Ebbrell was elevated to Everton head of academy coaching at the beginning of the month, while continuing to assist David Unsworth in the club’s Under-23s set-up.

 

The Toffees legend also works closely with first team boss Carlo Ancelotti, with the Italian open to sharing his principles and ideas about the game, according to Ebbrell.

 

 

However, Ebbrell insists the players in the youth set-up at Goodison Park should develop with Everton’s own identity and style of play while taking on advice from the vastly experienced Italian tactician and not copying the first team.

 

Ebbrell added that he is in constant contact with Ancelotti, gaining key tactical insights from the Toffees boss which can be propagated in to the youth teams while further cultivating Everton’s own brand of football from the roots.

 

 

“Carlo and [assistant manager] Davide [Ancelotti] are open in sharing their idea of the game and their principles”, Ebbrell told The Athletic.

 

“They are brilliant at that.

 

 

“They’ve given us access to how they see the game, but there’s absolutely no pressure.

 

“It’s not, ‘You must do this, you must do that’.

 

“I don’t think we should just be copying the first team because you don’t know what happens in five or 10 years.

 

“We need to work slightly the other way and think, ‘What are our principles at Everton?’

 

“We should have our own identity and build that, taking stuff from Carlo as best we can.”

 

Having risen through the ranks at Goodison Park himself, Ebbrell is focused on paving better pathways for the next crop of homegrown talents to follow in his footsteps.