Owen Hargreaves takes dig at Everton after what he saw in the Premier League this week
Owen Hargreaves believes young players are better off being a bit-part player at top clubs than being the main man at Everton.
The former Premier League and Champions League winning midfielder was speaking about Arsenal striker Eddie Nketiah after his hat-trick for Arsenal in the 5-0 win over Sheffield United at the weekend.
And while speaking on Premier League Productions (30 October, 14:50), the former England international took a swipe at Everton by suggesting he’d be better off being a squad player at the Emirates than be the main man at Goodison Park.
“The young kids, they all want everything,” said Hargreaves. “They think they can be the guy and I respect that.
“But you could stay there and just be a great squad player for a decade. Score 200 goals. Win everything rather than go and be the main guy at wherever that is Palace or Everton.
“I think the guys are better off sitting still.”
Crazy
Young players should be encouraged to play as much football as they can, and if that means stepping down from the highest level to do it then so be it.
Obviously in an ideal world everyone would be first-choice at the biggest clubs in the world, but that simply isn’t possible. Telling these young players to stick around at clubs without playing to watch their development stagnate is just crazy.
Being a first-choice striker at any Premier League club is a huge task and someone like Nketiah is clearly too good to just be sitting on the bench on a regular basis, and he showed that with his hat-trick against the Blades.
But if he were to come to Everton that doesn’t mean he’s a worse player for it, it simply means he is chasing opportunity and that should be applauded not chastised.
It’s a weird comment from Hargreaves, who is probably one of the first to blame players for taking big money and leaving clubs for less game time in the process.
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