The Twilight Zone

by Darren Hind | 21/08/2018

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A lot has been said about Marco Silva and the start he has made at Everton. There is a very definite change in the mood of the average Evertonian. After years of dull uninspiring mediocrity, the matchgoer is looking forward to going the match again. Entertainment is back on the menu and Blues all over the world are buzzing.

But there is unquestionably a nagging worry. You could hear the murmurs around the ground when we were defending set-pieces. You all heard the commentators speak about the space we afforded Southampton's strikers. People have come on to this and other websites to express their concerns.

If you were to ask 20 TWers to explain Zonal Marking to you, the chances are you will get 20 different answers. Some will give plausible and intelligent answers; others will just embarrass themselves in their attempts to show they know what they are talking about.

"Zonal" isn't new. It's been around since forever; having been involved in the game since the late sixties. I have come across dozens and dozens of coaches at all different levels who have wanted to introduce this to their players... and every one had a different version.

I'm worried Marco Silva has taken this route and I'll tell you why. No manager has ever got a British back 4 or 5 to defend zonally successfully.

Whether we like it or not Jagielka, Baines and yes even Seamus are all knocking on. They are well past the stage where they can embrace and adapt to a way of playing which has been totally alien to them throughout their careers. These guys make up half of our defenders. Keane won't adapt either. Holgate might and Mina will, but Zouma... Really?

And here's another thing that bothers me, Shouldn't Rhino's boys be marking zonally too? We may need to call on players like Kenny, Browning or Galloway. Should they not be playing the same game now as the one they'll be expected to play when asked to stand in ?

It's okay to play fast and loose with defensive marking if your team score over a hundred goals and rarely give the ball to the opposition anyway, but Silva does not have that team. He does not have the players with the mentality and if he spends from now until the end of the season drilling his British defenders at Finch Farm every day, they will still not get to grips with it.

I'm not against Silva adopting zonal marking, but its something that needs practice from the start, the first day of pre-season, with players you plan to build your season around. It's something that needs to be done at every level throughout the club, with young eager minds wanting to learn. It's not something he should be asking his defenders to learn on the job when points are at stake.

Nothing destroys a teams confidence more than giving up soft goals from free kicks. My concern is that by persevering with something the players clearly don't like, Silva will undo all the good stuff in the process.

I know his supporters will claim he will get it right eventually. He won't. Not with these players... and, by the time they realise it, another season will have slipped through our fingers.

He needs to ditch this system. Now would be a good time.

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