UEFA CUP PREVIEW: Youngsters offered chance of baptism without fire

Dec 20 2007 by Chris Beesley, Liverpool Daily Post

THROWING youngsters into the cauldron of European football is not a new phenomenon at Everton and David Moyes is expected to continue the tradition tonight when his side face AZ Alkmaar.

The great Colin Harvey came through a baptism of fire at the San Siro in 1963 when he made his senior bow against the mighty Internazionale while the raw enthusiasm and power of Victor Anichebe has proved to be something of a secret weapon in this season’s campaign.

Tonight’s encounter at the DSB Stadion – a venue on the edge of Alkmaar surrounded by a huge roundabout and resembling a more impressive version of the Reebok Stadium – is not the pressure cooker environment of a crunch European Cup tie that Harvey faced 44 years ago but it still provides some of Everton’s bright young stars with a valuable opportunity to taste continental opposition.

With the likes of Bjarni Vidarsson, John Paul Kissock, Lukas Jutkiewicz, John Irving and Patrick Boyle in the squad and the latter expected to start for his debut given there seems to be no obvious alternative at left-back, the travelling party has a youthful element to it.

None more so than 16-year-old Jack Rodwell, a former England schoolboys skipper from Birkdale, who would become Everton’s youngest player in Europe if he figures.

Moyes is delighted to be able to give some of the club’s prospects a chance and said: “It’s exciting in that to give youngsters an opportunity is a great thing. What they need to do is show enough to warrant that opportunity.

“We’ll look at it. There may be some starting and there may be some on the bench.

“It’s part of if we want to be a club that is serious then we need to keep bringing players through.

“We’ve got a great record of bringing players through and we want to bring in even more than we’ve done in the past.”

With so many young players on the plane from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, there was invariably a bubbly mood on board Everton’s flight and Moyes believes this is a continuation of the feel-good factor within the camp due to his team’s unbeaten run which was stretched to 12 games last week with a double victory over West Ham in both the Carling Cup and Premier League.

He said: “We had a trip down to London last week when we played West Ham twice in four days and I think the excitement from that has kept going.

“The one thing we have at Everton is a brilliant spirit. It’s a great group of men and I’m happy to be working with them. It’s not been the key to our unbeaten run but it’s something you can’t make up you have to work on it and the best way is by winning, playing for each other and joining each other’s company.”

The fact that Everton can go into tonight’s match with a more carefree attitude is testament to how far they have progressed in European football this season having already booked their place in the knockout stages of the UEFA Cup and just like his players, Moyes admits that it is been a steep learning curve for him as a coach.

He said: “We’ve played in different styles this season. European football is quite new to us and to me as a manager.

“Three seasons ago we qualified for the Champions League and were knocked out in the first game and then knocked out of our first game in the UEFA Cup but this season we have gained experience.

“We’ve grown in it, we’ve got better, we’ve embraced it and we look as if we’re beginning to understand the football.

“Every game in Europe has changed tactically during the game from one way to another and sometimes finishes another way as well.”

Although he is now the third longest serving manager in the Premier League, Moyes still considers himself something of a youthful coach who is still learning his trade.

So having pitted his wits against one of European football’s coaching giants in Dick Advocaat in Everton’s last group match – and coming out on top courtesy of a 1-0 win that secured his club’s qualification – he is now looking forward to locking horns with another highly-respected Dutchman in AZ’s Louis van Gaal.

He said: “Louis van Gaal is a very good coach. I’m a young manager and he’s somebody who I’ve admired.

“He’s had a fantastic career and is continuing to do so and I think he someone if you’re involved in coaching or want to be involved you hear his name regularly and I’m looking forward to coming up against him.

“Like facing good football teams you always like to come up against the best coaches.

“I’ve come up against the likes of Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Sir Alex Ferguson. I’ve not always done too well but you like to face the best and there is no doubt Louis van Gaal is one of those.”

Tonight’s game doesn’t just offer an opportunity to Everton’s younger players.

One squad member who is determined to make the most of his chance is goalkeeper Stefan Wessels, who has his fair share of European experience from his time at Bayern Munich.

The 28-year-old played in Everton’s first UEFA Cup match this season against Metalist Kharkiv at Goodison Park but having made five appearances so far this season, he hasn’t figured in the starting line-up since the 1-0 Carling Cup victory at Luton Town on October 31.

Wessels said: “I would like to enjoy this game. I’ve played some games since I’ve come here but I’ve not played too many games. For me it is a great chance to play again and to play in the UEFA Cup.

“Of course I would like to help the young players to get a win or at least to get a good result. It’s a good competition. If you asked many players in different leagues all over Europe if they’d like to play in the UEFA Cup they’d say ‘yes, of course I’d like to’.”