Silva not second-guessing his team selection

Tuesday, 2 October, 2018 45comments  |  Jump to most recent
Marco Silva has defended his decision to make seven changes to his starting line-up after Everton were turfed out of the Carabao Cup on penalties by Southampton.

The Portuguese handed first starts of the season to Ademola Lookman, Kieran Dowell and Bernard, rested Gylfi Sigurdsson, Idrissa Gueye and Jordan Pickford and played Leighton Baines at left back instead of Lucas Digne.

Lookman and Bernard had their moments, particularly in the first half, but Everton flattered to deceive overall and fell behind at the end of the first half when Danny Ings was afforded too much space in the box and he slotted past Maarten Stekelenburg.

Everton were heading out in regulation time until Theo Walcott equalised with just a few minutes to go, forcing a penalty shootout.

Stekelenburg kept the Blues in it after Richalison's unorthodox penalty routine had ended with the Brazilian skying his effort over the bar, when he saved Matt Targett's spot kick.

Article continues below video content


Walcott failed from 12 yards with the score at 3-3 and Cedric Soares converted the decisive penalty. It meant that Everton once again exited the League Cup in the early rounds, with many questioning the wisdom of making so many changes to the team that had beaten Fulham on Saturday.

“It's a disappointing at the end for us,” Silva said afterwards. “It's frustrating for us because we had a clear goal in the competition to make the next round.

"I tried to keep some consistency with the backline, with the same three and just changing the left back," the manager continued when asked about the changes he made to his team.

"Cenk is a normal player in our starting XI, Tom as well. It's normal to change the goalkeeper. For me the changes are not an excuse because we played with a [strong enough] starting XI to win the match.

"For me we need to show more consistency during the 90 minutes. We had very good moments but in some situations we need to trust what we are doing and be faster.

"We were a little bit slow in some moments and for me it looks clear that we are lacking some confidence. I told my players we need to play with the same confidence every time even if things don't always go the way we want them to. They have enough quality to play."

“Penalties are not just lucky or unlucky; they [scored] more than us. If the players are taking penalties, it's because I made that decision. We win together and lose together; we don't put excuses on one player.

“We prepared the match to win and I took the decision to start with Bernard and Lookman because I thought they would perform this way. They are different to Walcott and Richarlison.

“We had two players both starting for the first time today. Both performed well; they need minutes of course."

 

Reader Comments (45)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Minik Hansen
1 Posted 03/10/2018 at 01:50:20
It's a shame, as some would've warranted a start in the next cup round, well then maybe for the FA Cup. It's a priceless lesson for Silva; I hope he takes advantage of it. He should've kept Sigurdsson playing at least, or started with Walcott or Richarlison to keep the stability and bring in Lookman or Bernard later, maybe after 60 mins... but, hey, we're just spectators here. Onwards and upwards, COYB.
Michael Kenrick
2 Posted 03/10/2018 at 03:45:18
"It's normal to change the goalkeeper." Why? Why is it 'normal'? Take ownership of your decisions, man, rather than following the herd mentality of making so many unnecessary and unwarranted changes — changes that would be unconscionable if this had been a Premier League fixture.

But I have to admit he's not alone in down-grading this competition — it's exactly what a significant proportion of fans do by not attending these games. Or do they not attend in their thousands (we were ~8,000 down from our average Premier League crowd) because they know the expectation is that a weakened team will take the field?

Chicken or egg? Either way, the end result is we are out, and it's simply not good enough. I hope someone in authority over Silva (Brands?) has made this very clear to him. Although it's of course a little late in the day...

Peter Fearon
3 Posted 03/10/2018 at 03:54:04
There is something clearly very wrong when a team that dominates in attack struggles so badly to find the net. We need a Premier League level striker. Cenk Tosun is not one, despite the gift goal against Fulham. Oumar Niasse is not one. Dominic Calvert-Lewin is not one – not yet anyway. That should have been job one in the close season.

It seems unlikely the answer to our dreams is going to be available in January but we have to hope or this season is ending very early. How we ended up without one competent target man in a game in which the point is to score goals is beyond me.

