Everton youngsters are forcing David Moyes to rethink old habits | OneFootball

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One of the major criticisms thrown at David Moyes last season was his failure to trust young talent. Even as the wheels fell off across the run-in, Moyes stuck with his tried and tested, as a legless Everton limped across the finish line.

It was a situation that created debate around the club’s direction. The limited use of Tyler Dibling, Adam Aznou and Tyrique George saw the trio all immediately labelled as ‘club signings’, thrust upon a manager who favoured experience by a board looking to create a sustainable business model.

Moyes has cast his eye across the club’s young talent again throughout pre-season, with Aznou, Dibling, George, and Harrison Armstrong all showing encouraging signs.

Armstrong and George were in from the start against Crystal Palace at the weekend, in what was Everton’s second-youngest starting XI since Moyes returned to the club.

The former’s place in the side came as a result of injuries to James Garner and Christian Norgaard, but the 19-year-old did more than enough to merit more minutes next weekend. George, meanwhile, showed the sort of fearlessness in possession that often only youth brings. Neither are the finished article, but each demonstrated that Everton can find success by investing in the future.

The introduction of Armstrong and debutant Hayden Hackney helped lower an average age previously inflated by Idrissa Gana Gueye’s presence in midfield, while Thierno Barry appears to have ousted Beto as first-choice forward to further lower the age profile.

At 25 years and 308 days, only the Everton side that won 2-0 at Nottingham Forest last December has had a lower average age in Moyes’s second stint (25 years and 176 days). It’s perhaps no coincidence that both teams secured impressive energetic wins.

Everton’s youthful selection also stood out across the Premier League. Across Friday, Saturday and Sunday’s games, only Newcastle United, Manchester City, and Tottenham Hotspur lined up with younger XIs.

There will inevitably be tests of Moyes’s faith in youth. Norgaard is expected to feature regularly upon his return from injury, while James Tarkowski’s appointment as captain and his start against Crystal Palace suggests Jake O’Brien still has work to do to displace the 33-year-old.

Moyes may still lean on experience when the option is available, but the early evidence suggests Everton’s youngsters are beginning to make that decision more difficult for him.

Armstrong and George did not look like players included to satisfy a recruitment strategy against Palace. They looked like players capable of improving Everton now. If they continue to prove that, Moyes might find that trusting in the club’s future gives him his best chance of succeeding in the present.