da bet7k： When Sam Allardyce took charge of Everton at the end of November following a 4-1 thrashing by Southampton at St Mary’s – the south coast outfit’s last Premier League win – he inherited a team that had often been filled with young players – especially during David Unsworth’s role as caretaker manager.
da apostebet： The Merseyside outfit were struggling towards the bottom of top flight following a disastrous start to the campaign under former boss Ronald Koeman, and with summer additions like Davy Klaassen and Sandro Ramirez struggling to adapt to the English game, youngsters like Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Jonjoe Kenny, Mason Holgate and Ademola Lookman were perhaps seeing more opportunities than they would have perhaps expected before the season started.
In fact, with the Toffees failing to sign a direct replacement for Romelu Lukaku, Wayne Rooney not able to play effectively as a centre-forward, Sandro struggling and Oumar Niasse not fancied by Koeman, Calvert-Lewin quickly found himself as one of the club’s first-choice strikers.
The 20-year-old also featured in a number of other attacking positions – including on both wings – for Everton in the opening months of the campaign, and he certainly didn’t let anyone down with his performances and the commitment he was showing to a struggling team in which senior players like Morgan Schneiderlin, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Ashley Williams weren’t impressing.
The former Sheffield United player needs minutes to improve his game and with three goals and six assists in 24 Premier League matches this season, he hasn’t fared too badly considering he is still developing and improving.
The England U21 international remained a regular in the team under Allardyce – perhaps because he had little other choice – until the start of January, when the Merseyside outfit moved quickly to snap Cenk Tosun up in a £27m deal from Besiktas.
He has since played just 44 minutes from the substitutes’ bench in four top flight fixtures, while the addition of Theo Walcott from Arsenal has also restricted his potential playing time out wide, too.
Having really impressed in the circumstances and with the fans on his side, Calvert-Lewin would have been particularly disappointed to have been omitted from the squad altogether for the 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion at Goodison Park last month, even if his manager thought he was in need of a rest.
While Everton do have a big squad, the fact that summer signing Nikola Vlasic – who had only made four Premier League starts all season prior to the clash against the Baggies – started the encounter while his attacking teammate didn’t even make the 18 was still baffling.
The Croatian was hauled off at half-time by Allardyce and replaced by Yannick Bolasie despite the fact that the winger is still yet to find his best form since his return from a long-term injury, which perhaps proves that the Toffees boss doesn’t have huge faith or trust in his youngsters.
Ademola Lookman was another of those to miss out on the 18 against West Brom, and while he hasn’t been a regular starter for the Toffees this season he has shown just how useful he can be from the bench – he played a big role in his side’s equaliser against Liverpool in the FA Cup last month, for example.
However, the 20-year-old has rarely had much of a chance under Allardyce – especially following the signing of Walcott and the return of Bolasie – and he left the club to join RB Leipzig on deadline day despite his manager previously denying that he would be leaving Goodison Park before the window slammed shut.
Tom Davies is another who will feel hard done by having been a regular previously, and he has often missed out on a midfield berth despite players like Morgan Schneiderlin and Idrissa Gueye being nowhere near the levels they were at last season, while James McCarthy was also picked ahead of him – prior to his unfortunate double leg break – despite not being fancied by Koeman.
Finally, Jonjoe Kenny has been an impressive performer for most of the season at right-back as Seamus Coleman recovered from a leg break himself, and he certainly didn’t deserve to lose his place right away when the Irishman returned – but that is exactly what happened against Leicester City on Wednesday night.
To be fair to Allardyce, 21-year-old Mason Holgate has been a regular at centre-back since the former England boss took charge, although he was another to miss out against Leicester with Phil Jagielka and Michael Keane starting against the Foxes.
Allardyce does have previous when it comes to the subject of youth too, coming under scrutiny from the board and the fans during his spell with West Ham United for failing to bring through more young players at the Boleyn Stadium.
With Lookman wanting to go on deadline day and Calvert-Lewin reportedly attracting interest from the Hammers and Huddersfield Town before the 11pm deadline on Wednesday, it shows that the young players at Everton perhaps don’t feel that they are going to get the chance to impress under Allardyce that they perhaps deserve, and it is proof of his stance on young players – something that could affect his long-term future on Merseyside.