Silva rues ‘tough moments’ and ‘tough market’ in final months at Everton

Tuesday, 9 June, 2020 48comments  |  Jump to most recent

Former Everton manager, Marco Silva, says that he is a better manager for his experiences in England and that he is looking for his next post, preferably back in the Premier League.

The Portuguese, the chosen long-term successor to Ronald Koeman, was sacked as the Toffees' boss last December following a dreadful run of form that left the club languishing in the relegation zone, ending an 18-month spell that had briefly been highly promising.

Speaking via video to Sky Sports, Silva says he understands why Everton made the decision he made but he also feels he and his team were hard done-by in terms of the summer 2019 transfer window, bad luck and controversial VAR decisions over the first half of the season.

"I've had a lot of time to reflect on everything," he said. "When I left it was a tough decision for everyone. I had the confidence with my staff and the players that we will get things again for us. But I have to respect it was made. The position in the table was not good.

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"The [transfer] market was difficult for us because we had a tough market the season before. We did fantastic, the way we finished [2018-19], and I said it would be key for us to get stronger this season and the season after. It was a key situation but it was a difficult market for us. We signed young players again, and most of them came in the last week of the market. It's always difficult It's not to find excuses but we have to be open.

"We had tough moments in which we were not lucky at all. We scored three own goals in that period. I believe myself and the staff worked really hard and gave our maximum but sometimes things don't go the way we wanted. The Brighton and the Tottenham games especially was very strange what happened on the pitch.

"But after we had moments we didn't play the way we wanted and as manager I have to take responsibility."

Silva, who had spells at Hull City and Watford before Farhad Moshiri selected him as the man to lead Everton to a new era, says he isn't desperate to jump at any opportunity but he is keen to work again in one of Europe's top leagues, with the Premier League at the top of his wishlist.

"I am preparing for the right [role]. That doesn't mean it has to just be in the Premier League. I have targets to manage in different leagues as well. I am not desperate to go for anywhere.

“And when I go again, I have to prove [myself] again because you have to prove yourself every day in football. For sure I have to be a better manager now."

 

Reader Comments (48)

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Tony Abrahams
1 Posted 10/06/2020 at 07:43:58
The way his team finished last season then it’s quite conceivable that Everton, could have been in a similar position to Leicester, this season, but the recruitment was poor, then bad luck, and bad management, cost him in the end, when he chose to sulk, rather than role up his sleeves and fight.

Everyone must be reflecting during the lockdown, but not everyone is capable of change, but best of luck to you in your next job Marco, whenever you go back to work!

Brian Murray
2 Posted 10/06/2020 at 08:40:43
Like a lot of the players and staff at Everton (hello, Bill), Marco had enough chances to prove himself at the top level. Failed miserably —even in the basic art of setting a team up or defending.
John Keating
3 Posted 10/06/2020 at 08:42:40
Nice guy.

Unable to change or adapt to different situations and slightly delusional.

I'm sure he'll do well somewhere else.

Derek Thomas
4 Posted 10/06/2020 at 08:49:06
Towards the end, Martinez, Koeman, (climbs over the inconvenient bump / lump in the road that was Allardyce, coz tbf, he doesn't get people relegated, he gets them not relegated) and Silva, all at one time or another, Capt's of the good ship 'We haven't got a 'kin clue' were only going one way - Down.

Yes, maybe, just maybe, he had a worse rub of the green that the other two. But to me he was all poor Plan A, no Plan B.

Only the very Ill-advised would hire him in the first place and only the very desperate in the Premier League would ever hire him again.

Robert Tressell
5 Posted 10/06/2020 at 08:52:41
Three ifs:

- if Gbamin had stayed fit to replace Gueye

- if Zouma had signed on a permanent deal

- if his number two had stayed put and not gone back to Portugal

... He'd probably still be our manager and we'd probably be about 7th or 8th in the league.

However, he looked out of ideas once the chips were down so we should be better placed with Ancelloti - especially if Ancelotti has better luck in replacing Gueye in particular and maybe Zouma.

