Everton boss David Moyes may have been watching on in anguish at England under-21s’ game against Ireland on Friday evening – with one star who rejected a professional deal at the Toffees making his second appearance for the young Lions.
Tyler Dibling’s England outing will have had the full focus of the Everton fanbase, though he didn’t quite deliver against Ireland.
David Moyes is keen to ease the Dibling in, and with just 15 minutes of action for the youngster, fans elsewhere will have noticed another detail that won’t have pleased Moyes.
Youngster Thierry Small came on for England and with him leaving Goodison Park four years ago, that appears to be an opportunity missed for the club.
Preston North End defender Thierry Small.
Photo by Lee Parker – CameraSport via Getty Images
Thierry Small has burst onto England’s under-21 scene
Everton made Thierry Small their youngest-ever first-team player, which he remains to this day, after a showing against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup back in January 2021.
However, despite huge promise surrounding his talents, that proved to be Small’s only appearance for the club before moving on to Southampton.
A fleeting amount of loan spells have followed Small since, with moves to Port Vale and St Mirren, before a permanent move to Charlton.
It’s now at Preston North End where Barry has made his name, with three goals in 15 games so far this season – and that earned him an under-21s call-up.
MORE EVERTON STORIES
Replacing Manchester City star Rico Lewis with 20 minutes to go, he won his only attempted tackle, made a clearance and two recoveries, as well as failing to be dribbled past.
All of his passes were accurate, and the diminutive full-back did a good job of keeping things tight to hold onto a 2-0 lead.
Small is now one of the most promising youngsters in the Championship and that could be a decision rued by David Moyes.
Everton should have kept Thierry Small amid left-back conundrum
Everton have spent well this summer, especially in attacking areas. Jack Grealish and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall have given Everton a real sense of impetus going forwards, and alongside Iliman Ndiaye, the Toffees’ attack looks much better than before.
However, key areas still need to be addressed at the back, particularly on the left-hand side.
Vitaliy Mykolenko has had four years on Merseyside and has yet to come up with the goods on a consistent basis. His contract expires at the end of the season and it remains to be seen if he will stay on at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.
Everton also signed Adam Aznou from Bayern Munich in the summer, but he’s yet to feature for the first-team. Aznou has now been told he can leave Everton on loan in January, which means one left-back will be needed as a minimum.
With that in mind, Small being kept on would have been ideal to issue David Moyes with some breathing time, but that now won’t be the case.