David Moyes is yet to be moved by the form of Braiden Graham at Everton.
The Irish wonderkid is enjoying a spectacular campaign, scoring 16 goals in 23 appearances this term to announce himself as the diamond of the Everton academy.
However – despite this immense form – the Northern Ireland U19 international is yet to make his debut for Everton, as David Moyes refuses to even give the boy from Ballygowan a regular spot on the bench.
It is a tough approach towards Braiden Graham from the Glaswegian, but Wayne Rooney already told Everton fans in May 2024 just how hard it is to please the stubborn 62-year-old.
Which player do you think could be next to shine in Everton’s first team? 🤩
There's some really exciting youngsters currently at Finch Farm 🔥
Everton's Braiden Graham inspecting the pitch before the match during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Everton. Everton midfielder Malik Olayiwola. Justin Clarke of Everton looks on during the pre-season friendly match between Accrington Stanley and Everton.
Credit: Getty Images/Andrew Kearns – CameraSport/Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto/Matt McNulty.
What Wayne Rooney told Gary Neville about David Moyes keeping a lid on expectations at Everton
Rooney – who idolised Francis Jeffers – is arguably the most exciting talent ever produced by England.
He is believed to have scored 114 goals in just 29 games for the Everton U10 and U11 sides, and famously scored a stunner against David Seaman of all goalkeepers at the age of just 16.
Despite all of this, Moyes was tough on Rooney and made him work for his appearances at Everton. When speaking on The Overlap, the Everton academy graduate told Gary Neville in May 2024: “At the time, I felt like he was singling me out whilst I was at the club and treating me differently to the other players. One of them was that he had me running around the local park by myself with the physio…when I look back, he was good for me, he was constantly on me.
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“He was trying to not let me think that I was better than I was.”
So, if this is how Moyes treated Rooney of all talents, you can understand why Graham’s haul of 16 goals in 23 games is yet to result in a debut.
David Moyes will still look out for Braiden Graham even if a debut does not come this season
While Moyes can be a tough man to please, he has history of looking out for Everton’s young players as Ross Barkley revealed in September 2013.
After the Liverpudlian broke his leg just as he was on the cusp of a breakthrough at Goodison Park, he told the Guardian that Moyes paid for him and his family to go on holiday, and also came round his house.
Barkley said: “He sent me and my family on holiday to get away from things after I’d broken my leg. Obviously I wasn’t happy at the time, I was down, and he organised for the club to send us to Tenerife for a week.
“It showed that he was looking out for me and we had a good time. He came round to our house in Wavertree to see me just after I’d broken my leg. There were a load of kids outside our house when they heard David Moyes was inside… I was shocked. I felt a lot better about myself after that visit.”
Does David Moyes need to put more trust in Everton’s academy players? 😤
Surely some of these players can do better than Beto and Dwight McNeil! 😡
Everton striker Braiden Graham. Everton manager David Moyes.
Credit: Getty Images/Andrew Kearns – CameraSport/Visionhaus.
Hopefully, Moyes can still make Graham feel valued like this, even if a Premier League debut does not materialise in the second half of the season.
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