derby County, then in the division below, where he made an immediate impact and the Rams fans, hopeful of signing him permanently, took him to their hearts. 

Moyes, though, saw visible signs of Leon's maturity and development and, with three games to go in 2003-04 and most of his midfield favourites injured, he gave Osman his well-deserved start — at the ripe age of 23.  The diminutive star scored inside 3 mins with a lovely header!

And Osman maintained his good form into the 2004-05 season, playing some great football in midfield and getting on the scoresheet a few times as Everton surged up to third place. Leon become the second leading scorer (behind another midfielder — Tim Cahill) but the common perception was that he did seem to be brushed off the ball rather too easily... and he faded as Everton struggled to cling on to fourth place through a difficult second half to the season.

Osman can be used playing just behind the lone striker, since he seems to have a good eye for a pass and can get amongst the goals if given the chance.  As the 2005-06 campaign got under way, neither Osman nor the team as a whole could get it together, but as his goals eventually started to come , the Blues went on a winning streak which elevated them off the foot of the Premiership to mid-table mediocrity. 

All told, his return of four goals was perhaps a little disappointing, but it was Ossie's contribution in midfield, often second only to Mikel Arteta in terms of finesse and influence, that was most pleasing.  Yet increasingly it seemed, Osman could be pushed off the ball with impunity by burly defenders, and his moments of skill compensated less and less for this lack of physical presence while his knack for goalscoring seemed to desert him. 

With the odds seemingly stacked against him there was a time with just a year remaining on his contract when it seemed as though Leon's days at Everton were numbered but Moyes persisted with him and he was an almost permanent fixture in the First XI for much of 2006-07, helping the Blues to finish 6th and qualify for Europe.

And it was during the stellar last few months of 2007 that a player, who so often seemed tantalisingly short of really "making it," really blossomed into an essential part of a dynamic midfield. Bolstered by the return from long-term injury of Tim Cahill that October, Everton embarked on a 13-game unbeaten run that was founded on the return of the 4-1-4-1 formation.

With Steven Pienaar and Arteta alongside him, Ossie was an attacking-midfield revelation, scoring delightful goals (a brilliant first-time effort on the run from outside the box against Larissa in the Uefa Cup being one example) and helping to usher in a long-awaited pass-and-move game under Moyes.

His importance to the side was made no more obvious than when he broke his big toe in a Carling Cup Quarter Final tie at West Ham — the injury occurred in the 3rd minute yet he soldiered on through remaining 87, scored a goal and played in the Premier League game on the same ground four days later thanks to pain-killing injections — and he was ruled out for 6 weeks, temporarily breaking up arguably Everton's best midfield since the golden age of the 1980s. 

Osman's main failing, though, is due to his size.  He is far too easily brushed off the ball by burley Premier League defenders, and does not get enough protection from referees.  He needs to get closer in on goal and have more of a predator instinct.  He can score some good 'uns.

After what was probably his best season in 2007-08, Osman faded dramatically in the subsequent season.  It became all too obvious to most (especially opposition managers) that the little fellow has not the physique nor foot speed nor shooting power nor tackling ability nor on-field presence to do the job. With those indisputable 'qualities', it was not surprising that many claimed his failings made him totally unsuited to the Premier League, despite the now rare goals he could muster. 

The explanation for his startling loss of form was no real surprise in retrospect: he was carrying an ankle injury all season, and elected to defer a planned operation so he could keep on 'playing' — despite being unable to train on most days of the week!!!  Astounding! Is this really a sensible way to run a football team? Jabbing your supposed stars with pain-killing injections and deferring vital surgery and vital training sessions so they can still 'play' (albeit as an ineffective virtually useless passenger!) really didn't make much sense... 

Certainly not enough to dissuade David Moyes from selecting him to play seemingly each and every match of the season. The rationale being that Osman was only playing at all for most of the 2008-09 season because Andy van der Meyde, the man Moyes bought to play wide right, proved to be an unsuccessful purchase.   Under Moyes, Osman had to become a utility midfielder in order to get a game as he must be 5th choice, at best, for the central midfield berth he naturally prefers.

Near the end of the season, Osman gave the impression he might be improving, scoring two goals in a rare defeat of Fulham at Craven Cottage, but it was not until he was moved inside again and given the captaincy for one night in a League Cup game at Hull the following season that appeared to be over his dreadful loss of form.

The explanation offered was that Osman excels in central midfield... yet he is anything but effective in that role unless it’s inferior opposition and he can be equally effective out wide when the opposition is poor. Moyes clearly prefers to play him in a wide position. When selected to play out wide, he invariably gravitates to a more central position. Sadly, when he does so he often squanders possession.

He simply isn’t physically equipped to cope. When he chooses to drift inside he’s all too often brushed aside or panicked into giving the ball away cheaply or is easily dispossessed and exposing us to the counter attack. He rarely earns free kicks in these situations as the refs aren’t too impressed unsurprisingly.

By Michael Kenrick and Lyndon Lloyd
Last updated September 2009