John Pierce
4 Posted 03/10/2018 at 05:11:31
Pretty disappointed that Silva has chosen to hide behind a poor selection. A selection which underwhelms the crowd and reduces expectation from the minute it's announced.

His remarks, such as they were, are a familiar refrain from a club and any number of previous incumbents that the selection was good enough to win the game.

Silva gets the stick and deservedly so. He chose the team. However, the issue is the board and now, to a point, Brands. The lack of pressure on an Everton manager to win something is laughable. Made even more poignant in a season we as a fan base filed away as transitional. Pfft!

The lack of ambition at the top of the club is ingrained and it shows on the pitch. The selection was weak, it translated to the players and the fans. You get what you deserve, which ain't at all much. Very sad.

Mark Andersson
5 Posted 03/10/2018 at 05:46:03
I see Lukaku of Man Utd is getting some stick for not scoring or being good enough for the Red Devils. By him back for £30 million, he was happy being the big fish in the small pond...
Richard Lyons
6 Posted 03/10/2018 at 06:07:21
"They have enough quality to play." I take issue with that comment.

They either don't have enough quality, or they're not being coached well enough.

Otherwise they would have won...

Ash Moore
7 Posted 03/10/2018 at 06:23:50
It's one of the modern football supporters biggest burdens — the revisionist view that domestic cup football is a "distraction" and is thus devalued by the clubs that participate.

It's a farce, of course. The fixture list includes both domestic cups every year. And the aim of a club should be to win football games. Cup football gives more opportunity to win more football games – yet is held in contemporary wisdom to be a distraction. How winning football games becomes a distraction from winning football games is something that has yet to be properly explained to me...

However, I digress. And it doesn't change the fact that the League Cup is gone for this season. I believe Silva needs a triumph, a performance, to point to and to get some supporters onside. Or at least less hostile than they are already. Where this will come from, God only knows. It's better to be lucky than good; better again of course to be both. A loss on penalties at home tells me Silva's luck might be a little bit out.

James Newcombe
8 Posted 03/10/2018 at 07:49:35
I don't get the criticism — we've all been calling for Lookman to get minutes, for Dowell to have a chance...

This tournament is a good opportunity to get some fringe players onto the pitch. It didn't work out this time but, in the words of a certain Dutchman, ‘That's football!'

Danny Broderick
9 Posted 03/10/2018 at 08:10:54
I've got no problem with the team that was picked. In modern football, you have a squad of players, you need to keep the squad men active and involved. The team picked should have been able to win this game; we also brought on Walcott, Richarlison and Niasse.

I did not watch last night's game. But for me, the problem we have is up front. Tosun is just not doing it. I would play Niasse instead of him now because, even if you never know what you are going to get from him, he does score goals.

The lack of a decent striker is going to trouble us this season.

Peter Mills
10 Posted 03/10/2018 at 08:24:33
Michael #2, I couldn't agree more with you about changing the goalkeeper, it irritates the hell out of me. It is a message to everyone, players and fans alike, that this match is of lesser importance than a Premier League game.

Regarding fans' attitude, I was faced with a 180-mile drive after a long flight to get to the game, and chose not to as I feared Silva would do what he did: downgrade the fixture. I would have had no hesitation making the effort for a League game.

Many of us have our doubts about Silva; my view is that he is with us now so we have to give him time to show us what he can do. But he hasn't helped to endear himself so far.

Jim Bennings
11 Posted 03/10/2018 at 08:30:59
“It's normal to change the goalkeeper”?

Yes it is, Marco, if the keeper coming in actually has half a chance to stake a claim and challenge the number 1 but Stekelenburg is a 36-year-old reserve with no future here whatsoever so what did we hope to glean from that?

It's all well and good rotating in this competition if you are like Manchester City or Liverpool with far bigger fish to fry, and are in with a realistic shout of lifting the Premier League title and even the Champions League.

I've never banged any drum to see our squad players because many of our current starting team should be nothing more than squad players anyway!

Tosun, Davies, Schneiderlin, Kenny, Niasse, these players are not going to move you forward.

