Bradford City 5 - 1 Everton U21s
Everton U21s had a disastrous game at Bradford City on Tuesday night in Northern Group C of the EFL Vertu Trophy at the University of Bradford Stadium, giving up 4 goals in a terrible first half. Then in the second half, it appears that Joel Catesby sustained a broken ankle.
The Young Blues are not having a great season so far: they have won only one of their last five games, losing all the others. Paul Tait’s side have won only one of their last six games in all competitions, and tonight, they are set to face League One outfit Bradford City.
And they don't tend to do very well against other professional league teams. In this competition;they have already lost their opening group match at Doncaster Rovers.
The match is being broadcast on Sky Sports+. The game kicks off at 7:30 pm BST.
And it was seen by the Everton hierarchy and an opportunity for some fringe players to get some match practice with Natham Patterson, Dwight McNeil and Adam Aznou in the starting line-up. On the other side, Jenson Metcalfe, formerly of this parish, who left Everton Academy last July.
But whatever experience that might have brought to proceedings, it didn't look too smart by half-time, when the Blues had let in 4 goals.
On the hour mark and winger Joel Gatesby went down in agony, punching the grass: it looked very much like he had broken his right ankle. It was nearly 10 minutes before he was stretchered off, with Justin Clarke replacing him.
Clarke's dangerous cross a few minutes later saw Wright play it into his own net in an effort to deny any player in Blue from scoring.
But the home side got another one 5 minutes before the end when the Blues lost possession in midfield, despite George Pickford getting a hand to it before it was bundled in. Pickford would go on to make two tremendous saves to stop a rout.
The dismal result means Everton will not progress out of this group and must still play a dead rubber against Grimsby.
Everton U21s: G Pickford, N Patterson [Y:45+1'] (90+2' Morgan), Tamen [Y:90+5'], Thomas, Aznou, Gomez, Bates, Beaumont-Clark (79' Finney [Y:90+13']), McNeil, Catesby (70' Clarke), Benjamin [Y:76'] (90+2' Ebere).
Subs not Used: Lukjanciks, Samuels-Smith, Van Schoor.
Attendance: 4,170
Reader Comments (48)
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2 Posted 14/10/2025 at 20:19:53
The boys are not doing to well... 4 - 0 down at half-time! Ouch!!!
3 Posted 14/10/2025 at 20:36:29
4 Posted 14/10/2025 at 20:40:41
It would be good to see them becoming more serious contenders for first-team minutes as we need the options.
5 Posted 14/10/2025 at 20:58:22
6 Posted 14/10/2025 at 21:04:35
3 more senior players starting tonight too which doesn't augur well.
7 Posted 14/10/2025 at 21:09:16
8 Posted 14/10/2025 at 21:19:19
9 Posted 14/10/2025 at 21:24:03
At 4-0 up their Number 2 didn't need to make that challenge from behind which has probably broken the lad's ankle or leg.
It's like watching a men's team against a talented U16 team.
At this level the lads playing lower league look like seasoned professionals who know the game.
Our U21s look like a tidy bunch of players who love going sideways and backwards with no real threat going forward.
Bradford are no mugs at this level.
10 Posted 14/10/2025 at 21:52:35
Once you become a professional footballer, the first thing you should be made to realise is that there is no going back because it's now a man's game and sometimes I no longer feel that this is the case.
11 Posted 14/10/2025 at 22:15:53
I see no problem with the likes of Saka, Nwaneri, Palmer, Foden, Lewis, O'Reilly, Mainoo etc who will have been at least as intensively coached as our lot.
Same goes for all the top academies around the world. I don't think they would recognise over-coaching.
12 Posted 14/10/2025 at 23:00:57
Armstrong has started his last two games at Preston and the club and fans love him, according to former Everton keeper coach Alan Kelly, who is doing radio work at Preston. Rumor has it that Harrison will return to Everton when Gana leaves for Afcon.
Martin Sherif has scored two goals for League One Rotherham despite missing a month with a hammy injury.
