Academy or reserves reaching the first team

[Bluerobins]

Has the Premier League become tougher for a younger player to break through from the Academy etc?

I can’t recall a recent player who has cemented a place in the first team squad for years e.g Rooney. Was he in fact the last?
Stones and Holgate broke through, but we bought them from a first team squad of Championship teams.

Is is tougher or is there more riding on it now, so managers are afraid of putting the them in?

 

[Nymzee]

Has the Premier League become tougher for a younger player to break through from the Academy etc?

I can’t recall a recent player who has cemented a place in the first team squad for years e.g Rooney. Was he in fact the last?
Stones and Holgate broke through, but we bought them from a first team squad of Championship teams.

Is is tougher or is there more riding on it now, so managers are afraid of putting the them in?

Or the players just aren’t as good? If we had someone in the academy now as good as Rooney was back then he’d be in the squad.

 

[Lelouch]

Are you talking about Everton or in general? I think the PL has too much money to be floating about to be taking risks on academy players unless they're top top players like Foden or someone like that, Everton haven't produced someone with top talent in a long time they usually produce Championship players at best maybe league one.
The only player that looks like he could be something for Everton based on my limited viewing is Anthony Gordon.

 

[4737carlin]

Not sure, i wonder if this could be the reason why the Campionship is so much better now then it was a few years ago. Players can get game time at that level but wont be risked in the Premier League, there is a lot of talent down there.

 

[Nymzee]

You can almost break it down into a really simplistic way using maths. Let’s say players can be ranked as a number out of 10 for say talent/potential.

Our academy produces a bunch of 6’s and maybe 7’s most years which is fine when you’re a club where that fits. If you’re an Everton of the past or like a Huddersfield those 6’s and 7’s out of 10 are likely to break through because the rest of the squad is 6 or 7.

When we have the money to go out and buy 8’s and 9’s like Iwobi, Richarlison, Kean etc. there’s just no place anymore for the 6’s and 7’s.

We as a first team have evolved whereas the academy hasn’t in the same vein. No shame in that, not many British academies produce players now for their clubs. It’s why a lot of our lads will get moves to the Championship and League 1.

 

[BernieH]

No. It's always been hard to reach the first team in fact I'd say 19-21 year olds have an easier time of reaching the first team than they did in the 80's for instance when it was still deemed you were a boy in a mans world and only the cream got a first team opportunity.

The fact is out of every intake you are very lucky if you have one who makes the grade.

 

[JimmyK]

Your memory isn't great for starters. Since Rooney there's been Anichebe, Barkley, Rodwell and Davies who meet your criteria.

 

[COYBL25]

All went West when they did away with the Reserves League and replaced it with the U23’s imo.

In the Reserves League, the young lads were playing against grown fellas week in week out, so the step up into first team footy wasn’t as great as it is now.

 

[Eggs]

....the introduction of more foreign players in the modern era, the pressure to maintain top flight PL status aligned with the money to go out and buy proven over potential makes it more difficult to breakthrough.

The step-up has always been massive, but there is less opportunity for youngsters to prove themselves in ‘men’s football’ since the old Central League system was abandoned.

Street football isn’t commonplace, it was a great way for kids to develop their skill set and attitude to the game whilst having fun. I often think Rooney was the last of the street footballers. The game is much more global, and perhaps street football is played widely in the poorer African and South American countries.

I also think the game has become more physically dependent, so being very good is no longer enough. I don’t think the skill set is necessarily higher.

 

[BernieH]

If anything these young lads get more opportunities, they've been at academies since 7 or 8 and acadamies are a lot better with better facilities than they used to be.

These kids have fitness trainers,nutrionists,sport scientists to help them get where they need or want to be. It used to be a lot harder because young lads were deemed not good enough or not physically up to it.

I think the same rule applies now as always, if you are good enough you'll be given a chance, if you can consistently perform you'll make it if not you'll dropdown the pyramid. It is as it always has been.

Remember "you'll never win owt with kids", I think that class of 92 was what changed the mentality towards younger players.

 

[Bluerobins]

Are you talking about Everton or in general? I think the PL has too much money to be floating about to be taking risks on academy players unless they're top top players like Foden or someone like that, Everton haven't produced someone with top talent in a long time they usually produce Championship players at best maybe league one.
The only player that looks like he could be something for Everton based on my limited viewing is Anthony Gordon.

Everton really but you’re right you compared us to City and yes even them with their spending power have brought through some talent. There must be a difference. Maybe the kids goes to ‘bigger more TV top 6’ teams. Of all the players we have surely one is on the path to the 1st team?

 

[Blueclouds]

Chelsea and man u will be using more kids this season. We dont seem to have the same quality of kids like the above 2

 

[BernieH]

Chelsea and man u will be using more kids this season. We dont seem to have the same quality of kids like the above 2

And yet our U23s won the league, strange that.

 

[Blueclouds]

And yet our U23s won the league, strange that.

Yeah or Silva doesn't trust them.

 

[BernieH]

Yeah or Silva doesn't trust them.

If any of them are deemed good enough, Silva will give them opportunities. There's no set in stone route to a top flight career, the ones who have the talent and the application to use that talent will make it. Every team in the division is the same, I wouldn't focus too much on other teams using kids, could be for a multitude of reasons and I bet the forums of those teams have plenty of posters moaning about them also.

 

[Blueclouds]

If any of them are deemed good enough, Silva will give them opportunities. There's no set in stone route to a top flight career, the ones who have the talent and the application to use that talent will make it. Every team in the division is the same, I wouldn't focus too much on other teams using kids, could be for a multitude of reasons and I bet the forums of those teams have plenty of posters moaning about them also.

But we should be bringing a kid in every 2 seasons into the team. The last batch of kids have not been good enough, such as Kenny for example. Shouldn't we be getting rid of these lads once we know they wont make it and have a quicker turnover.