Youth club
KOEMAN: NO FEAR KID BLUES ARE ALRIGHT
RONALD KOEMAN has accused English managers of being “afraid” of giving youth a chance.
The Everton boss has been bold this season in promoting young players into his side – and has reaped spectacular results with talent such as 18-year-old Tom Davies emerging as a genuine England prospect.
Yet the Dutchman feels the culture within the game in his adopted country is far from the standard set in his native Holland, with fear the overriding emotion as bosses are placed under massive pressure to produce instant results.
Koeman though, has other ideas. He was hot-housed in the Dutch system which places a massive emphasis on developing talent, and he insisted he is not scared of continuing his policy of blooding youngsters...if they’re good enough.
“I see differences in how I like to give young players a chance maybe more than the English managers,” he said.
“They are afraid. I am not afraid to put young players in. I know in English football people say you have to look out for young players, that maybe they say they can play 15 or 20 games, not more. But I am not afraid – maybe they are.”
Davies has started 15 of Everton’s last 16 games, and has been compared to a young Steven Gerrard, which is a rare compliment given it was Gerrard himself doing the comparing. But Koeman hasn’t stopped there. He has also blooded the likes of Mason Holgate, Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Matthew Pennington, as well as giving teenager Ademola Lookman a debut just days after signing from Charlton. The Blues boss himself was just 17 when he made his debut in the Dutch League with Groningen, and he had just turned 20 when he played his first game for Holland.
For Koeman, it is simple, if you’re good enough you’re old enough.
“It is all about the talents of the young players. If they have the talent you have to give an opportunity. If they don’t have the talent then you have to look elsewhere,” he added. “If I have a second centre-back and he is 20 and I think he can do the job, then I don’t sign a centre-back as a third option. My young boy is my second option. It’s the way I like to work.
“I am a manager who is giving young players a chance when they deserve it. I am not doubting whether to give a young player a chance instead of an older player. But that was in Holland, Spain and Southampton and also in Everton.”
Davies and Holgate will start at West Ham as Everton look to maintain their fight for fifth place. Calvert-Lewin, Lookman and Pennington will all be involved.