Isaac Heath is described as "an unbelievable talent" by his Accrington Stanley manager John Doolan. He's playing left wing-back, scored a great goal and is one of the best chance creators in League Two.
Tyler Onyango is playing right wing-back for Stockport and was doing well until getting sent off two games ago.
Francis Okoronkwo is off to a quiet start at Lincoln.
13 Posted 14/10/2025 at 23:16:12
Some good play from most of them at some point, with Tamen and Gomez playing well. Pickford really struggled with the ball at his feet, but should be pleased with his saves in the late second half.
My last 4 games have been losses to Bournemouth (twice), Roma, and now Bradford. One day I'll see us win again!
14 Posted 15/10/2025 at 03:10:06
Either way, it's a concern that there appears little quality from the lower grades pressing the first team for places.
15 Posted 15/10/2025 at 06:19:08
Nathan Patterson 3: A tough night at the office for the Scotland international as he diverted Humphrys' effort into his own net, almost put another one in, handled the ball on a rare foray forward and was shown a yellow card for good.
Adam Aznou 4: David Moyes warned that the Morocco international wasn't quite ready for first-team football, but after a testing time when thrown in early against Roma in Everton's final pre-season friendly, he wasn't pulling up any trees here as part of a back four that was pulled to pieces in the first half.
Dwight McNeil 4: Playing in the number 10 role, a talent of his magnitude should have been running the show here, but he was instead largely anonymous.
That is £38M plus add-ons worth of transfer fees for those 3 players.
16 Posted 15/10/2025 at 06:53:11
All three started the season injured I think. McNeil can certainly be a good player — he's been one of our best for the past couple of years.
17 Posted 15/10/2025 at 07:24:58
Just goes to show how poor that level is in this country and it's about time something was done about it.
18 Posted 15/10/2025 at 07:41:21
I have watched enough football at this type of level when I've walked away thinking "It seems to be all about the coach." I remember when I used to speak to one kid's grandad, who had played a bit of football in his younger days. He used to entertain me a lot more than the football when he used to get exasperated watching the kids play (under 15).
"I can't believe I've come again, Tony, I only come because I love watching my grandson play, but it bores the fucking life out of me watching them playing a game that seems to be a lot more about the satisfying of their coach than it does about getting some actual enjoyment out of the game."
So yes, bad or methodical and very mundane coaching, but the sad thing about this is that 90% of teams used to play exactly the same way.
19 Posted 15/10/2025 at 08:08:59
None of these players have even been appearing from the bench. Last night's performance may have showed why. Someone like McNeil should be dominant at this level.
20 Posted 15/10/2025 at 08:35:37
21 Posted 15/10/2025 at 09:27:09
22 Posted 15/10/2025 at 09:55:38
23 Posted 15/10/2025 at 10:08:21
A few points.
Most of our top u21s are out on loan so this was a very young group with a few additions.
Bradford are a very fit experienced side, with a good manager, who are very much on the up.
Of the players on show, only Tamen looked up to the physical battle. He is a big unit and was unfortunate that those around him kept giving the ball away in dangerous areas.
Aznou looked to have good skills and a belief in his ability. He won't be long in stepping up.
McNeil tried to get things going but was frustrated by not having any support runners.
Paterson was seriously woeful.
Finally young Pickford in goal has the sort of footballing skills that would embarrass a goalkeeper in Sunday morning football. Yes he made two decent late saves, but his distribution is awful.
As for the challenge on Catesby. I have not seen it back on TV yet. But it looked like the Bradford man went right through him from behind. As no foul was given I could be wrong.
24 Posted 15/10/2025 at 10:34:10
Let me drive it home, out academy is shit and has been shit for some serious time now.
Other clubs churn out top young talent on a yearly basis, clubs without our standing in the game.
25 Posted 15/10/2025 at 10:47:13
In terms of other clubs’ development of players - it’s like most other things wrong with the club: we have been operating as though we were relegated at the end of the 20/21 season. And that’s after a period of substantial mismanagement since 2016.
Investment and competent club management has just not been there. We’re getting back ion track again now though.