It's a huge failure last night and again, Evertonian interest in this season has been limited to awaiting the FA Cup draw to see who knocks us out in that.

It's so exciting isn't it?

Let's focus on the league to win a battle for 8th or 9th, wow!

Jordan Wood
12 Posted 03/10/2018 at 08:47:54
Surprisingly enough, Silva and Brands might need more than 5 minutes to make this their team. They're also gonna make mistakes, but the signs are clearly there.

Patience.

Gerard Carey
13 Posted 03/10/2018 at 08:49:15
Top six can rotate for Cups like this. But they are also in with a clear chance of winning the Premier League, and in the Champions League or Europa. Plus FA Cup to follow.

Why can't we take this Cup seriously? As others have said, it's probably our best (only) chance of silverware, and it's gone for another year.

James Ebden
14 Posted 03/10/2018 at 09:29:53
James #8,

Some of us have been calling for Lookman to be removed as far away from our squad as possible and sold, because he is a sulking little brat who delivers no end-product on the pitch and costs us possession all the time.

I warned in another thread that, if he started, we would be in trouble.

Tony Hogan
15 Posted 03/10/2018 at 09:31:54
If you go back to Everton's most successful spell in the 80s, it started with the "League Cup" in '84, just losing unfairly to the Reds in the final; we went on to win the FA Cup, League Championship, European Cup-Winners Cup, and become the best team in Europe — unfortunately, cheated out of proving that.

The point is, that winning small trophies leads to the habit of regularly winning bigger ones, take Man City, that's exactly how they started to become the number one team in the Premier League, Everton need to learn this, and take this competition seriously, but as normal they probably won't.

Brian Porter
16 Posted 03/10/2018 at 09:47:55
Since when is it 'normal' to change the goalkeeper? Maybe if you're Real Madrid or Barcelona, where you have two top-class keepers to try and keep happy but we are not in that situation.

We have England's #1 and a 36-year-old has-been who doesn't need to be playing in the first team unless Pickford picks up an injury and even then, I would rather see us blooding the new lad we signed in the summer who apparently already has a stellar reputation. If Silva wanted to change the keeper he would possibly have had the fans support if he'd picked the lad for the future rather than the yesterday man.

As it was, Hughes outflanked him by playing his strongest team because he has enough Premier League experience to know that his team might be struggling in the league but, if they can string together four or five good results in this competition, he could be leading his team out at Wembley with the chance of winning something.

Silva, sadly, doesn't seem to have the nous to realise that and instead he has succeeded in already turning some of the fans against him. Let's face it, his win record since joining us isn't very inspiring, is it?

James Stewart
17 Posted 03/10/2018 at 10:52:34
The more I hear from Silva, the more I think, this guy isn't going to last long.
Pat Kelly
18 Posted 03/10/2018 at 10:55:35
This is a second-rate cup. We have at best a second rate-team. Do we seriously think we can win anything bigger than this at present.

Lie to the fans all you want Silva about having a clear goal to make it to the next round and not making wholesale changes. We've seen it before from the likes of Koeman.

Be honest that it wasn't a priority and you might get some respect.

Karl Parsons
19 Posted 03/10/2018 at 11:06:37
I'm bitterly disappointed and bloody frustrated, with two big guns out already and a winnable fixture in the next round why put out a side of strangers? It's not like we are fixture congested with Europe and all, plus Richarlison has only played twice in 5 weeks. Makes no bloody sense.

I hope this is not the signs of things to come as we were meant to be seeing a NEW Everton emerge. This is very typical old Everton at the mo.

All change Saturday...
FFS

Pat Kelly
20 Posted 03/10/2018 at 11:36:31
At last some honesty. Silva has admitted that he put out a weakened team last night as his priority remains the SportsPesa Trophy. The upcoming game against Gor Mahia is a must-win to secure some long-awaited silverware for the fans, he said. We will achieve what no other Premier League Club in history has managed. It will be our moment.
Tony Abrahams
21 Posted 03/10/2018 at 12:02:47
Okay so we know some players are not good enough, but we still had enough on the park to win last nights game.

