Everton manager Marco Silva and his side endured yet another defeat at the hands of Watford at Vicarage Road last weekend condemning them to their fourth defeat in a row and their third defeat in a row in the Premier League – their first time since January 2018.
A game in which Everton produced very little throughout the whole 90 minutes which also saw defender Kurt Zouma red carded at the end of the game picking up two yellow cards for confronting the referee. After such a spirited display against champions Manchester City – despite their 2-0 defeat – Marco Silva hoped his side will build on their small improvements against his former side Watford but all those hopes diminished as Watford dominated from start to finish with Everton misfiring in all departments.
Upon Marco Silva’s arrival in the summer, much was made of Everton’s potential rise up the Premier League after their dour end to the season last year under Sam Allardyce. Despite the former England coach steadying a rocky ship at Goodison Park after Ronald Koeman’s sacking in 2017, there was always a feeling around the club that change was needed. Allardyce’s management style, philosophy and ways of playing – deemed unattractive and not fitting in line with Everton’s lofty ambitions under owner Farhad Moshiri.
Moshiri’s aspirations, commitment and dedication to the Everton cause is not in question. Lavishing funds for Marco Silva to spend in the transfer market plus talks of potential £500m new stadium already under way, forcing his own “commitment of equity” to fund the new project. His stake increased in December and he is already planning for more increase from 68.6% to 77.2% no later than this summer. However, his decisions lately have been perceived as ‘lacking football knowledge’, lacking direction and massively flawed. Earlier this week, he had reiterated his stance on Marco Silva’s position claiming that the club needs to ‘hold their nerve’ in this difficult time. As past history suggests – this is not one of his character traits.
Marco Silva is Moshiri’s fourth manager under his tenure – a club that has been renowned for its stability and faith when David Moyes and Bill Kenwright were in partnership. Roberto Martinez – although not his own appointment – was sacked as the Spaniard’s tenure hit the rocks after such a promising 5th placed finish the season before. Ronald Koeman was then appointed – sighted as a major coup and a step forward for the club, enjoying a brilliant and fruitful first season finishing seventh. The present Dutch manager was then sacked nine games into his second season with the club in the relegation places.
After various failed attempts to prize Marco Silva from Watford, Moshiri appointed Sam Allardyce – as uncanny and desperate as it was, the former England coach was certainly seen as a last resort however, it was perpetually seen as a club lacking in ambition. Moshiri had promised a bright future upon his arrival at the club but the appointment of Allardyce was a true sign of desperation and a man no longer having the clubs best interests at heart.
Marco Silva finally arrived in June last year with his former club Watford wanting Everton punished for their persistent touting of the Portuguese coach while under contract at the Hornets. Silva’s sacking – a decision which was well in the works – was seen by many as a result of his head and heart turning towards Goodison Park. Watford – at face value in this point in time – seem to have made the right call providing the toxic nature the Portuguese coach brought after Everton’s call. Never did he rule out moving clubs but also unresponsive to questions regarding his future at Vicarage Road hinting at the fact that a move to Everton would have been too good to turn down.
Upon his arrival last summer, there was much anticipation, vibrancy and excitement after what he had brought to his previous clubs Watford and Hull. Along with him, came highly respected Director of Football Marcel Brands from Dutch high-flyers PSV Eindhoven. A potential match made in heaven which will have brought a lot of cause for optimism not just on the pitch but off it as well.
However, 5 months in and things are looking bleak for Everton on all fronts with the club caught in a landslide in the Premier League. Silva’s side have only picked up 12 points from 13 games, and even to put matters worse they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship minnows Millwall. Had they gone on to win, you wouldn’t have backed against Everton to go on and cause a stir in the latter stages of the competition.
So can Marco Silva arrest Everton’s current slide?
On previous evidence, there must be some doubts regarding Silva’s abilities to turn things around. His career so far in England have been defined by bright starts before steep declines both at Hull and Watford and this current stint at Goodison Park seems like its heading in the same direction. At Hull, he accumulated 17 points from his first 11 games but only four from the next seven which led to relegation to the Championship. He won 21 points from his first 13 games at Vicarage Road then only 5 from his next 11 games which leads to the question what led to these drop in results? The same is happening this season with Everton looking a shadow of the side they really good be.
After a promising summer of recruitment, securing the services of Richarlison from Watford for £50million – albeit controversially. Highly-rated Colombian centre back Yerry Mina arrived from Barcelona for £28million along with left-back Lucas Digne for £19million and Andre Gomes who joined the club on loan. You can’t say that Silva wasn’t backed by the clubs board. These are players who are primed for much more especially Richarlison, a player Silva previously managed at Watford last season. You can add in the signings of Brazilian winger Bernard on a free from Shakhtar Donetsk and Kurt Zouma from Chelsea which will have surely had a number of managers drooling at the sight of such quality additions.