26 Posted 15/10/2025 at 10:52:22
The problem with selling your best players to compete with the top teams is you can soon run out of top talent to sell. but keeping your best players is very hard if you aren't competing in Europe every year. But as Newcastle have found to their cost even reaching the Champions league spot doesn't guarantee that your best player will stay. Really is a catch 22 situation for clubs looking to try and join the elite, and as each year goes by it gets harder and harder to break into the Champions league places, even more so now that UEFA have increased the money for those competing in the Champions league spots.
27 Posted 15/10/2025 at 11:19:17
If the fitness team advised the first-teamers to treat it as a fitness exercise he wouldn’t have travelled. He was there to see Patterson, McNeil and Aznou play - badly.
They will only have reinforced to the manager that they do not offer a useful option in the first team or the bench.
28 Posted 15/10/2025 at 11:23:54
29 Posted 15/10/2025 at 11:30:16
I don’t think anything is definite - we’re all guessing.
What sounds like a serious injury to Catesby indicates the risk posed by these (fairly meaningless) games too.
30 Posted 15/10/2025 at 11:46:03
If that's the standard that we have all become accustomed to as Everton fans nowadays, you wonder why we never achieve anything.
He's one of the most pedestrian one footed players I've ever watched in an Everton shirt, and I've seen some truly awful ones.
He worked relatively hard under Dyche (shouldn't that be a given though anyway?).
But the reality of Dwight McNeil is he's going to score you one or two worldies a season, he's got a good left foot I give him that, but then again so did Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.
It takes more than what McNeil can offer to make a good player for me though, and the fact that Everton will be the biggest club he ever plays for should tell as much.
31 Posted 15/10/2025 at 14:56:56
At what stage to do we pick up these kids? 8?
It is a 10-year journey. I have just read an article about early years development and that 25% of children are now starting school and still wearing nappies because their parents have not taught them to go to the toilet. It included the quote:
"The first few years of a child's life are crucial to their development. It is during this period of brain development that the foundations of language, communication and emotional security are laid."
Is the same not true about our football academy? The first few years of a footballer's life are crucial to their development.
So, if we have wasted the years from age 8 to 12 in a player's development -- are we going to turn it around when they are 12-18? So the current crop of "probably not going to be good enough" will only be crop of 1st possibles in 10 years from when we finally sort out the Academy. Has it already started?
But who has made it in the last 25 years? Hibbert, Rooney, Osman, Rodwell, Barkley, Davies, Gordon. Any others?
Anichebe? Stones, Holgate, Calvert-Lewin, Branthwaite were already "educated" when they arrived.
7 in 25 years... that is 3 per decade... and 3 were over 20 years ago, so that is 4 in the past 20 years!
Armstrong looks to be one who will make it but I suspect the others out on loan will be millionaires before they are 30 and never play above Championship level.
Don't expect any change in the conveyor belt for a few years -- and even longer if it has not been fixed yet.
32 Posted 15/10/2025 at 15:39:22
Andrew #28, Aznou's pedigree is Barcelona and Bayern, and he's already a full international for Morocco. I'll take that bet.
33 Posted 15/10/2025 at 16:27:53
Niels is a name I haven't heard in a long time so I looked him up. On loan to Torino from Frankfurt. Had an assist off the bench in their last match which was a 3-3 draw against Lazio.
34 Posted 15/10/2025 at 18:15:46
35 Posted 15/10/2025 at 19:09:00
36 Posted 15/10/2025 at 19:59:48
I appreciate Rome wasn't built in a day but frankly this looks like a dreadful miscalculation.
37 Posted 15/10/2025 at 20:03:51
Too many feelings sorry for themselves, and some fans are happy to support it.
From what I read, their attitude, technical ability and fitness is way off.
Think they need to look at themselves in the mirror. Plenty of footballers have found themselves out the picture, but stinking the gaff out in the reserves isn't going to help the situation.
38 Posted 15/10/2025 at 20:10:43
The sale of Antony Gordon sees it running for a decade or more. Add to that, the fees for Ellis Simms or Tom Cannon.