We didn’t do that bad in the first half, some good play, until we dropped off around the 40 minute mark? But as I’ve just said on another thread, once he replaced Dowell (correct decision imo) with Niasse, we just lost any semblance of an organised football team.

Terrible change, especially once we never just went back to basics and just played 4-4-2. I was shocked by this and it now gives me some serious questions when I look at our new manager.

With a bit more thought I’m sure we would have overturned the first half 𝐒core, especially with the attacking players we already had on the pitch, just needing a bit of help, with the introduction of a bit more quality from the bench?

I left Goodison angry, and frustrated, but also a little bit concerned about the ineptitude of the manager last night, because the footballers needed more footballers, and he kept on Tosun, and I'm still trying to work out what he asked Nissan to do?

Jim Bennings
22 Posted 03/10/2018 at 12:10:21
Personally Tony I’d ask Nissan to send a bloody good car to drive the lot of them a million miles away!
Ciaran O'Brien
23 Posted 03/10/2018 at 12:20:05
I'm not happy that we continue to get knocked out annually in the early rounds of this competition but let's get some perspective here. The squad we put out should have beaten Southampton.

We had the continuation of the Keane - Zouma partnership and Kenny continued at right back. Baines has over 300 games in an Everton shirt and Davies and Schneiderlin have played together a fair amount as well.

We also started Dowell who needs minutes and Lookman who many have been crying out for Silva to play. Tosun started because so he could build up confidence and momentum after his goal against Fulham and Bernard played his first 90 minutes after joining.

This team had more than enough but failed to deliver so that isn't because of Silva's tactics but because, quite simply a lot of our players are Dog Shite. Baines has been past it for years now and his set-pieces have been shite too.

Kenny won't ever be a top full-back but he's our only other option at right back when Seamus is out. Stekelenburg is a solid keeper but not spectacular.

Up front, Tosun may be a good finisher but is too slow for a team with aspirations for the top 4 while Niasse isn't good enough and neither is Calvert-Lewin.

Lookman is completely overrated based off his performances for Leipzig but most of his appearances were off the bench, plus he doesn't want to be here so it means he's a sulking bad egg. Dowell has had fuck-all time in the first team and he drifted in and out of games a lot at Forest last season plus is he a No 10 or a winger?

Davies will never be a defensive midfielder. He's a box to box midfielder who's full of energy but seriously lacks in his strength, pace, passing and shooting for now while Schneiderlin has been a shit signing from the word go.

The last couple of management regimes have left Silva and his team a lot of dire footballers on long contracts with huge wages. It'll take more than one window to get Everton up to the level we want to be at.

Look at Klopp at the Shite. They were so inconsistent and were leaking goals left, right and centre till Van Dijk and Robertson came in. I remember they were well thrashed against the Saints under the Dutch fool and the hilarious celebration after the West Brom draw. Their fans thought he was a joke and the team was going nowhere but look at them now after he was given time to assemble the team he wanted.

We need to give Silva time just like we did with Moyes. Silva is only here a few months ffs and we have yet to see Mina and Gomes in the team. Richarlison looks a good signing and Zouma is too on loan while Bernard looks a class apart and wouldn't look out of place at Barca or Real.

This League Cup has always been a shit competition and we have never done well in it, apart from 3 seasons in our whole history where we finished runners up twice over 30 years ago and got to the semis under Martinez.

Every side makes wholesale changes in it apart from lower league clubs. I'll be more concerned if we do shite against Leicester and Palace than getting knocked out on penalties in the League Cup. It's the FA Cup which is far more important and one competition we generally do better in.

Liam Reilly
24 Posted 03/10/2018 at 12:28:14
Very good Jim!

I'm guessing the Manager and the clubs custodians don't see the League Cup as a priority, because the winners cheque (£100k, if my Google search is accurate) is a pittance compared to even a single final position in the Premier League.

It's only value is the entry to the Europa League but essentially It's a weekly wage for some of our 'esteemed' footballers. The competition needs to be revamped and given some modern-day credibility before it'll be taken seriously, even by mid-table teams such as ourselves.

