David Unsworth has called on Everton FC to build their team around what he describes as a ‘generation of unbelievable talent.’
In the absence of the recently deposed Roberto Martinez, 42-year-old fan favourite Unsworth took the reins for Sunday’s season finale against Norwich; a 3-0 win for the Goodison Park outfit.
A quartet of academy graduates- including 17-year-old England youth captain Tom Davies and under-21 skipper Jonjoe Kenny- shone in the comfortable victory and stand-in Blues manager Unsworth lavished praise on the talented youngsters.
He said: “I thought the young lads were terrific. I thought Matty Pennington started the game really well, unfortunately had to come off with a hamstring and it was a case of ‘no problem’. Jonjoe Kenny’s been playing there all season.
“He’s been under-21 captain, I had no hesitation putting him in and he was outstanding as well. Kieran Dowell showed flashes of genius, showed the quality he’s been showing all season with the under-21s, and as for Tom Davies, I thought his performance was probably man of the match. For me he was everything we want in an Everton central midfielder.”
Davies excelled at the heart of midfield in a dominant all-round display, earning the club’s Man of the Match award in the process, while elegant attacker Kieran Dowell also impressed on his first start for the Blues.
Dutch duo Ronald Koeman and Frank De Boer are amongst the high-profile names linked with the Everton manager’s job.
But the caretaker manager insisted that any prospective new Everton manager must look to incorporate the club’s ‘unbelievable’ academy graduates into next season’s setup.
“That will be the skill of the manager: can he blend top established players with a new generation of unbelievable talent,” he concluded.
“It doesn’t matter how old you are, if you watch that performance, you know that Kieran, Tom, Jonjoe and Matty are here to stay and basically you build a team around that.”