However, much of these signings have flattered to deceive at best. Richarlison despite his unerring abilities and potential seems like he is entering that second season slump he endured last season at Vicarage Road. 10 goals in 25 Premier League games is pretty impressive but you always feel the Brazillian could do more. Having been deployed in a number of positions lately really haven’t helped his cause either. How about Andre Gomes? The Spaniard has looked assured and composed in spells but has a tendency to vanish into thin air when it really matters most – the reason Barcelona lost faith in the midfielder so soon after his arrival from Valencia. When he is good, Gomes is really good however, that hasn’t been the case so far during this loan spell. He’s not the only one, Bernard has flattered to deceive too, only performing to his irresistible abilities in spurts. What must Marco Silva do for these players to really turn on the style? He invested heavily in his defence with the signings of Digne, Mina and Zouma however that hasn’t worked either with Everton shipping goals for fun of late conceding 8 goals in 6 league games since the start of the year.
Marco Silva must show he has the capacity to plug holes in his defence, again a factor which he has struggled with since his bow in the English top division and one must correct if he is to survive. The defeat to Wolves a mere reflection of the improvements Silva must make to his leaky defence with Wolves’ attacking efforts dissecting and taking apart their defence constantly at will. Even when things were rosy earlier this season, Everton still looked susceptible and Silva has shown no signs of solving a puzzle that has repeatedly plagued him. All three goals against Millwall in that FA Cup defeat were all from set-pieces, and Raul Jimenez’ goal against Wolves and Aymeric Laporte’s header in the defeat to Premier League champions Manchester City. 12 goals Everton have conceded from set-plays – the most in the division.
Can we say Silva is solely to blame? Certainly not. The Portuguese coach along with Brands walked into a club in disarray in terms of its structure and transfer policy. Silva’s appointment was supposed to be that precious drop in the ocean but at this point in time, his recruitment and strategies seem to be aligning with the club’s current failures. Right now, the club might just be the shining example of how not to operate in the transfer window with some big spending deals that have failed to deliver. Examples being the huge contract handed to striker Sandro Ramirez, bought from Spanish club Malaga in 2017 for a fee of £5m. Though the former Spanish under-21 player has become expendable drifting on loan from Sevilla and Real Sociedad in a matter of months. Former Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen – a player promised for so much – was signed for a huge fee of £25m when he was clearly not fit to carry the flag at Goodison before being shun out to German club Werder Bremen at a £12m loss only a year later. What was even more bizarre about the Klaassen capture was the senseless nature of the signings of three players for the same ‘number 10’ position in Wayne Rooney and Gylfi Sigurdsson – bought for £45m. Such acquisitions took a massive hit on the wage which as a result has led to Brands doing all he can to drastically trim the squad. Wayne Rooney has since left to DC United while the likes of Yannick Bolasie went on loan to Aston Villa then Anderlecht and the likes of Morgan Schneiderlin, Cenk Tosun and Theo Walcott are all at the point of pondering their futures at the club.
England number one, Jordan Pickford, a £30m purchase from Sunderland has been an isolated success but you feel the club is still in disarray with a host of bad additions to the squad. The club have generated a fair bit of cash from the sales of Romelu Lukaku, John Stones and Ross Barkley without finding adequate replacements and much of that cash has been squandered. The signing of Cenk Tosun from Besiktas has been a failure, with the striker failing to impress many when called upon. The lack of fire power up front has led to Silva utilising Richarlison as the main front man on numerous occasions this season but those plans seem to have been halted due to the Brazilian’s inconsistencies. Certainly Silva has struggled to get performances and results out of these players who at face values have such individual qualities, but that’s just it…individual qualities.
The question is, whether Silva still possesses the managerial qualities to maximise the potential of these players. Players such as Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman, Jordan Pickford, Jonjo Kenny and future Everton captain to be Tom Davies are all the future of the club and maybe starting from grassroots may be just the way to go for Marco Silva, that’s if he is still at the club come the end of the season.
These next few months will be vital for Marco Silva and his men but also whether the Portuguese coach has the managerial capabilities and nous to turn Everton’s fortunes around not only on the pitch but off it too. Recent history suggests he may struggle, and there are currently no reason for optimism right now around the club but its time for Silva to dig deep and find new ways in which Everton can build upon. Rather than being a monument for underacheivment, there are certainly components within this side that can catapult the club to being a monument for steady progression.
These next few months of the season will prove pivotal.
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