Adam Aznou gets daunting verdict from Everton U21s boss after Bradford thrashing

ECHO Everton reporter Chris Beesley spoke to Blues U21s boss Paul Tait at Valley Parade following the 5-1 Vertu Trophy defeat to Bradford City

The size of the task facing summer signing Adam Aznou in establishing himself in the Everton first team has been highlighted in a message delivered by Blues’ Under-21s manager Paul Tait.

The Morocco international left-back joined Everton from Bayern Munich for an undisclosed fee understood to be worth £8million on July 29 but is yet to make his senior debut. With club captain Seamus Coleman picked out of position ahead of him at left-back for the Carabao Cup exit at Wolverhampton Wanderers and midfielder James Garner being deployed there in Premier League games when Vitalii Mykolenko has been injured, David Moyes was asked about Aznou in his pre-match press conference to preview the West Ham United fixture.

The 62-year-old said: “He’s got a bit to do before he’s probably going to be ready for the first team at the moment. But we were aware of that when we brought him in.”

Aznou played the full 90 minutes for Everton U21s in their 5-1 Vertu Trophy loss at Bradford City on Tuesday and in terms of where the player is in his development, Tait told the ECHO: “I’ll let the manager judge that. Adam came in and he did his best for us tonight.

“We’ve seen some flashes of probably why we’ve signed him, but as we know, if you’re coming into the Premier League at any age, never mind 19, it’s a big ask.”

READ MORE : Jack Grealish advised on how to make Everton transfer permanent - 'Best deal we can get'READ MORE : Everton call out Arsenal legend over Jordan Pickford as Iliman Ndiaye nets stunning goal

The Blues also had a further £32million worth of talent in their starting line-up in the shape of Dwight McNeil, who boasts 227 Premier League appearances, and Nathan Patterson, who has turned out 49 times in the competition. While the pair failed to prevent a heavy defeat for their side, Tait praised their approach to the fixture.

He said: “I thought their attitude was excellent. Patto was excellent, Dwight was excellent in terms of his attitude and the way he spoke to the players at half-time as well and at the end about the learning that he’s been through as a young player.

“Hopefully we’ve helped them with their minutes, and they can help the first team.”

The 50-year-old acknowledged that the encounter – that saw Everton 3-0 down after 21 minutes and 4-0 behind by the interval – was a steep learning curve for many in his side though as they were torn apart by a team who sit second in the League One table. Tait said: “There have been some harsh lessons learned, in the first half particularly. If you give a team chances like that, they’re going to bury you.

“Bradford are a good team, a good squad, they’re not just a good starting 11, they’ve got a really good squad. If you make schoolboy errors – which we did, we looked like a real soft academy team in the first half – and give them four goals because we didn’t defend properly, you get punished for that.

“The idea was to play in their half, turn them round, squeeze, try and not give their fans anything to hang on to early doors, because we knew there would be a few in here as well because they’re going so well, but things don’t always go to plan when you’re working with young players and they’re developing.

“Like I said, there have been some really harsh lessons learned but hopefully we’re going to get some better players come out of it.”

There were 13 additional minutes played in the second half after Everton’s Joel Catesby underwent lengthy treatment for an injury by the side of the pitch following a challenge from Brad Halliday before being stretchered off and Tait offered his sympathies to the 18-year-old Birkenhead-born prospect. He said: “I don’t know how Joel is yet, it didn’t look great. He’s gone to hospital and we’re all thinking about him.

“He’s been so unlucky with injuries over the last couple of seasons and we’ve just got him to where he’s become a starter in the team and doing really well and showed some real promise, so I’m gutted for him. I couldn’t see it as it was over the far side of the pitch, but the lad who made the tackle has just been in to get his number and apologise as it wasn’t malicious.

“Getting injuries is part of football unfortunately. But I feel so sorry for Joel because he’s had such a tough time with them, so we’ll see how he is.”

Meanwhile, former Everton midfielder Jenson Metcalfe, who played in the game having only made the move from the Blues to the Bantams on July 24, offered ex colleague Catesby his best wishes. The 21-year-old Wigan-born player, who penned a three-year deal with the West Yorkshire club this summer, told BBC Radio Leeds: “It was a good night’s work but firstly, I want to wish Joel a speedy recovery because it’s never easy seeing anyone go down like that and you know it’s going to be a long recovery. They’ve got great recovery staff who I work closely with as well for a tough injury and I’m sure he’ll be back better.

“I know him well. He was in and around the youth team when I was there.

“He’s a great lad, a great player as well and has got a good family. It’s not nice, but I’m just wishing him a speedy recovery.”

Click here to read article