EFL Cup 2017 Prize Money Breakdown

Round 1 - £5,000

Round 2 - £7,000

Round 3 - £10,000

Round 4 £15,000

Quarterfinals £20,000

Semifinals £25,000

Runners-up £50,000

Winners £100,000

Jim Bennings
25 Posted 03/10/2018 at 12:33:55
So what you suggest then, Liam?

We play the next seven months “concentrating on the league” to celebrate patting ourselves on the back for finishing 7th or 8th and maybe reaching, yep you guessed it, the Europa League.

If we are getting in the Europa League, wouldn't it be better to do it by winning something rather than finishing 7th or 8th? Does anyone remember who finished 8th in Spain, Germany, Italy? No, me neither because it's nowt to celebrate.

And as for the old complaint when we are in Europe of it hindering our Premier League form, another lame excuse because we never achieve anything in the Premier League any season.

Tony Abrahams
26 Posted 03/10/2018 at 12:37:41
Liam, if you don't take it seriously, you will never win it, and if we haven't got a fucking winner at the club, then any excuse will do, I suppose.
Liam Reilly
27 Posted 03/10/2018 at 12:38:59
I'm not arguing with you guys: Jim, Tony...

I'd much rather a cup run in this competition and a trophy at the end of it; but what I'm saying is that the club’s custodians don't necessarily share those same priorities with the returns on offer in the Premier League.

Tony J Williams
28 Posted 03/10/2018 at 12:57:19
Southampton made 5 changes (including their goalie). It's not an unusual situation.

Unfortunately, managers these days don't see this Cup as a priority and historically it has been an impossible dream for us, we have never won it.

Ultimately, our manager has put out a team to win and has gone down with a penalty shootout.

To be fair, apart from one page on BBC, I was struggling to actually get any proof that this game went ahead. I searched through every dodgy channel I could and not one stream to watch.

Maybe it was all a dream.

Matthew Williams
31 Posted 03/10/2018 at 15:08:28
Patience? ...fuck that, I am done.

9th place finish, no Cups, and the same shite next season, folks.

Maybe one day!

Frank Crewe
33 Posted 03/10/2018 at 15:57:16
Silva will be sitting in his office today wondering why he did that. Two, three, even four changes we probably would have won. But seven was too many.

Every time this happens, you get pundits and fans banging on about how this is a chance for the fringe players to stake a claim for a 1st team spot. It's all rubbish.

The changes have been made because those players have singularly failed to stake a claim for a 1st team spot. They have been picked because the manager doesn't care if we win or lose. They are unmotivated because they know, even if they score a hattrick, they will be back on the bench or worse come Saturday. They have barely played together so they have a ready-made excuse for playing lousy.

On Saturday, Baines, Dowell, Lookman, Stekelenburg, Niasse, Schneiderlin, will be back were they belong. On the bench or out of the squad altogether. If we win all will be forgiven. If we lose who knows.

Kieran Kinsella
34 Posted 03/10/2018 at 16:05:11
Frank Crewe

"Silva will be sitting in his office today wondering why he did that."

More likely he will be laying on his office sun bed working on his tan while the maintenance guy paints "MS" on his parking spot. Bet Morgan Schneiderlin won't have the balls to park there.

Andy Walker
36 Posted 03/10/2018 at 18:04:59
I think Richarlison should take some of the blame too for his ridiculous penalty run-up which ended up with him missing. Who runs up like that to take a pen?

It wasn't a stupid jig before he started his run-up like Pogba, it was even worse, instead he stopped half-way in his run up to do a dance. No wonder he missed.

Steve Hewitt
37 Posted 03/10/2018 at 18:10:35
Let's be honest, when it comes to the Premier League – since long before 7:45 last night we have known we will not win the league this season and are unlikely to finish in the top four or even six for that matter. We need to overhaul the squad using a mix of blooding some of our youth and buying quality.

I think most realistic Evertonians would have been OK if we improved the style of play from last season, gave every team from across the league a tough game, finished in the top half, utilised another transfer window and added some further quality to the squad.

However, this does not mean we are complacent – we want to compete – we want to win something and we want to see our team challenging in every game to win. We want our best side on the field every game – there is no need to rest players as we are not in Europe!

