Silva calls on referees to protect talented players like Richarlison

Monday, 13 August, 2018 41comments  |  Jump to most recent

Jean-Francois Monier/AFP/Getty Images

Marco Silva says that he fears Richarlison will need more protection from referees as he expects the Brazilian starlet is likely to find himself on the end of some rough treatment from opposition players again this season.

Everton's new £35m signing was the most fouled player in the Premier League last season in his first year with Watford and his manager doesn't see any reason why that won't be the same again this term unless referees take action.

Richarlison shrugged off an early yellow card in Saturday's 2-2 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers, shown to him for chopping Joao Moutinho down in frustration at not being awarded a free kick when he himself was fouled, to score a brace that looked at one stage as though it would win the game for the Blues.

Wolves eventually came back to earn a point against an Everton side that had been forced to play 50 minutes with 10 men following Phil Jagielka's controversial sending off.

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“I don't have doubts and we will see during the season what will happen but I don't have doubts,” Silva said in the Liverpool Echo about his expectation that Richarlison will be fouled a lot again this season. “This is the same movie I saw last season.”

“I don't like to only talk about Richarlison but it is clear in football you have to protect, in the right way of course, the talented players as well. You have to protect.”

“Of course, we are here to teach Richarlison what to do in the right moments. Not to simulate because that is not his behaviour, that is not his style, but at the end if you protect the other talents in the Premier League, and you have a big number, you have to protect all.”

The 21-year-old gave the first indications that he will be forcing critics of his price tag like Paul Merson to be eating their words this season with an excellent overall performance at Molineux.

Richarlison scored with his first shot for Everton in the 17th minute and put the Blues back ahead with a brilliant finish in the second half while also putting in tireless graft on the defensive side to help out the team, particularly after Jagielka's dismissal.

Silva is careful to manage expectations and hyperbole around the forward, saying: “We have to be calm, we are talking about one player who is only 21-years-old.

“Of course, he is a boy I know very well, he learns everyday, he came here to work hard everyday to try and do his best everyday and we have to take it game by game and be calm with him.

“He has the talent, he has everything there but you need to protect him, to support him. Today was Richarlison, next week I hope it will be Theo, Cenk, Niasse because a big club like ours needs more than one player to get results.”

 

Reader Comments (41)

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Mike Gaynes
1 Posted 13/08/2018 at 06:59:58
Love the way he's setting the table early.

Of course we wants lots of tight calls... half our goals this season will come from set pieces off fouls on Richarlison.

But judging by the lad's own spicy tackles on Saturday, that could cut both ways -- and don't be surprised if he draws more yellows himself. He doesn't hold back.

Tony Abrahams
2 Posted 13/08/2018 at 07:25:55
More than one way to skin a cat Marco? Paul Tran, was right yesterday when he said let’s wait until we lose a few, before we praise the manager too much... But Silva, does come across as a proper football man, so hopefully he doesn’t lose that common sense.

Victor Yu
3 Posted 13/08/2018 at 08:00:45
A few more games like this and Real Madrid could come calling.
Jerome Shields
4 Posted 13/08/2018 at 08:14:57
Silva is right to highlight the need for protection of Richarlison. It will focus referees on his treatment by the opposition. I think it is more likely to be Barcelona to come calling, given the friendly connections.
Jim Bennings
5 Posted 13/08/2018 at 08:17:15
Silva should be targeting win number one on Saturday against a pretty dire Southampton team at Goodison, get him up and running and get a few players on the scoresheet.

Bournemouth away will be much harder there’s no getting away from that but I hope Marco can quickly sort our embarrassing away form out ASAP this season as we have only won three on the road since January 2017.

A good start to the season can never be played down, you want to be up there at the right end of the table and it’s never too soon, remember 2004/05.

Tony Everan
6 Posted 13/08/2018 at 08:20:25
Richarlison is a superstar, we saw it in pre season and Saturday stood out like a shining light, Wolves’ Neves not bad either.

