Loads of Everton fans have been reacting on social media after Carlo Ancelotti stated the importance of having a strong relationship between the youth and senior folds at the club.
The boss has shared his views following our FA Cup beating at Liverpool on Sunday, where Reds head coach Jurgen Klopp named a heavily rotated line-up from the side which is dominating the Premier League yet were strong enough to emerge 1-0 winners over our experienced XI.
Ancelotti was evidently not prepared to name a likewise youthful line-up at Anfield to his German counterpart, as he has now pledged to hold talks with Director of Football Marcel Brands and academy manager David Unsworth over how the club can better prepare players for the step-up to senior football.
“The first-team has to have a strong relationship with the academy,” Ancelotti told EvertonTV. “We have to work together to improve the players from the youth system. There will be times I can take players from the academy to train with the first-team.
“I will speak with the academy manager [Unsworth] to find the right way to improve the young players and get them ready for our first-team. I have regular contact with Marcel, [and] we have discussions every day to find the right solution to do our best for this club.
“Everyone is here to work for this club, [and] to try to bring this club to the highest level possible.”
Does Unsworth have a future at the club under Ancelotti?
Yes
No
Director of Football Brands also stated that he had discussed the topic of our academy players during his initial contact with Ancelotti prior to the former Real Madrid and Bayern Munich boss’ appointment.
Ancelotti is now seemingly suggesting the current work being carried out at Finch Farm with the youngsters is not enough to match his desires, or at least not match his desired playstyle which will hinder the number of players that progress into the first-team.
Here are some of the messages shared as fans reacted to Ancelotti’s statement…
Ancelotti = tippy tappy football played from the back and this means buying top quality players preferably from Spain who love playing that system. Big Dun = getting the ball into the box very quickly and getting a head on the end of it Similar to Moyes.
— JESSYICA’S ONLINE SERVICES (@SJessyica) January 7, 2020
Please have some young players- anyone- play instead of Siggurdsson or Schneiderlin on Saturday
— Dave🤷♂️Robots (@RobotsDave) January 7, 2020
Start by sacking Unsworth then
— Tom Harrison (@_TomHarrison19) January 7, 2020
Ouch. So he is saying “Liverpool’s youngsters played us off the pitch so why haven’t we got the same standard of player coming through”?
— ToffeeDoug (@toffeedoug) January 7, 2020
How do we know if our youth is good enough they never get a sniff….bare in mind Curtis Jones played centre mid when our U23s side beat them 2-0 at Anfield …..
— Marko (@markfazza1974) January 7, 2020
Chose a solid system of play and have the youth sides play the same way – so easy yet it will make a massive difference to progression into the first team
— sam johnson 🌹 (@SamJohnson2904) January 7, 2020
Bout time we had this. Sure it’s all nice to grab the PL2 trophies, but no point in the academy if they still aren’t strong enough to progress to the first team level.
— Matt ♿️ (@Matt_S_1982) January 7, 2020
Starts with getting the U23s playing the same tactics as the first team and loaning out players properly
— Cliff (@CJ27__) January 7, 2020
Dont play gylfi on Saturday
Dont play Morgan on saturday
Don’t play theo on saturdayWould much rather youth lads have a go, in fact don’t even put the. On the bench.
— GSG (@GSG_EFC) January 7, 2020
In other Everton news, the club have reportedly been blocked from signing a £13.5million-rated defender in the January window.