Everton U19s win Champions Trophy in Düsseldorf

Hopefully some good "noise" soon about the take over of Everton.

Now to beat Burnley. A massive game which Everton, must win.

UTFTs!

All the good people sacked. Leighton Baines… ??? Rampant nepotism, Jobs for the Boys.

They don't play to a system, there's no vision, no structure, we don't do it like the Germans do coz they're really good at this stuff… blah, blah, blah.

Baines, in my opinion, will prove to be a highly successful coach / manager, hopefully, with us.

But I couldn't process what they were!

Nice try, Michael, you've said yourself exactly what plenty of us have said about watching the Academy teams.

Congratulations for this tournament win – I hope Leighton continues to get the best out of his players, this could be the beginning for him and his players.

A narrow victory over a team from Japan, a couple of decent victories over German teams, and then a victory in the final against Australians.

Those 50-minute games are always quicker, especially because football has now become such a competitive sport all over the world.

I used to love playing in these type of tournaments because you play against so many different styles of play, so congratulations to those young Everton players, for coming out on top of the pile! 👏

Hopefully the academy has improved and one or two of them will go onto either play for the first team or have a career in professional football at some level.

Leighton seems to be doing a decent job. As always, time will tell.

Good to see an Everton team win trophies.

'A victory?'

And by the end, I was 34, so it was ice and tight hamstrings.

Good on the boys. Pleased for them.

Lose to Burnley, Leighton in post Monday? Of course not, but he would have 100% unqualified backing from us all.

Hoping that some of these boys will go on to become household names. Well done to Leighton.

The first faint glimmer of a new dawn?

I would be wary about Leighton Baines. He openly confessed to lacking self-confidence and belief.

Some are not cut out for management. Let him earn his stripes and maybe the club can elevate him up the coaching ladder?

If that scenario evolved next next week, we would destroy him before he had started, given our current situation.

Leave him where he is for now and let him develop as a coach.

I agree about Baines. Managing Under-18s is a challenge but obviously nowhere near the demands placed on Premier League managers.

I cannot see Leighton on the photograph – humble as ever!

It's very promising for the club's future, as long as they don't sell them off.

Managing at youth level is totally different than the step up the senior level.

I speak from experience. I was a much better youth coach.

Simms and Cannon were sold early because when push came to shove they were considered as slow-burners to become first-team regulars - hence why they were sold for healthy yet somewhat modest sums.

A season or two with the first team is what pushed Anthony Gordon from a £10 million player to a £40+ million player. Same with Jarrad Branthwaite now. Obviously if Sherif or Ebere or anyone else can follow that trajectory then that is what the club is hoping for.

Our own White Peel is a perfect example of an amazing coach who could not quite live up to expectations as a manager.

I remember Everton winning a youth trophy back in the '60s. The team's star was a lad named Aiden Maher. He stood out and was tipped for greatness but, like many who shine as young lads, he didn't make it in the top flight.

However several of that team came through the ranks and under Harry Catterick's guidance, graduated to become part of the magnificent Ball, Kendall, Harvey squad which performed so well towards the end of that decade and into the '70s.

In those days, we had a youth team set-up that was as good as any in Europe. Talented youngsters were recruited and groomed for greatness. Any showing potential were blooded for first-team action as soon as their ability warranted such promotion.

Not so now. It is extremely rare for young players to get the opportunity on the main stage to show what they've got. Unless of course they arrive with a hefty price tag. Then it seems we are supposed to automatically believe in their potential. More often than not, it transpires we've bought players inferior to those already on the books.

When players progress through the ranks as a group, they are already accustomed to each others style of play.
I sincerely hope that Baines's crop of starlets, get their opportunity to shine sooner than later.

U19 is really the point at which the players likely to make it need to start making their debut in the first team. Not just for generational players like Rooney but for mere mortals like Anichebe, Ball, Jeffers, Dunne, Gordon and Rodwell. Even players like Branch, Cadamarteri, Kenny and Dowell were debuting around that age (or younger).

So if the likes of Ebere and Sherif are going to make it, then you'd expect them to be in the mix for the first team squad at the start of next season – or be getting no less than Championship (or overseas equivalent) level loans.

I suspect the German press are interested in Ebere and Sherif because they are German and Dutch respectively, which might make them interesting targets for German clubs (maybe on loan, maybe to sign). A loan to the second tier of the Bundesliga or the top flight Eredivise would be a good experience.

Ebere is lightning fast and is now starting to score goals on a regular basis, he's ready for U21 games. Him and Harrison Armstrong are the stand-outs for me.

Thanks in advance, mind you I know Everton are not always quick to furnish you with news that a lot of us are interested in, so I'll understand if you don't know the full squad.

The best I could suggest is to work through the photograph of the team celebrating and identify all the participants from their mugshots on said Official Website.

Hmmm... now that should be a snap for AI in this day and age! Maybe I could Jeromme to help me!

I had an idea that no news was presented by Everton otherwise you'd have printed it.

"Can you use this photographic image of the winning squad along with the photos of the U-18 and U-21 Everton squads at evertonfc.com to tell me who is in this picture?"

It promptly deleted the picture and said:

"Sorry, I can't help with images of people yet."

I guess I hit a nerve!

Odin Samuels-Smith – Back row, left
Coby Ebere – Back row, 4th from the right
Martin Sherif – Front row, 3rd from the right
Jacob Beaumont-Clark – Front row, 2nd from left

Then the other ones mentioned in dispatches:

George Finney
Harrison Armstrong
Callum Bates
Bradley Moonan

I find it really hard with the rest of them. The ones who should be there based on this season's stats are:

George Pickford – Middle left in Blue?
Doug Lujkanciks
Aled Thomas
Josh van Schoor
Bradley Moonan
Luca Davis
Harvey Foster
Jack Patterson
Joel Catesby

That would be 17 in total; all U18s. I doubt they would have taken many more than that.

None from the U21s, but there's a few who are listed as U19:

Dylan Graham
Roman Dixon
Ed Jones
Jack Tierney
Issac Heath
Jensen Metcalfe
Owen Barker
Halid Djankpata
Francis Okoronkwo

So, Dave, take your pick from that little lot! Sorry, that's the best I could do… without AI.

🏆 An Everton side won the U19 Champions Trophy as they beat Sydney 3-1 in the final. Goals from Finney, Beaumont-Clark and Armstrong gave the blues the win 👏 pic.twitter.com/SSdmkI5WVx

— Everton Academy (@EFCacademy_) April 1, 2024

There's a few I can identify. The only one I would add to your list is goalkeeper Seb Jensen, back row with a bit of yellow on his front.

Two decent U18s were missing Matty Apter and George Morgan, a Welsh striker, both injured I believe.

Sorry like Phil above I can't help out there only to tell you that Francis Okoronkwo is injured so he wouldn't be there.

Maybe they will be introduced to the crowd today before the game for a round of applause and to show the first team players what winners look like, or most probably they will be named in a future programme, knowing Everton that will be next season!

A sweet victory. Bravo 🎉

I just hope the first team follow suit soon enough... one day...
sigh.

The lad in the blue shirt is Josh Van Schoor. I also recognise the lad between Beaumont-Clark and Sherif as Callum Bates. Right at the back is Seb Jensen and (I think) George Pickford.