Not sure I can see him getting a job as big as the Everton job again but may pop up in the Premier League again

Alan J Thompson
6 Posted 10/06/2020 at 08:54:25
Are Silva, Allardyce and Koeman still on the payroll as I wonder if, as reported, Koeman turned down the Barcelona job to stay at the Netherlands national team as I doubt he would have only been paid the half mill that helped him into that job.
Colin Glassar
7 Posted 10/06/2020 at 09:07:44
I had high hopes for Marco but, like so many other recent managers, he disappointed me. He was unlucky with injuries but he appears to have lost the changing room early on in the season and that is fatal.
Kev Gibbs
8 Posted 10/06/2020 at 10:29:48
Any manager who is sacked by Watford, whatever the reason, is not good enough for Everton imo. I'm not saying this hindsight. I just couldn't see what he would bring to the party. Not quite as bad as Martinez but not far off it.
Ajay Gopal
9 Posted 10/06/2020 at 10:58:15
Marco's said some nice things about us in the interview, and particularly, about Richarlison. Essentially, that even though Richarlison is going to become one of the very top footballers in the world, he has high respect for Everton and very much likes it here.

So, even though it is inevitable that he will leave at some point in the future, he (Richarlison) wants to achieve things at Everton and is in no hurry to leave. All very nice and reassuring to hear.

Martin Berry
10 Posted 10/06/2020 at 11:29:39
A decent man who did not have the best of luck; however, that can happen to any manager. I think the problem was lack of goals and the one up-front that has been turned around by Carlo.

The benefits in Calvert-Lewin's scoring is evident and we have a manager who has seen it and done it, so we won't be lacking in tactical nous.

Good luck to Marco.

Brian Williams
11 Posted 10/06/2020 at 11:39:36
I really hoped he'd be the one to lead us on to better things... a young cool manager who would be with us for years.

Turns out he was a little out of his depth even allowing for the bad luck he/we suffered. Hope he goes on to do good things!

Tony Abrahams
12 Posted 10/06/2020 at 11:58:58
Just a maybe on Zouma, Robert? I can't see us making much progress with our current centre-backs, although I definitely agree with you about replacing Gueye, but more for his energy than his overall footballing ability, especially if Carlo, persists with a four man midfield.
Sam Hoare
13 Posted 10/06/2020 at 12:09:43
Unlike Koeman, Silva worked exceptionally hard and seemed to handle himself well at most times. At the end of 2018-19 it really looked like we may have the platform to kick on.

Brands did not have a great summer last year and that was compounded by Gbamin's season-ending injury. Not the best luck for Silva though he made issues worse at times with a lack of flexibility and poor substitutions. His record at coming from behind indicates an inability to affect matters on the pitch during the game.

Still think he's a decent, hard-working manager and would not be surprised to see him do well elsewhere. Possibly never at the highest levels though. Although that hair deserves to be seen at the top!

Steve Brown
14 Posted 10/06/2020 at 12:40:35
Regardless of summer transfers (none of which would have happened without his approval) and poor luck in losing Gbamin, Silva was sacked due to his poor team selections, tactical misjudgements and rigidity in his thinking and approach.

The job was simply too big for him. Thankfully, we have finally shown ambition in our recruitment and hired a top manager.

Peter Mills
15 Posted 10/06/2020 at 12:53:42
A very poor appointment.
Darren Hind
16 Posted 10/06/2020 at 13:36:13
I think Zouma, Keane, Mina and Digne were made to appear so much better than they are when the tackling machine was protecting them with the ferocity a scrap yard Guard dog.

They've all had their limitations well and truly exposed since.

Gana may not have been able to play himself but, fuck me, he knew how to put fires out.

Tony Abrahams
17 Posted 10/06/2020 at 14:06:48
It's the simple ball over the top that has given Mina and Keane so many problems. It's probably why Silva sat down on the bench at Bournemouth, and then started to use Holgate, not long after, even though he probably didn't trust any of them and finally went to three at the back.

Zouma and Gueye were big losses, one for his pace and the other one for his energy, possibly the two most vital commodities in modern day football?

Craig Walker
18 Posted 10/06/2020 at 16:50:21
I think it was a case of any port in a storm after suffering Allardyce. Like Roberto, I think he was a nice guy and a good ambassador for the club but not a good enough manager for Everton FC, ultimately. Ancelotti is a great appointment but I just hope he is backed and given time.
Jay Harris
19 Posted 10/06/2020 at 17:48:45
I don't feel any sympathy for someone who is so poor at "managing" walks away with millions and gets another job within a short space of time.

Silva couldn't motivate a cat to go after a den of mice. He stood like the captain of a sinking ship not knowing what to do.

Duncan (a relative novice) showed him in a few games what he could have done. Build the players' confidence and motivation and play to their strengths.

I hate this footballing philosophy bullshit where players are made to fit a certain tactical way of playing without any flexibility. That is how Martinez got Wigan relegated and nearly repeated the trick with us.

Managers that win things are good managers. Managers that take teams into trouble are not worthy of the mantle.

Nice guy, useless manager.

