U21s lose to Sunderland

Lyndon Lloyd , 4 May, 14comments | Jump to most recent

Everton's second string lost away at Sunderland this evening with Duncan Watmore scoring the only goal.

Playing without the injured David Henen, the Blues had a penalty appeal for handball waved away in the first half but fell behind with 63 minutes gone.

Substitute George Green went close and then fired a free kick into the wall as Everton tried to draw level but they couldn't make the breakthrough.

The defeat means that David Unsworth's side have two games, against West Ham and Tottenham, in which to accumulate enough points to move back above Fulham and avoid relegation from the U21s Premier League.

Everton: Griffiths, Kenny, Robinson, Ledson, Browning, Galloway, Jones, Williams, Dyson, Charsley, Byrne (Green).
Subs: Hunt, Connolly, Langton, Bainbridge.

Reader Comments (14)

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Harold Matthews
1 Posted 04/05/2015 at 21:25:27

No surprise. Sunderland gave us a football lesson at our place and Duncan Whatmore made Browning look like a novice as he tore our pedestrian defence to ribbons. Pity we donÂ’t go for the lad but maybe itÂ’s against the rules.

Steavey Buckley
2 Posted 05/05/2015 at 02:57:58

It is very disconcerting and worrying when considering the young talent at ChelseaÂ’s disposal who have just won the FA youth cup, quite a few are believed to be good enough to play in the Chelsea first team who have just won the premier league. The gap at all levels between the likes of Everton and Chelsea is getting bigger.

Sam Hoare
3 Posted 05/05/2015 at 08:26:59

We can all relax. The future is....about to get relegated. Oh dear.

Dave Abrahams
4 Posted 05/05/2015 at 08:54:52

What concerns me is that Robles is not getting any games, Russell Griffiths is a very good keeper but why is the reserve goalkeeper not been kept active in case the other fella (Howard) gets injured? We know heÂ’ll never get dropped.

Jim Bennings
5 Posted 05/05/2015 at 10:15:05

No sign of any young lads looking anywhere near ready to break through yet in my opinion.

This so-called great batch of young talent just doesnÂ’t look all that great!

Phill Thompson
6 Posted 05/05/2015 at 13:29:55

The worry for me is that the brightest prospects, those supposedly closest to the first team, are "back six" players, with possibly the exception of Chris Long. We donÂ’t seem to have the flair players up front coming through.

No doubt there will be the usual "We were unlucky, the boys played really well" post from Unsworth. There are obvious reasons for not lambasting youngsters when we lose but a degree of reality is needed, re their position Â– either some of them are not good enough or there is a big disconnect at U-21 management level in the club.

Re the Chelsea comment, well with a couple of good performances our U-18 side could win the U-18 PL for the second year running. It seems to me we are producing the players at U-18 level but we are not moving YET developing them further at U-21 level.

Phill Thompson
7 Posted 05/05/2015 at 15:37:48

From a look at the able & fixtures, this Friday could decide things, Spurs v Fulham; WHU v EFC.

If Spurs beat Fulham we probably need only a draw in our last 2 games to survive on GD.

If Fulham win and we lose weÂ’re relegated. 2 draws on Friday and we will still stay up if we take a point from our last game, Spurs at home.

WHU are bottom of league and will be relegated unless they beat us.

Jim Bennings
8 Posted 05/05/2015 at 16:19:10

Apart from Barkley or Rooney, we never seem to bring through any player of pace or flair, they are usually as you say Phil "back six players" or crab like midfielders like Rodwell.

Where are our Walcott or Oxlade Chamberlain type lads with flying pace that can fit instantly on the wing?

It always seems to just be "Jack of all trades " midfielder-stroke-defender types.

Brian Harrison
9 Posted 05/05/2015 at 17:23:43

Jim

Seeing the two players you mentioned came through the Southampton academy, maybe we should hire their scout. Not to mention Bale or Chambers, two other Southampton academy players.

Steavey Buckley
10 Posted 05/05/2015 at 17:31:08

Players are not developing from the Under-18s to the Under-21s because they are not getting valuable playing time with the seniors. It is a question of the apprentice not learning from the skilled tradesman.

Harold Matthews
11 Posted 05/05/2015 at 20:26:05

Of course we have a weakened squad; Unsworth has eight lads out on loan where they will hopefully progress much quicker than the U21 boys.

Sam Hoare
13 Posted 06/05/2015 at 09:06:08

Harold that is probably true of most U21 teams at the top. Pretty sure the likes of Chelsea and Spurs have tons of players out on loan.

There is a worrying disconnect between lads doing well at U-18 level and then not quite being able to push on to the next stage. Lots of this group will probably end up in the Championship or League One like Forshaw, Bidwell etc. There are some good players and its a decent team but perhaps not enough individual talents who will go on to take the Premier League by storm.

What talents there are seem to be defensive type players as pointed out above. I would think Galloway, Ledson and Kenny have all got good chances at top level careers but it is telling that Unsworth has complained of the lads not converting chances again and again this season. Henen looks capable so perhaps him and Long might prove the exceptions.

We could use a Sterling, Walcott or our own Harry Kane coming through though as it is creativity and striking depth that the first team is particularly crying out for at present.

Jim Bennings
14 Posted 06/05/2015 at 09:12:16

I forgot all about those two at Southampton, Brian. Yes, add Bale and Chambers and of course Shaw to the list.

It just seems to me that the lads Everton now develop are all of the same ilk, they are nearly all central midfielders and with the exception of Barkley, they donÂ’t look like anything other than Rodwell type, sideways lads.

Why donÂ’t we ever scout lads with pace? We never bring through a lightening fast wide player do we?

Andrew Ellams
15 Posted 06/05/2015 at 09:27:10

Sam, problem is the likes of Sterling and Walcott are just proof that these players can just be cherry picked by the clubs with money whilst still young and relatively inexpensive. (I know that Walcott cost 㾶million, but that is pretty small compared to what he would have cost 4 or 5 years down the line.)

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