Exclusive: Everton U-21 Coach David Unsworth on Martinez, Club's Young Stars

It is “Inside Everton Week” all this week on Bleacher Report, and Tuesday sees attention switch to the club’s famous academy. We spoke to Under-21 manager David Unsworth about the club’s special track record of developing its own players.

Click here for our interview with highly-regarded Under-21 prospect Ryan Ledson.

FINCH FARM, Halewood—As a club with such a strong tradition of bringing academy players through to become first-team regulars, there is always a lot pressure on the shoulders of Everton’s Under-21 manager.

The last stop for many players between youth football and—hopefully—starting to contribute to the first team squad, as U-21 boss David Unsworth holds a vital role with Everton’s playing structure; taking on the best players the academy has produced and, with hard work, the right advice and a pinch of luck, slowly turning them into individuals capable of making the vast step up to first-team football.

“In terms of the role it’s everything,” Unsworth tells Bleacher Report. “It’s coach, it’s manager, it’s psychologist, it’s friend—it’s enemy sometimes. Father figure, advisor, it’s everything rolled into one really.”

“He just wants the best for us,” one of the club’s many talented prospects, Ryan Ledson, says. “He’s tough on us, which gets us ready to go out on loan or to go over to the first team. He treats us like men.”

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Made up to have made my @Everton debut last night. Dream come true! Thanks for all the messages 👍 pic.twitter.com/Ioo4yZQ9tt

— Ryan Ledson (@RyanLedson97) December 12, 2014"

The club has always prided itself on helping young players reach the professional ranks, something that makes it easier for Unsworth to motivate his players, who are currently on the fringes of the title race in the top division of the Under-21 league.

He adds: “The biggest thing that this great club does is that it gives young players opportunities, and it’s a real special place when you know and can see a kid that has talent, a young man that has talent that he will get that opportunity. It’s not a case of if he will but when he will, and that makes a big, big difference with young players.”

Unsworth works very closely with Roberto Martinez, who takes a close interest in the progress being made at all levels of the club. Along with Joe Royle, who managed the club in the 1990s and now overseas the club’s current and prospective loanees, the three men make sure no stone is left unturned in their bid to add to a list of Everton academy products-turned-international players that includes Wayne Rooney and Ross Barkley.

“[Roberto] is a manager who wants to know constantly, daily, how the boys are doing,” Unsworth adds. “We need to keep feeding the first team squad, keep pushing them through.”

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#EFCU21: Updated home U21 fixtures list following Monday's postponement. New date for Sunderland TBA. pic.twitter.com/DYKh0UDg5e

— Everton (@Everton) January 30, 2015"

Nevertheless, it is a rewarding job: “I defy any coach who sits and watches a young player come through the ranks not to sit there [when they make their debut] with a beaming smile on their face, and a feeling of being really proud.”

Unsworth knows more than a thing or two about what is required to be successful at the highest level, having been a key component of the club’s 1995 FA Cup final winning side—the last Everton team to win a major trophy.

While none of them are old enough to remember that day at Wembley, the former full-back hopes some of the players he is now coaching will be able to step up to the first-team and help Everton create new memories over the next few years.

“I remember it like it was yesterday,” he says of that final win. “None of my lads were born, unfortunately … [it was] the highlight of my career, that period at the club, terrific times.

“It’s been long enough now and it’s time that this next crop of players gets some silverware on board and really kick on. We certainly have the ability and talent to do that here at the club.”

Click the above video for our full interview with David Unsworth, as he discusses how he got the role, his day-to-day relationship with Martinez, and the painstaking planning that goes into developing young players.