Tony Everan
20 Posted 10/06/2020 at 18:38:41
I was really willing him to do well but he fell short of expectations. He was found out and proved to be out of his depth.

It's true there was bad luck and, worse still, I don't think he ever had all the players on board.

His communication of tactics and man-management were poor. His motivational skills were poor. In some games, I was expecting a reaction from a previous defeat and there was nothing, just another flat performance.

The icing on the cake came with his in-game management. This was so incoherent, it made him look like a chancer and added to the universal disillusionment.

James Flynn
21 Posted 10/06/2020 at 18:56:46
Even Allardyce was a better manager.
Sean Kelly
22 Posted 10/06/2020 at 19:33:52
Rubbish. He should never have been near us. Over-rated spoofer.
Harry Williams
23 Posted 10/06/2020 at 20:55:05
Silva was hailed by some as a tactical genius: he wasn't and was a very poor leader, his pitchside body language was very uninspiring. Ferguson showed Silva how it should be done.

Ferguson gave Ancelotti the 4-4-2; let's see if Carlo with all his experience and tactical knowledge changes the set-up and shows his flexibility, because, for me, that's where Silva failed.

Gaute Lie
24 Posted 10/06/2020 at 21:04:21
Duncan Ferguson is now my man for the next manager change. What we saw in the few games he was in charge changed my mind about him.

But, for now, it is the experiened man in charge. Hope he gets us somewhere.

Marco who??

Joe McMahon
25 Posted 10/06/2020 at 21:18:24
Gaute @24, a bit early to say Duncan after 3 games. Yes, he got the crowd roaring, but there was also dire 0-0 at home to the worst Arsenal team I've ever seen, and yes we got a point at Old Trafford.

But remember Burnley won 2-0 there a few weeks later. And remember certainly back then Duncan didn't want the job. Let's see what the future brings.

Frank Sheppard
26 Posted 10/06/2020 at 21:32:58
Unless there has been a dramatic turn-around in his thinking, and tactics etc, he should set his sites on the Championship.
Paul Birmingham
27 Posted 10/06/2020 at 22:06:44
In my view, a nice chap, too nice, too timid and on paper may be a decent training ground assistant but never then and unlikely to be a good man-manager and leader and inspiring football manager.

May be in Greece, Cyprus or Albania but I don't see any Premier League club taking him on in any time soon.

Danny ONeill
28 Posted 10/06/2020 at 22:39:15
Respectful & genuine person, but I was never comfortable when we courted him initially and even more doubtful when we did eventually appoint him. But as always, once we appoint, you want the manager to succeed so you give them your support and hope they succeed.

He strikes me to be one of those modern managers we seem to get a lot of, particularly the foreign ones. They are undoubtedly good coaches and I'm sure their training sessions are outstanding. Martinez was similar; I always thought he would be best placed as a youth team / development coach.

But in the unpredictable nature of a top flight match scenario, they are unable to act or make decisive decisions when plan A (which was exercised on the training ground) doesn't go to plan. Hence sitting there, arms folded, waiting until the 65th minute before changing things, by which point, it's too late.

As the military say, "no plan survives contact", so always be prepared to respond and react to the unfolding scenario in front of you. Yes, remain calm and don't panic, but sometimes, when it's obviously gone wrong, be prepared to act decisively and swiftly. He didn't have this in his locker. Also, a motivator he was not.

Harry Williams
29 Posted 10/06/2020 at 22:52:26
#25 to criticise Ferguson is embarrassing. His four results were 3-1 win, 1-1 draw, 2-2 draw lost on penalties, the 0-0 draw undefeated in general play, got us 5 valuable points. To say he just got the crowd roaring shows your complete lack of football knowledge.

By the way how, many points did Ancelotti pick up against these teams? One — that's how many.

Don Alexander
30 Posted 10/06/2020 at 22:58:31
It seems to me that Mr Moshiri, when he bought us, demanded yes-men all around him, deliberately or not, as Kenwright does (witness the number of club secretaries who left rather than toe the line, as Elstone did, whilst our club withered).

Silva was clearly unable to manage the club beyond the squad, and he wasn't very good at that in fairness.

Hopefully, Carlo Ancelotti has made his own position clear to Moshiri and our weird boardroom. Hopefully the clarity around that will enthuse Moshiri (and it is Moshiri alone) to provide the monies necessary to achieve success as a football club and not just a charity.

Lester Yip
31 Posted 10/06/2020 at 23:48:48
I was hopeful when he was being appointed. Who can be worse than Big Sam?

He brought in some exciting players, like Richarlison and Bernard, which is great. But the same tactics and formation against all teams simply failed. Asking the players to play a high line and keep pressing and play faster and faster is just plain stupid. Almost every time the same reason used for not winning a game – we didn't play fast enough. How?

When things were clearly not working, still stick with the same tactics and hope it would work next time. Every time I watch Leceister play, it just gave me a heartache. It can be us. But it feels we are so far behind now.

Sukhdev Sohal
32 Posted 11/06/2020 at 12:27:23
My, my, Marco Silva and his moments, eh?
Bill Gienapp
33 Posted 11/06/2020 at 19:16:24
Silva definitely had some tough breaks (if we'd won the Brighton match – which I suspect we would have, if not for that VAR penalty fiasco – I think there's a good chance he'd still be here), but he also dug his own grave with his stubbornness and self-inflicted issues.

Things could have gone better in the transfer market, but he still had enough to work with – at least in terms of producing better and more consistent results than he was.

Ultimately, I think the promise and potential shown in his first season justified the appointment, but it just didn't work out in the end.

John Wilson
34 Posted 12/06/2020 at 13:30:07
One thing about Silva when it was going well, he had Gomes playing like a conductor to his chorus at Anfield. We really give Liverpool a game that day. That shows what Silver is capable of with the right team. Beautiful football. When it went wrong for him it went bad. Always leaving subs too late and sometimes the wrong subs. Great coach. Players love him.

He got our workhorse and what s player he'll be in years to come, our Charlie. Signings weren't great. Silva put the fear of God into those top 4 teams for a while. Look where we were in that league and look at how we played to finish and save Silva his job that season. He was better against the better teams.

Jerome Shields
35 Posted 12/06/2020 at 17:20:21
I agree with him that the transfer window hastened his departure, but his basic coaching flaws would have caught up with him anyway. As manager, he worked extremely hard, but he was too weak to manage Everton. Moshiri realised that and got Ancelotti.
Conor McCourt
36 Posted 12/06/2020 at 17:36:12
The paradox I feel with Marco is that he is clearly idealistic, stubborn, limited and robotic and with Carlo coming in you could see his tactical weaknesses and lack of character in the team shown up immediately.

However, when I think back to this time last year and some of the joyous football we were watching and players like Keane, Zouma, Digne and Gueye all being coached to standards they hadn't reached before, I was really excited about the club going forward and wishing for the new season until Brands had other ideas.

One year on, the squad is arguably stronger with the emergence of Calvert-Lewin and Holgate as top players as well as the summer outlay with only really Zouma and Gueye gone. We have replaced one of our poorest managers statistically with a legend of the game yet ironically I have much less optimism for the coming season due to the standards we have witnessed this season both prior to and since Carlo's tenure began.

Kevin Prytherch
37 Posted 12/06/2020 at 17:50:10
The issue with Silva is that he stumbled upon a formation and playing style that worked against open teams who would attack us, this contributed to our successful run at the back end of last year. We either played good teams, or teams who were more confident to play against us because of our woeful first half of the season.

Silva then couldn't change his team around to combat those teams who sat back and hit us on the break. When we played the poorer teams who sat back, or when the opposition would get the first goal from a silly mistake, he had no clue how to break a team down. He rewarded those who had played well against the better teams by playing the exact same way against the poorer teams.

Finally, Silva then bottled it when we had a run of games against the better teams this season, towards the end of his tenure, and went overly defensive to try and scrape a result. If he'd have stuck with his guns in these games he could have got some results and earned a stay of execution.

Unfortunately for Silva, he was also at Everton at the wrong time. We had money, spent heavily and expected instant success. Therefore he defaulted to so-called ‘experienced professionals' who were supposedly less likely to make the mistakes a younger, more exciting and more exuberant, player might. This made us slow, ponderous and uncreative.

Julian Exshaw
38 Posted 12/06/2020 at 17:52:32
I think there is a good manager in there and he's right when he says we finished last season very well. In a court of law, the jury would still be out, I suppose, and there are many mitigating circumstances as mentioned in the posts above.

What's not in doubt is the fact that he is a nice chap and represented Everton very well. I hope he does well.

Conor McCourt
39 Posted 12/06/2020 at 20:54:08
My opinion on Schneiderlin was that he was always slightly held in too high esteem. At Southampton, I felt his partnership with Wanyama was excellent and they had great chemistry and were a match for anybody. Both were athletic, strong, driven and both box-to-box so, if one went, the other would sit. I felt Morgan was the slightly better offensively and Victor the better defensively. Together, they were quite formidable.

To my eyes, Morgan's dynamism was his forte and aside from this he was a bit of a jack of all trades and decent at everything without being a master of anything in particular. I believe he had a couple of injuries in the last year at the Saints and never looked the same athletic imposing figure again. I believe It was then when he lost what was his money-spinner.

I don't think he had the all-round game to compensate or re-invent once his legs had gone. For example, Keane a similar type of player could rely on his unique willpower, his excellent reading of the game and his inability to give the ball away to reinvent as a sitter once he lost his athleticism.

On the gossip, I just can't see Nice affording him. Unfortunately, the teams that could won't want him and there would be many admirers in his homeland but he's way out of their budget.

Jamie Crowley
40 Posted 13/06/2020 at 14:41:48
There's always the reflection period after a manager has been sacked.

The bottom line for me was the football was awful. Everything down the sides, no play through the middle, if we mustered 3 shots on goal an entire game, it was a miracle.

Good man, poor manager.

Mike Kehoe
41 Posted 13/06/2020 at 16:51:52
I spoke with Marco the other day and he seems a really nice person. I say I spoke with, he called to ask me had I ever been mis-sold any PPI.

Bang average inept bluffer out of his depth in a puddle.

The only positive thing about him is that he definitely wasn't Allardyce.

Justin Doone
42 Posted 14/06/2020 at 00:41:12
He tried to play good attacking football which was a massive positive after Sam. He was never experienced or good enough for the job in hand.

Biggest positive I believe he had was to help bring in Richarlison and there followed more ambitious, attacking, skilful players in Bernard and Silva.

I think the no Zouma fiasco was a large negative, as was losing Gana, but player decisions – not Silva's.

His biggest mistake was playing Schniderlin and asking our defenders to play out from the back all the time. The team lacked cohesion and seemingly had no real plan of attack which were his fault.

Bringing in the prickly, fairly inexperienced ex-Arsenal striker as coach didn't seem to work. Another mistake.

Anyway we have moved on for a much better and experienced winning manager. NSNO

John Wilson
43 Posted 14/06/2020 at 10:41:30
Silva is a developing coach. He will be a very good manager, just as he is in the Portuguese situation to an extent.

He needs to learn from his mistakes. Needs to improve his game management and work the right way with the team he had even if he loses players. He would be very good with a top or good squad of players.

Everton are bang average with some good players. I hope Carlo makes good subs at the right time and plays to his team's strengths.

You can tell Arteta is a thinker and will be a top manager some day. He was a very intelligent footballer for Everton and Arsenal. Arsenal took the risk on him as manager. He's unproven, though, and that is the difference.

Trevor Peers
44 Posted 14/06/2020 at 11:43:16
John @43,

"Silva will become a very good manager."

Hahahahahhahaha.... really cheered me up, that, John. I'll be chuckling all day on that one.

Conor McCourt
45 Posted 14/06/2020 at 18:06:20
John 43- Arteta may be unproven but he has already made a huge impact at his new club and despite them having tight finances and quite a poorish squad by their standards, the Arsenal fans seem pretty optimistic because of the quality they have shown under his leadership.

He was my choice for the Everton job and everything I have seen so far has only reaffirmed to me that he would have been a great appointment. Not only do I think that he has improved the current players immensely but his shopping list if media reports are correct comprises of Aarons, Upamecano, Partey and Jovic, all of whom I'd be delighted to see signing for us.

What has impressed me most about him is that he was quick to address Arsenal's weaknesses and is clearly his own man rather than just being a mini Guardiola. Indeed I have already seen him adopt a little of Moyes when the time called for it against Leeds in the cup.

I think in time we may look back at him as the one that got away.

Paul McCoy
47 Posted 14/06/2020 at 19:57:05
I liked Silva a lot and really hoped he'd turn things around. Clearly wasn't meant to be though as he never did manage to come up with a 'Plan B' for when teams parked the bus.

I would have liked to see what could have been if he and Brands were given all of Moshiri's cash instead of the clueless Koeman and Walsh.

Steve Carse
48 Posted 14/06/2020 at 20:18:03
Silva had some really tough breaks. And any heavy defeat at Anfield was going to put his job in jeopardy.

But, for me, the cruellest break was a couple of days before that defeat when, after totally outplaying a high-riding Leicester side for over an hour and leading 1-0 we succumbed to a couple of late goals, the second of which, in the last minute of play, saw a linesman raise his flag for offside (after Davies, under no pressure, had given the ball away in the middle of the park).

Lucky he most certainly wasn't.

David Currie
49 Posted 22/06/2020 at 04:02:06
Lucky he most certainly was, getting the Watford job and then getting the Everton job. He failed badly at both clubs so he was a very lucky man.

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