Season 2011-12 Fan Articles

Investing in the Future

The transfer window is more of often than not something to be feared by Evertonians. We fear our best players being poached by teams to whom money is of no concern, whilst Moyes frantically tries to find a replacement and Mr Kenwright takes his family out for a nice dinner. We are, for the vast majority of the time, a selling club, which is why I believe Moyes should look to his young players, and concentrate on keeping, and build on the batch of talented youngsters we have.

There are a host of quality young players who, it appears, are only given a chance of first team action if all other options are exhausted. For example, Evertonians are being told to be very excited about the potential of Ross Barkley, but time and again we are seeing him overlooked, and Moyes playing a defensively minded Neville or Heitinga in centre midfield and Barkley rarely being given a chance even from the bench.

Shane Duffy?s temporary promotion to the senior squad highlights the quality of young players that Finch Farm is producing. The young defender looks assured at the back and natural when attacking corners, but he seems to be used as a last resort. We have players like Jose Baxter, who after a short and relatively promising try-out in the first team a couple of seasons ago, has returned from his latest loan spell to Tranmere and will be hungry for first team action.

The move away from Bellefield was undoubtedly a business step by the club, but the modern facilities at Finch Farm mean that players should be able to progress with the very best help, but training needs to continue on the pitch and Moyes?s stubbornness in playing out-of-form players such as Saha week-in, week-out, is only halting such progress.

Bilyaletdinov?s departure underlines this point: a foreign player whose transfer fee and wage budget could have been used to cultivate talented young players for the long term, players such as Magaye Gueye, who has this season, looked equally as adept as Bilyaletdinov in the same position. We do not have the funds to lose money on players who do not perform in the long term.

The times when Moyes has trusted his youth have paid off. Seamus Coleman has become pretty much a first-team regular in a season and, after a string of unfortunate injuries, Victor Anichebe has returned to action and delivered goals immediately.

Of course the short term acquisitions of Drenthe on the left and Donovan on the right mean that the likes of Coleman and Gueye may play second choice at present but Moyes appears reluctant to experiment, especially when a game could go either way and the pace of a young player could make the difference.

The quality of Jack Rodwell requires no reminder; if he stays, we may well have a world class midfielder with his best years ahead of him... but, if he moves on, I would like to see the money invested in some form of young talent, preferably someone to solve the immediate problem of a striker.

Teams such as Arsenal show how it is possible to train young players to become the very best; in these times when there is little money available, I would like to see Moyes is using his resources to secure young players who can benefit the club, one way or another, for years to come.

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