What a lift for the whole club to have another world class player to enjoy and get us amongst the top 6 . We have other players to back him up too. Mina will be equally as important in defence. Pickford. I’m very excited to see what Bernard can offer too, I think he will be an outstanding addition. Optimism abounds.

As far a referee protection goes I think that Richarlison will get kicked and bullied and elbowed every match. He is young. Defenders will get told to wind him up to see if he lashes out.

Richarlison and the referees need to be wise to the dark arts of Yard Dog defenders. The team captain and Richarlison himself needs to draw the refs attention to it. Get the miscreant defenders booked early on.

Unfortunately, most of it will be overlooked.

Mark Andersson
7 Posted 13/08/2018 at 08:29:56
Good start to this young mans Everton career... he started well with Watford too so lets hope the ref's do protect him so he can carry on. The more he can shove the media darlings shite back down their throats the better.
Henry Lloyd
8 Posted 13/08/2018 at 08:59:48
Totally Agree with you Mike (1)

He is a fiery lad and I can see him getting a few yellows
his performance was great and tremendous work rate
for a kid of his age.

I can see this being a good season COYB.

Rob Halligan
9 Posted 13/08/2018 at 09:21:37
Tony # 6. You're spot on about the team captain needing to draw attention to the ref about any bad challenges in Richarlison. That's why Seamus should be captain and not Jags. Seamus will be right in the face of the ref, as well as the player(s) committing the foul(s).

Jags will probably be about 50 yards away tying his bootlace or something?

Oh, and by the way, I know getting in the face of the ref is no longer allowed and would result in a yellow card, but you get my drift.

James Morgan
10 Posted 13/08/2018 at 09:28:55
Why we need Seamus as captain. He will bollock the ref if he sees a bad challenge. Great start from the lad, would love him to get 15+ goals and shut that bell end Merson up. I don’t recall him saying anything about West Ham’s purchase of Anderson who is older and proved nothing in the Premier League. He tried to justify it by saying “I don’t mind keepers being bought for £70m because they win you games.”
Last time I checked pal, wingers win games by scoring goals. What a numpty.
Did anyone see Richarlison giving that toung girl his shirt after the match? Class.
Pat Kelly
11 Posted 13/08/2018 at 09:49:33
Interesting that Silva said he needs to be taught not to simulate. You can't expect much sympathy if you get a name for diving and trying to take the piss out of the ref.
Jim Bennings
12 Posted 13/08/2018 at 10:21:44
I would take what Paul Merson says with a pinch of salt he’s always been a half cut prat and comes across as exactly that on T.V.

Richarlison will be good enough as a player on the pitch, if he scores 15 goals then nobody will question him .

Steve Ferns
13 Posted 13/08/2018 at 11:27:06
There’s too many of these former pros on TV giving their “expert” opinions when they really don’t have a clue.

There’s no better opinion than an expert former pro who really knows what he’s taking about and can give a solid analysis and enlighten us as to something us mere mortals haven’t seen or thought of.

Merson doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The same can be said a lot of the other rent-a-gobs. They simply don’t do the research. Merson slated Silva when he got the Hull job and clearly hadn’t done any research at all. How can having played for arsenal qualify you to talk about a Portuguese manager who had just been in Greece?

If you’re paid to give an expert opinion then the least you can do is some research before you open your gob. In other words Merson shouldn’t be giving opinions when he clearly doesn’t watch enough football.

Brent Stephens
14 Posted 13/08/2018 at 11:41:38
Good to see Silva talking about the game and wanting to put pressure on refs to protect players. One of the other things that niggled me Saturday was the constant pushing of Richy in the back – too much was let go.
Rob Halligan
15 Posted 13/08/2018 at 11:44:32
Brent, Southampton is now sold out!!
Brent Stephens
16 Posted 13/08/2018 at 11:48:05
Yes, I see, Rob. They had it yesterday as tickets still available. Got my season ticket anyway – Boys Pen (got to get a proper pair of shorts for there – schoolboy grey not jungle camouflage).
Drew O'Neall
17 Posted 13/08/2018 at 13:02:38
This is really clever manipulation of the media: Silva getting on the front foot on the issue of Richarlison diving, which will undoubtedly arise in the future.

The guy scores two goals so will have at least a couple of minutes / column inches dedicated to him by every carrier over the next week or so, and while everyone is talking positively about what a big talent he is they are obliged now to cite Silva's quote at the same time.

No one's going to call him a diver after he's given that performance so a supportive tone will be set by the talking heads which will in turn influence referees and the pundits' inclination to criticise him in the future – you can't sagely agree he's a precocious talent who needs protection in August then criticise him for diving in September.

Clever.

Jamie Crowley
18 Posted 13/08/2018 at 14:11:18
Rob @9 and James @10 -

Yes. Seamus has to be named Captain. It's time to pass the torch with Jags out the next three games. Never a better time to do it.

Captain Seamus has to happen, starting next week.

He'll protect Richarlson and all the Everton players. He leads by example. Perfect man for the job.

Derek Knox
19 Posted 13/08/2018 at 14:39:07
While I agree that players should receive some protection from the Officials, there are others in the game that are 'expert' at diving and rolling and able to fool them into believing the initial contact was far worse than the innocuous challenge it later proved to be.

I am not sure what the answer is, VAR is not perfect, and can disrupt the flow of the game, and again it is subject to the interpretation of the adjudicators, but I would rather have that and get the right decision, however what is the right decision?

We saw it on the biggest stage of all, where decisions were made after VAR was called upon, that still did not seem right to the majority of spectators.

Darren Murphy
20 Posted 13/08/2018 at 14:45:58
Definitely make Seamo captain.

When Bernard is fit he'll need more than the whole of Durex to protect the little lad.

Gerry Quinn
22 Posted 13/08/2018 at 15:49:30
http://www.hitc.com/en-gb/2018/08/13/andre-gray-praises-everton-man-richarlison-after-touching-video/
Peter Morris
23 Posted 13/08/2018 at 15:58:30
The mistake Jags made on Saturday has been made by him (and others, including Holgate I seem to remember) often before, perhaps not with such devastating consequences, so I can't accept it is a factor of age. I won't write Jags off just yet; I think he will have a part to play for us this season, albeit a fragmented one.

The issue for me is whether a tackle like that, which clearly won the ball, should ever be a foul under the laws of the game. If it was against the law, the law is an ass.

The ref confounded the situation by allowing the Wolves player to place the ball just where he liked. What's the point of all this spray paint if an attacker can make 3 yards ffs? That's cheating, pure and simple, and should attract a retrospective punishment.

Sukhdev Sohal
24 Posted 13/08/2018 at 16:06:06
Walcott was underwhelming today. Maybe Bernard should move over to the right if he continues playing like this. May as well have kept Aaron Lennon.
Brian Williams
25 Posted 13/08/2018 at 17:38:46
Jamie (#18).

I think it's just one game if the ref has put it through as "preventing a goal scoring opportunity" which I believe is the case, rather than the three-game ban for "serious foul play."

Lawrence Green
26 Posted 13/08/2018 at 17:41:24
Silva is right to call for protection for his star player and soon to be fans favourite, if others in the league are afforded protection then it is only right that our players receive the same treatment.

I still don't think that Jagielka's tackle was a red card offence and I saw many other incidents of a similar nature, over the weekend which went unpunished or merely recieved a yellow card for their offences.

Sandro in his first few games for Everton also suffered the kick on the achilles from behind on several occasions and it looks as if Richarlison is line to get the same treatment from Premier League defenders . I realise that Shearer was citing the letter of the law for justifying Jagielka being sent off, but those tackles from behind that go without punishment are far more dangerous and don't very often receive the level of punishment that they deserve in fact quite often a foul isn't even awarded.

There is a difference between a good tackle inadvertently injuring an opponent due to the momentum of the tackler, as in Jagielka's case and a deliberate act of vioience with the only intention being to injure the opponent, which is the case with those who decide to rake their boots down the back of a forwards leg.


Frank Crewe
27 Posted 13/08/2018 at 18:24:53
"if others in the league are afforded protection"

Name one.

Darren Murphy
28 Posted 13/08/2018 at 20:18:38
Lol Shearer. A goal hanger who led with his elbow yet a great player who won fuck all. Righto
Frank Crewe
29 Posted 13/08/2018 at 20:38:53
Shearer retired 12 years ago and I don't remember him getting any more protection from refs than anyone else.

Refs cannot "protect" any player more than any other. It's always been the fate of quick agile wingers to get knocked about. We would expect our defenders to do it to theirs, eg, Jags last Saturday, and the opposition will do it to ours.

The idea that refs would book someone for fouling player "A" but not for fouling player "B" because he isn't a skilful player is absurd. All players get the same level of treatment from refs regardless of who they are or the level of skill they have.

Jack Convery
30 Posted 13/08/2018 at 20:46:00
Drearyson (Merson) is known for two things (three if you consider him a tosser). The first is simulating guzzling loadsa beer and the second is standing on the touchline clapping his hands after watching Owen score that goal versus Argentina. So let's stop talking about him from now on.

I remember Whinger Wenger, warning refs about Andy Johnson being a clever player when it came to getting penalties – after that, I don't think he ever won another one for EFC. Silva is right to let refs know about Richarlson because some of the stuff he got from Wolves was ridiculous and at least one tackle about 2 minutes after his own yellow card, deserved a yellow itself.

I for one am very encouraged by what I am seeing and hearing this season – long may it continue.

As for Saturday, Southampton come with a free hit as I doubt even their most staunchest of supporters are expecting to get anything so we have to be right on it and put the game to bed in the first half. Let's start ripping into teams from the off and completely demoralise them before we give them some light refreshments and a cup of PG Tips at half-time.

Jack Convery
31 Posted 13/08/2018 at 20:48:45
Darren, I don't want Bernard protected by Durex as I want him to shoot as often as possible.
Si Cooper
32 Posted 14/08/2018 at 00:56:59
I was interested to see on MotD that they had a banner running on the screen with the summer transfers that had Richarlison as a £35 million buy. He was up to £40 million when the studio lot were talking about him, but it is still a long way from the ‘staggering’ £50 million some idiot of a journo from the Daily Mirror was having a pop at on Radio 5 the week before.
Mark Andersson
33 Posted 14/08/2018 at 05:32:03
Has anyone a clue why Everton seemed to be victimized or is it paranoia.. Maybe Darren you have some interesting facts you can share with us.
Peter Roberts
34 Posted 14/08/2018 at 08:30:11
Frank, agree on this, particularly back in the 80s. Somewhere on my bookshelf I have Stuart Pearces autobiography and in it he talks about playing for Wealdstone in the non-leagues. Bobby Gould came down to watch him with the view of signing him for Coventry, and in Pearces words "he saw me play for 20 minutes, kick the winger over the stand and thought 'he will do for me'"

The game is slightly less agricultural these days with even non league players being the epitome of professionalism but the philosophy remains.

Tony Abrahams
35 Posted 14/08/2018 at 09:16:57
Frank@27, I saw a Spurs player, (I'm sure) get sent off last season, because Michael Oliver, had decided enough was enough, and he wanted to put an end to the persistent fouling of Hazard.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe it was the little basque player, who plays for United, but it wasn't a red card tackle, and taken in its own context, it probably wasn't even a yellow, but the ref had made his point because every time Hazard, was getting the ball, he was being stopped in his tracks by little synical fouls.

Len Hawkins
36 Posted 14/08/2018 at 09:47:55
Merson is to football what Diane Abbott is to Pure Mathematics. Too much powder up the nose and ale down the gullet to offer any sort of intelligent viewpoint. He is just the comedy foil to Stelling someone to bounce one liners off. He is as funny as riding a pogo stick through a minefield.
Tony Everan
37 Posted 14/08/2018 at 11:33:35
Tony#35

I don’t know how Hazard doesn’t get injured more often . He is fouled every 5 mins every game. He is the best player in the league or top 3 for certain .Opposition managers know they have to stop him or lose.

The sooner such targeted cynical fouling is stamped out the better, it denigrates the game of football. It snuffs out the reason people watch. Referees need to be on to it from the off and give early yellows for repeated bad tackles.

Wouldn’t it be good if Bernard could give us a variation on what Hazard does for Chelsea. If he can approach that level of influence we will be up there challenging this season.

Mark Taylor
38 Posted 14/08/2018 at 12:24:01
Merson may be a prat- and his showing last night on Sky's debate alongside an asture and insightful Jens Lehman demonstrated that amply- but I think it was fair to question the scale of fee for Richarlison, though it might help if we actually knew exactly what it was, from £35m to £50m.

I also felt that was a lot of money for such an unproven player but it comes down to whether he can deliver on his undoubted potential. If he keeps doing what he did on Saturday, that is assured and he will look cheap, even at £50m. One of the best debuts I've seen in a long time.

Good PR from the manager re 'protecting talented players'. It may not work, but it's worth a try, all the other managers play these mind games. Ferguson tended to be the master of this.

I agree with Lawrence 26's point. I don't think the really nasty intentional 'professional fouls' are sufficiently clamped down on and it seems harsh that a genuine attempt to play the ball should be so harshly punished. I know people on here would likely to have cheered on Pique's antics in the CL final, but like many blues, I have reds in my close family and I personally felt that Pique was basically allowed to take Salah out the game in a very cynical way. I agree that Hazard also gets this kind of treatment. If I were to use VAR, it would be to look into these incidents, which are hard to spot during the game, and handing out some retrospective punishment. It's the only way to stamp it out.

James Marshall
39 Posted 14/08/2018 at 12:28:20
All the best flair players have always taken a lot of stick from opposition players - Pele and Maradona used to come in for some brutal treatment from defenders and it was always considered part & parcel of the game. Now of course there's so much money involved that clubs feel compelled to mention it to protect their assets.

If Richarlison had cost £4.50 and a packet of crisps I doubt Silva would say a word.

Justin Doone
40 Posted 15/08/2018 at 06:37:09
We have had other less talented players that needed more protection such as Osman, Pienaar and even Lukaku. They all got manhandled and pushed off the ball blatantly with out ever getting 50% of the decisions.

Take Everton away and, from a neutral perspective, I just love watching good exciting football. At the same time you have to be able to ride a challenge and stand up for yourself. It's the dirty shirt holding, trips and tackles from behind including pushing players jumping for the ball etc.

I still don't think Jagielka's challenge was a red. Last season I don't think Niasse should have been retrospectively banned for diving but we have often come off the worse in these situations.

I just hope with more flair and attacking football we get more decisions our way and good attacking opportunities that we can take advantage of. Rather than our centre-backs having most of the ball which I'm just never going to be a fan of no matter how good a defender they are.

Also we don't become a team of divers and dirty tricks. In a final maybe as a one off to win the game I'd take it, but I want to respect my team's players.

Drew O'Neall
41 Posted 15/08/2018 at 09:32:17
It's the unpunished foul on the halfway line at the start of the counter-attack that annoys me.

The better destroyers in the game are the ones who can identify the numerical disadvantage before the ref and make the foul before the move's in flight, lessening it's perceived impact on the flow of the game and thus avoiding punishment.

James Hill
42 Posted 15/08/2018 at 09:41:03
Sorry, lads, big yawn on this one. I think this guy can look after himself. This shit is just making him a target for refs and opposing players.

I agree though with some people's views on pundits. BBC Match of the Day are by far the worst. One Moron is enough in the league and he is in right place — down the M56!


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