The Everton Under-18s set the tone for the weekend with a fine 4-0 victory away to Wolves on Saturday morning while the Under-21s followed that up with an equally convincing 2-0 win at Brentford on Sunday afternoon and there were some very encouraging performances at team and individual level in both games.
Starting with the most recent game first, if I’m honest the U21s have been a bit of a struggle to watch at times this season, something not quite gelling and a few individuals not reaching the standards they set themselves last year.
That view was either shared by Dave Hughes the head coach or he just decided to rotate and freshen things up. Whatever reason it was, it worked very well indeed. The Blues lined up as below with full under 21 debuts for centre back John Dodds and attacking midfielder Freddie Murdock plus returns to the starting eleven for right back Luca Davis and winger Justin Clarke. No Braiden Graham this time who had been on first team squad duty the day before:
I had the pleasure of watching the game live and it was the first time this season I thought we imposed ourselves fully on the opposition, a very efficient high press with nice control and possession when we won the ball back with some pace and trickery in the attacking phases.
The first real action came after 15 minutes when the debutant Murdock who was looking confident and lively as the #10, fed the jet-heeled Clarke on the left wing and he managed to power his way nto the area and fire against the outside of the near post.
Again, a nice run by Clarke set up Melvin Matos who fired narrowly wide and the wing-play continued with crosses beginning to rain in. Firstly Davis to Murdock then Clarke to Murdock and Matos to Foster with both headers being saved on the latter two.
That supply line looked to have been disrupted after 41 minutes when the luckless Clarke appeared to have picked up another injury and had to be withdrawn, 0-0 at half-time.
Within the first 10 minutes of the second half Foster had a header tipped over from a Murdock corner then Brentford hit the bar and scored a (clearly offside) goal.
Any suggestions that the hosts were getting back in the game were dashed after 56 minutes when nice play between Murdock and Lambert set up Matos 18 yards out and his goal-bound drive looped off a defender to give the goalkeeper no chance, 1-0.
After a short fightback that required Pickford to make a few smart saves, Matos and Olayiwola were beginning to dovetail very nicely. I swear one passage of attacking play by the pair which saw Foster’s shot cleared off the line, had the defence dizzy.
Matos went close from an identical position as his goal came from (twice) before a Foster corner was poorly cleared and Olayiwola cracked home gleefully from the edge of the area, 2-0. The highlights are below:
Hard to pick a man of the match with so many good displays but **Harvey Foster** possibly just shades it as in addition to his dictating the play, he was a genuine goal threat which is a welcome bonus to this game.
Meanwhile, the day before, a cracking result for the younger group and a young man (see lead photo) Jonathan Nsangou beginning to make a name for himself with 4 goals in 4 games. He added a brace on Saturday to match his opening day brace a few weeks ago. The team lined up as below:
Nsangou plays pretty much as a second striker, a bit like a certain Rooney at the same age of 16, he comes deep for the ball and has a real eye for goal. The comparison is, of course, an unfair one at this stage but there are definite similarities in style on the ball. His two goals (see video below) demonstrate this. They were the first of 4 with a second half goal from Will Apter showing good awareness to follow up from his own saved spot-kick. Then a first goal, an opportunist touch, at the near post for young Scot Kai Hutchinson. Things are looking up!
Next up for the Under 18s is a home clash with Manchester City on Saturday morning and with a kick off an hour later, the Under 21s travel to Reading.