Attending the Dallas Cup this week

[LinekersLegs]

Match report
http://www.evertonfc.com/news/2015/04/04/report-everton-u19s-0-1-coritiba-u19s

 

[toffeejack]

good effort blue boys. would love to see a few get good game time in pre-season. good to hear more positive reports from ledson, we're well stocked in that central midfield so i think a year out on loan would be better than promoting him to the first team next season. just need to rotate barry a bit more, hope gibson can play more than 5 games and use besic in the DM role where he may become an utter star.

 

[Eggs]

....disappointing but it was always going to be close. Odd thing about this competition is that we were invited on the back of a successful campaign last season, yet one of the groups had a team called Knowsley Youth included. Indeed, I'm told that in the not too distant past Knowsley Youth won the competition and their Centre Forward (Stephen Thames) was player of the tournament.

 

[bpet15]

Knowsley Youth has attended every year since the tournament started - 30 years or so. They do not play in the top flight.

 

[SerenityNigh]

Henen too much stupid crap on the ball - stalled a couple chances now.

Coritiba scores on other end

Deulofeu instincts with Neville feet--that's what I saw with Henen in tight spaces.

 

[SerenityNigh]

OS updates:

Paul Tait believes he will be taking an improved group of players back to Merseyside following the Under-19s’ Dallas Cup campaign.

After winning two of the three group games, the young Blues were eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual champions Coritiba by a solitary goal.

And, while Tait says the Brazilian outfit deserved their crown, he also believes his squad can be proud of what they achieved in Texas.

“Obviously, the lads were very disappointed to go out because it’s never a nice time to get knocked out of a tournament,” he told evertonfc.com.

“I thought we let Coritiba get a foothold in the game early on and they dominated possession a little bit, but we still looked a threat on the break in the early stages and made one or two half chances.

“I think that counter-attacking threat is something we’ve carried throughout the tournament, but, unfortunately if didn’t work out for us against Coritiba in the first half.

“Then, the goal we conceded was disappointing from our perspective because there were a few errors in the build up. But we spoke about moving on from that at half-time and we really felt that we could go on and win it.

“I thought, while there were tired bodies in the second half, we performed really well. I thought we took control a bit more but we didn’t quite have the guile we needed around the box, whereas Coritiba had that and I think that was the difference.

“It was difficult to play our fourth game in the space of a week and a few decisions went against us on the night - but that’s all part of the experience and I believe these players will be better for it when we get back to England.”

Coritiba coasted to a 3-1 victory over Monterrey in Sunday’s final at the Toyota Stadium - a game the Blues’ coaching staff and squad attended.

Tait believes his relatively young squad will learn a lot from the tournament and will be better placed to go one step further should they qualify for next year’s competition.

He added: “I think [Coritiba] cruised home in the final. If you look at it overall, we proved to be their toughest test and that is pleasing considering the age of our squad.

“Most of our lads are 17, whereas most of Coritiba’s squad are 19 years old and that is quite a gap in terms of being 18 months on in their development - physically and tactically.

“I felt our lads coped with it really well and we were quite unlucky just to miss out.

“We’ve got some massive games in the Under-18 league now and the lads have already spoken about their desire to win those and get back here next year.

“I know we’d love to come back after another 12 months of development and test ourselves again if we can finish strongly in the league.”

We will be getting the inside track from every day of the young Blues' Dallas Cup 2015 tour. Today it's the turn of centre-back Curtis Langton, who talks us through the Toffees’ final two days in the USA…

We were up early on Saturday to go and watch the first team play Southampton on TV. We went down to an English pub called the Londoner to watch it with the North Texas Toffees supporters’ group, who meet there every week to watch our games.

It was great to meet all of them and we’ve really enjoyed having them support us for all four of the games we have played out here.

It was good to get the win as well because Southampton have been a very good side this season and the three points lifts us up a few places in the league.

After that, in the afternoon, we went to a Western town which has been kept like America was in years gone by. We went and had a look around the saloons and we watched a cattle drive as well.

It’s always good to experience different cultures to the one we’re used to in England and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Then, on Sunday, we had a bit more of a lie in and then we went for a run around the lake just outside our hotel. The lads who haven’t played quite as much also did a bit extra on the treadmill after that in the gym - just to keep up to speed with everyone else.

In the evening, we went to the final which was between Coritiba and Monterrey. It was a fairly well-contested final but I think Coritiba definitely deserved their win.

They have some very good players and I was impressed with Evandro - their main striker - who scored another two goals on the night.

Obviously, it’s no consolation but I suppose it’s good to say we run Coritiba the closest out of any of the teams they came up against, I thought we were arguably the better team over the 90 minutes against them and it was only a sloppy goal that cost us.

It’s time to pack our bags now and try and get a few hours sleep so that time difference doesn’t affect us too much when we get back on Tuesday.

When we’re home, I’ll start preparing for the Under-21s game against Manchester City on Sunday - it should be another big test for us and it’s one I’m looking forward to.

Follow Langton on Twitter by clicking here.

We will be getting the inside track from every day of the young Blues' Dallas Cup 2015 tour. Today it's the turn of defender James Yates, who turned 17 the day the Toffees were eliminated from the competition after a slender defeat at the hands of Coritiba…

We got a bit of a lie in with it being the day of the semi-final and then it was just mostly a day of relaxing before the game.

We went over to the mall, which is only a five-minute drive away, to stretch our legs and have a little look around and then we came back to our rooms and went through our normal routines before a match.

The pitch at the Toyota Stadium was probably one of the best pitches I’ve ever played on. I’ve played at The Emirates before, but it was amazing and there could be no excuses in terms of that.

It was a nice temperature and there was a good crowd in, too. I think that always helps and we were really focused, but, unfortunately, we didn’t manage to get the right result and that was really disappointing.

It was my 17th birthday as well, so it certainly wasn’t a good way to end it.

But, overall, it’s been a great experience for me, especially being a first year scholar to come out here and play four games has been great and I’ll learn a lot from it.

I’ve been away for a long time now because I came straight here from England duty - but it is what I love doing and I’m pleased to be doing it. I sometimes get asked can it be stressful but I don't think like that at all, it's enjoyable because it's what I've always wanted to do.

 

[Timak]

....disappointing but it was always going to be close. Odd thing about this competition is that we were invited on the back of a successful campaign last season, yet one of the groups had a team called Knowsley Youth included. Indeed, I'm told that in the not too distant past Knowsley Youth won the competition and their Centre Forward (Stephen Thames) was player of the tournament.

There are different groups. The one we played in is for English youth champions plus leading academy teams from around the globe.