Silva calls on referees to protect talented players like Richarlison

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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."

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.

Name one.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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!