Just finished watching the game as I was out last night. Result is irrelevant; it was just a friendly, big day for the kids, and Wigan aren't a crap Cat 2 academy just ignorant people seeing they're a League One club and thinking we should hammer them. Thought they were solid but aside from their goals (first one was a beauty) we were by far the better side - although the raft of subs on 60 mins really disjointed us.. As others have said, this formation doesn't work, reminds me of England under Sven trying to shoehorn Lampard, Scholes and Gerrard into one midfield. It's all well and good having 4 great attackers on but leaving us so exposed in the middle and no one can drop in to cover the full-backs. I think just having say Finney starting at RB and Gardner in a midfield 3 would have helped a lot.
All in all though: think it's one of the best Everton U18's I've seen and I think we have a lot of top talents that need nurturing.
View attachment 295538= has a real shot
View attachment 295539= hard to tell
View attachment 295540= more than likely not
Individual Assessments
Starting XI
GK: Seve Patrick (15): Looked comfortable on the ball for his age, nothing he could do about the goals. Great triple save second half.
LB: Joshua van Schoor (18) - He's just okay to me. Has good athleticism but doesn't really stand out which is fine, not everyone here is a top prospect. Think he could be developed.
CB: Aled Thomas (18) - Best CB prospect we've had in a while; great physicality for 18 but also has the technique. 2nd goal he should do better though as he has no idea their striker is behind him. Cut out the cross or mark the man but sadly did neither. In general showing why he's ready for U21's though.
CB: Luca Davis (18) - Basic for me, does his job but certainly isn't someone I'd expect to push on into the U21's too high.
RB: Luis Gardner (17) - Isn't really a right-back for me, not sure why the experiment is continuing with Finney back. Quite like lad but he's a midfielder.
CM: Harvey Foster (17) - Still a massive fan but he's one that for sure needs bulking up as he gets older. The sort of midfield type we've not really had, wants to speed up the play and is decent on set pieces. With Graham he's got the best vision and spatial awareness.
CM: Demi Akarakiri (16) - He's developed quite a lot from the Next Gen tournament and he's more well-rounded than I thought. Figured at first he was more of a 10 but seems like he can do both sides of the game. Lovely early through-ball for Loney.
LM: Braiden Graham (17) - We know he's definitely the brightest prospect. People saying "he needs to be with the U21's" aren't paying attention since he already is.
RM: Justin Clarke (16?) - Occasion seemed to get to him as he was trying far too hard with the skills and their LB sussed it out early. We know how good he is though and still had some nice moments. Think in a front 3 we'd get more out of his pace - honestly one of the fastest kids I've seen in years.
ST: George Morgan (18) - I like him. He's got good size about him for sure and a clean touch. Hopefully he can keep developing.
ST: Ceiran Loney (16) - Wouldn't think he was still 16, kid's massive, with good work rate. He could really turn into a solid big man next to Graham.
Subs
RB: Freddie Freedman (17) - Thought it was odd he came on at half-time at RB and Gardner moved centrally since he is (I think) a central defender - or certainly was in the Next Gen Cup. Did great work intercepting and cross for Loney's chance.
RB: George Finney (17) - Big fan of his but didn't really get into the game much. Good ball for the pen.
CM: Malik Olayiwola (16) - Talented boy, can see why he gets England game time, seems to play as a 4 for them but looks like he can do a bit of it all.
LM: Kean Wren (17) - Such an awkard player; always seems to get on the end of things, quite an unremarkable player but he gets space and chances often.
RM: Charlie Stewart (16) - Was impressive in the Next Gen tournament and showed a few glimpses of quality here especially the low cross that no one connected with.
GK: Goodness Gospel-Eze (16) - Wasn't on long enough.
CB: Evans (?) - Not even sure who this kid is. Wasn't on long enough anyway.
LB: Louis Poland (16)
LB: Harvey Billington (15?) - Wasn't on long enough. Remember he looked decent in the cup we watched though.
CM: Amari Moses (16) - Wasn't on long enough. Pretty decent effort at the end.
ST: Ray Robert (16) - Good run for the pen, good pen as well.
ST: Jonathan Nsangou (15) - Heard he's great but wasn't on long enough to see anything.
As others have said - please give up the ex-players on comms. They can't even gets these kids names right. One of them called him Ceiran Foley second half ffs. They have zero insight apart from their crap nicknames and talking about their own past 300 years ago.
