Carlo Ancelotti refused to be drawn on whether Mason Holgate can be a future Everton captain, but was delighted to see the defender show his leadership qualities this weekend.
The centre-back returned to action to again be one of his side's standout players in the 0-0 draw at Goodison Park for the Merseyside derby on Sunday.
Seamus Coleman highlighted his young teammate's leadership qualities after the game, and this was an aspect the manager picked up on too.
But Ancelotti, when asked about Holgate's potential to perhaps be an Everton captain in the future, claimed it doesn't matter whether the defender had the armband or not.
He said: "I think that the most important part of this is that he was able to show leadership.
"It doesn't matter if he has the armband or not. I would like to have a lot of captains on the pitch, that means the team is really strong mentally.
"This is really important."
Sunday's match was played in a much different setting than usual, with no fans being allowed inside the stadium due to new coronavirus regulations.
While this will have been a strange environment for the players and staff to work in, Ancelotti could see some benefits.
"In my personal opinion, I didn't have a lot of stress during the game," he added.
"Maybe when usually there is a different atmosphere, the stress was higher for me, but during the game the level of stress for me was not so high. That is one difference.
"Another is that I can see what the opponent manager is saying, so it can be an advantage."
Of course, this means that an opposition boss can hear him too, but Ancelotti had a wry smile on his face when responding to that claim.
He remarked: "This is true, but sometimes I can lie!"
One particular aspect of Sunday's match that drew some interest was Everton's use of substitutions.
While five were available to Ancelotti, he only used three - with only one of those changes coming before the 88th minute of the match.
With his side building momentum and almost fashioning the chances to win the game in the second half, the manager confirmed he didn't want to make substitutions which could potentially affect his side's structure.
He added: "Yes that was the reason [for the substitutions]. I think that the shape was good, we didn't have problems at all defensively.
"I didn't want to change just for change. I used the substitutions at the end just to break the game."
Morgan Schneiderlin's departure from Everton was confirmed on Tuesday, with the midfielder completing a move to OGC Nice for an undisclosed fee.
The Blues are known to be interested in improving their options in central midfield in the coming transfer window.
However, Ancelotti isn't concerned about his options for the rest of the campaign.
"I think that we have options in this moment," the boss confirmed.
"Andre Gomes, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Tom Davies, who did really well against Liverpool. We also have Fabian Delph coming back soon.
"That position for this part of the season is covered."