They cannot all be Phil Foden or Harry Kane.
Without knowing what precisely is meant by 'making it', it is a fact that a ton of academy players have had minutes in the first team over the past 25 years.
39 Posted 15/10/2025 at 20:17:17
It doesn’t sound like the two senior players or the young kid, who is still trying to get to grips with the English game, were disinterested, and it does sound like Aznou, has got a lot of natural ability, so hopefully Martin, is correct and it won’t be long before the kid, is stepping up🤞
Peter@38, I also think that selling kids from the academy probably kept Everton, out of administration when Bill Kenwright, was in charge of the club?
40 Posted 15/10/2025 at 22:04:44
I have always thought that Patterson would come good, but after last night I doubt he has the right mentality. He needs to go and find a club that will play him, whatever their level. Regular football may get him back to the form he showed in Scotland. He really looked lost.
McNeil was the fastest player on the park, but Bradford were savvy enough to channel him away from danger and the academy lads couldn't support him.
As I said before, Aznou was industrious as well as quite skillful. Happy to back his ability. But with few options to pass to, its hard to run 80 yards with the ball. I was sitting level to the halfway line about 8 rows back (I live in Yorkshire and got my ticket from Bradford, so was not counted in the doughty 64 Evertonians) so had a great view of him.
It's always disappointing when any Everton side lose. But put in context, losing sleep over games like this isn't worth it. If all our young talent had been available, rather than being out getting real experience week in week out, we may have been closer to the standard needed.
41 Posted 15/10/2025 at 22:28:01
Conclusion; "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"
On the other hand...Sometimes you get lucky:
Rankin, Wright, Hurst, Kenyon, Harvey, Husband Whittle, Royle, Lyons, Johnson, Darracott, Peter Scott, Archie Styles,
42 Posted 16/10/2025 at 01:45:54
I didn’t see a team wanting to go sideways or backwards though. If anything I thought we were too gung-ho at times, trying to force force the tempo when the precision level wasn’t good enough.
Dickie (13), I thought Gomez was at least busy but he was as wholly ineffectual as some of the others for whom it was very much boys against men.
43 Posted 16/10/2025 at 02:02:11
44 Posted 16/10/2025 at 07:10:13
Even now with rolling subs players are still left on the bench and only get 10 mins here and there
45 Posted 16/10/2025 at 07:39:59
Honestly, I think the coaching manual’s should be ripped up or at least modified, and I think it’s something that Si, has just written about the kids performance the other night, that has just resonated with the personal thoughts I’ve been having about how best to teach young players for quite a while now.
Not going backwards and sideways, and if anything they were just to hung-ho. This makes me think that the kids were ‘very understandably’ out of their comfort zone, and when this happens, the first thing to go is usually the brain?
They obviously teach them a lot at these academies, but nowhere near enough, imo.
What’s the greatest skill in football? Is something I often ask young kids, or coaches, and whilst they are debating if it’s the Ronaldo Chop, The Maradona Spin, or The Cruyff turn, I have to tell them “No” because the greatest skill in football (imo) has definitely got to be movement?
To play with movement, you need to have a lot of energy, and because a lot of coaching is boring, then being bored is the enemy of Energy! That’s how I see it anyway 🤷♂️
46 Posted 16/10/2025 at 07:52:05
47 Posted 16/10/2025 at 09:27:58
48 Posted 16/10/2025 at 13:58:01
How many kids do you see take another touch because they want to dribble and express themselves?
This is because they are often switched onto themselves, rather than being switched onto the whole game, imo?
There’s nothing wrong with this especially because every talented footballer, should at times be definitely encouraged to express themselves, but this type of constant quick football, is imo perfect, because it enables players to identify space.
When good players are given time and space, they can usually make something happen, and if there’s one thing that usually buys a player, a little bit more time and space, then it’s got to be through the movement, of both himself and his teammates imo.
#movement is the key!🤷♂️
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1 Posted 14/10/2025 at 18:07:10
I thought that had been replaced by the National League Cup, so are they in both?