Many clubs are heralded for their youth development. Southampton is the first that comes to mind as a club that maximizes its youth academy to bring in players to the senior side. Well, I’m here to argue that through clever transfers and developing a few youngsters Everton has the most exciting spine in the Premier League.
When I refer to the spine of Everton that, of course, means central defense, central midfield, and striker. Between these three positions, Everton has amassed a group of young players that would be the envy of any in the league.
Let’s start from the back with possibly the most under the radar youngster in Mason Holgate who Everton was able to sign for the tiny fee of 2 million pounds. The central defender is in his first year as a first-team player for the club and amazingly enough in his six appearances, (5 starts one as a substitute) Holgate has yet to lose. This with those matches being against Tottenham, Manchester City, Manchester United, and Leicester City.
Statistically, it is difficult to put a fingerprint on what exactly makes Holgate such a promising player, but he certainly passes the eye test. In those matches against the high profile teams in the Premier League, Holgate has neutralizes some top notch talent. Often times that didn’t mean making a boatload of tackles, but rather just shadowing his mark to the point where help can arrive and make the tackle or force a turnover.
The poise with which Holgate plays means that Everton has one piece of the puzzle filled moving forward. Sure Jags and Ashley Williams will need to be replaced in the near future, but Holgate’s rapid maturation means less purchasing will have to be done.
In the midfield, Everton, well I’ll let this kick off the discussion:
Tom Davies burst onto the scene officially this past weekend against Manchester City. An Everton boy since the age of eleven, his performance was more than just the wonderful goal/run. He put in a full shift as the defensive midfielder for Everton, marking out of the match much bigger named players.
At only 18-years-old, Davies secured the second most touches for Everton behind the next player in the group with 50 according to whoscored.com. He also tirelessly tracked David Silva, Raheem Stirling and Yaya Toure around the pitch for the full match using a physical edge that is rare to find in an 18-year-old.
The final two players are of the attacking variety and are well established in the Premier League and you might be surprised to find that they are still both only 23. I am, of course, talking about central attacking midfielder Ross Barkley and striker Romelu Lukaku.
This season Barkley has had his ups and downs but his last three matches have shown promise of a turnaround. In those three matches, Barkley has scored one goal and provided two assists. More than that, his attacking intent and incisive passing has returned. I’ve written in the past how under the manager change at Everton, Barkley seemed to lose his confidence and the biting attacking threat that made him an England international. Now that feeling is back, he is taking on more defenders and taking on more of a playmaking role.
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Finally, we come to big Rom. How Chelsea let him go I don’t know, but boy has Everton been the beneficiary. I am more than confident that if Lukaku were to stay with Everton for the next few years he could write his name into the record book. Perhaps not become the top scorer ever at the club, but certainly among the top names mentioned.
More than that, Lukaku brings an element of game changing and possibility. With him starting up front an Everton fan knows that they have a punchers chance in every match. At the very least, if Everton sits back and defends the entire time, Lukaku will create a few high-quality chances by himself.
Since coming to Everton, he has snatched points all by himself in scoring 55 league goals, among the league leaders during that time and at only 23-years-old.
Lukaku’s game isn’t just scoring goals, though, it is also how his hold up play has improved and the defensive work when Everton decides to selectively press. In short, Lukaku is central to Everton in a way that other great strikers are to their club.
Next: Five strikers to replace Diego Costa
Everton has built an extremely promising group of players up the middle of the field. Sure clubs like Chelsea, who have their loan army, may have other prospects of equal or greater promise, but at Everton, these prospects have the chance to develop into stars by actually receiving minutes. The two attackers play every match and with the form Holgate and Davies are in I would expect to see a good deal more of them in the very near future. No other club can boast such an impact in their first team.