Winning generates confidence, confidence generates results, it is a cycle. We can't win the league this year but as so many have said, the cup competitions are often maligned by the top teams, so they offer a chance for a team that is rebuilding to still win something.

Everton had a chance to progress last night but the manager decided to make seven changes to a team that won on Saturday.

I will not castigate or denigrate any of our players – I take the view that just like no one on this site wants to screw the company they work for – our players want to do well.

The manager miscalculated last night. I like Marco Silva, I think he is a good young manager, but being young he has much to learn – last night I hope he learned that at Everton we will give time to rebuild but we will not be happy if he does not learn from the mistake of putting out a team that had not played together before in a competition which we could potentially have won if the draw and other results went our way and we fielded our strongest side.

Frankly, if you are not going to try and win it by playing your best team, no matter who you are playing, you lose the impetus to win the competition.

Play to win, Marco – every time – by playing your strongest team every time. That way, you may not win it but you will have no regrets and you will have our undying support.

Ian Hollingworth
38 Posted 03/10/2018 at 19:36:43
Silvas comments, really? Oh dear.

On another thread, someone called him the Portuguese Martinez.

He would've gotten a lot more respect if he put his hands up and said maybe 7 changes was a mistake. He has a lot to do.

Brian Hennessy
39 Posted 03/10/2018 at 20:04:56
I can understand Man Utd, Man City, Spurs, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool resting players in the League Cup, their goals are much bigger and all six have realistic possibilities of winning the Premier League title and/or Champions League qualification.

I can understand the teams expected to be fighting for relegation resting players in the League Cup; their priority is to stay in the league.

I cannot understand teams like Everton, who (unfortunately) are unlikely to qualify for the Champions League or (thankfully) face relegation, resting players for the League Cup or FA Cup.

This competition is our best chance of winning something. A trophy win would give confidence to the players and help in the long-term goal of joining the top six.

Changing the goalkeeper for the League Cup is just daft, plain and simple, when Pickford is clearly a better player. I would have accepted two changes but making seven changes on the back of a win is inexcusable.

I have seen improvements on last season so far under Silva but last night's team selection was the biggest mistake he has made since taking over. All we can do is hope he can learn from this mistake.

We will find out when the FA Cup comes around.

Jon Withey
40 Posted 03/10/2018 at 20:19:19
He cocked up – I just hope he learns from it.

I'm not sure how we can justify so much tinkering when even our first choice 11 have struggled against Premier League opposition.

I can forgive Lookman, Tosun and Bernard but the rest seems too much at once.

Michael Lynch
41 Posted 03/10/2018 at 22:12:29
It's only "normal" to play your reserve goalie in the League Cup if it is "normal" for you to be competing on several fronts in a season. However, our "normal" right now is a mid-table finish and knocked out in round fuck-all of every cup competition

So, unless you're a massively thick, herd-following, weak-minded wanker of a manager, you play your best team in the trophy you have the best chance of winning.

Neil Copeland
42 Posted 03/10/2018 at 22:25:50
The thing I find most frustrating of all is the fact that Silva had said on the eve of the game that he would not be making too many changes because he was trying to build a settled team. So, I went to the game last night expecting to see 2 or 3 changes from Saturday, a decent performance and a win.

I can understand him wanting to try out different options but why didn't he say that to start with? I can't be done with managers telling us what they think we want to hear then doing something completely different.

I like Marco Silva and still think he may do well but he had gone down in my estimation, that is for sure. Another thing he can be sure of is he will lose the fans very quickly if he continues to act like a complete bell-end.

So, come on, Marco, learn from it and don't lie to us again.

Lawrence Green
43 Posted 03/10/2018 at 22:39:56
I completely agree Neil (42) — why did Silva make such a statement only to do exactly the opposite by making seven changes to Saturday's team? I wonder if there are insurance issues with the cup competitions in the event that if one of the more expensive players gets injured?

I don't think that is the case but I fail to see any advantage in not choosing the strongest team possible for any game, never mind one early in the season against a team that Everton are capable of beating.


Rob Halligan
44 Posted 03/10/2018 at 22:54:21
Lawrence, I said on another thread something similar to your final couple of lines. We are seven games into the new season, so all players should be hounding the manager demanding to play in every game.

The reason for not playing your strongest players in cup games is the fear of injury or a sending off, thus them missing the next game or two. All very well, but players can just as easily get injured or sent off early in the league game following a cup match. All this talk of keeping players fresh is bollocks. After Saturday, we don't play again for another fifteen days, so plenty of time for them to regain their freshness.

As I said, seven games into the new season. They should all be fit and raring to go (well most anyway) and wanting to play in every game.

Davie Turner
45 Posted 03/10/2018 at 23:02:16
The team sent out should have won, regardless. Other than Pickford starting, and maybe Richarlison instead of Lookman, it was what I was expecting and the players that did play should have been capable of beating Southampton. Okay, Stek is emergency keeper but the rest...

Gutted to be out but, unless the wheels totally fall off, Silva has a while yet till I make a firm decision on how he's doing.

Neil Copeland
46 Posted 03/10/2018 at 23:12:19
Lawrence, Rob and Davie, agree with all your comments I just don't like feeling as though I have been deceived. For once, I want a manager to treat the fans like intelligent beings and not a bunch morons.

As I said above, I like Silva but he really needs to learn from this or risk losing much valued respect. Evertonians, in my opinion, are very knowledgable and respect honesty.

Jerome Shields
48 Posted 04/10/2018 at 11:42:58
To achieve consistency, you have to be consistent in team selection and tactics. Making seven changes to a side will never achieve consistency.

Silva talks about consistency but he doesn't know how to achieve it if that is the case. Would he make seven changes to an Everton side playing in the Premier League? No way. I bet if he got another chance at that League Cup tie, he wouldn't make seven changes.

So Silva is prioritising the Premier League and appears to have the short-term Premier League survival attitude of his two unsuccessful predecessors when it came to the League Cup.

This is never going to be the attitude necessary to implement a long-term plan to get Everton into the top four. By his mis-management of this League Cup tie, he has set such a plan back.

That's if he did have the ability and mentality to implement such a plan in the first place. He needs a win against Leicester now, as a result of a consistent Everton team performance. Let's hope that his mis-management hasn't destroyed the green shoots of consistency shown in Saturday's second-half performance.

Justin Doone
50 Posted 04/10/2018 at 20:58:44
Let's pretend the weekend game against Leicester is the next round of the League Cup. We should pick our strongest team to win and therefore, if we don't win, we're out of the cup.

I'm predicting we will not win (and therefore will be out of the cup); best, worst, experimental team – it doesn't matter. Dissatisfied at not winning... yes, but we move on.

Football is a results business, I get that. But when starting out (rebuilding as we are), my expectations are set to a lower standard in the hope we can quickly climb upwards.

Players, coaches, managers, physios, marketing, finance, recruitment and everyone else is undergoing a lot of change and scrutiny. At the end of it, I'm a fan and I want my team to win and watch good entertaining football whilst doing so but it takes time. I'm satisfied with the progress over the last few months. We have a long way to go so we march onwards and hopefully upwards.

Jack Convery
51 Posted 04/10/2018 at 23:03:12
I want Silva to succeed. However, he got it wrong on Tuesday – he knows it too I'm sure.

I asked on the forum would the team named have been picked had it been a quarter-final at home to a Premier League team – the answer is obviously No; no way would that team have lined up to play Southampton at home in a quarter-final. Pickford would have been in goal Walcott and Richarlison would have started. Morgan would have been on the bench and Sigurdsson and Gueye would have been in midfield. Silva should have kept the mood music positive after Saturday's result against Fulham.

Now we go to Leicester were if we get a draw we will be relieved and then an International break. All momentum lost. Koeman did it against Norwich and that proved to be a turning point for his tenure in the hot seat.

FFS, Everton, please realise that putting silverware in the cabinet once in a while is what football is all about... or is it? Am I wrong and just plain naive in these days of Premier League millions?


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads