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Post by Matthew Barry on Oct 15, 2019 17:31:08 GMT
 Don’t fear the Reaper..The problem with a day off is that all the things that you’ve been thinking about all week but haven’t had time to do anything with hit you at once. Imagine having nearly 2 weeks off with all those thoughts and having the time but not the tools to do what you want? I’ve no doubts Marco Silva has cut a very frustrated figure since the Burnley game. When we had the mythical 17 days across February and March this year without a game that literally transformed our season, it was due to us being cheated out of the FA cup rather than an international break. Silva had all his players, he could work out the issues directly with them. With the widely reported situation of having 3 games to save his job, the current imposed break has not afforded him time with his players, quite the opposite. You would hope during this break there would have been a huge amount of emphasis on analysing just what has gone wrong, why aren’t we scoring goals and why are we conceding set piece goals again. There has been plenty in written press over the weekend from the chosen 3 of Paul Joyce, Dominic King and Andy Hunter about Silva’s issues and what ‘might’ happen next. I’ll be honest and say I thought Andy Hunter’s piece was very weak; it regurgitated a lot that’s already been said; nothing investigative and with lots of inconsistencies. The underlying fact is Silva is in massive trouble, irrespective of the rhetoric coming out of the club. When these 3 write in the same vein, at the same time, about the same subject, you can put the mortgage on briefings taking place and dialogue between the club and ‘trusted sources’. So Saturday really comes down to how much Marco Silva wants to be Everton’s manager. Will he be brave enough to change the stale shape and tactics that don’t work without the recovery pace of Zouma and the fire fighting Gana? He has to really, doesn’t he? You’d think so..and expect so. Since Bournemouth one of the most common phrases you hear from Blues is ‘Why can’t he see it, if we can why can’t he?.. It’s the million dollar question, because it holds the key to solving all our current problems. I think that some managers can suffer from a form of word or number blindness, where they can see what’s in front of the them, but they just can’t decipher it. Perhaps Silva has reached that point with us. The tactics and shape have worked in the past, why don’t they work now? At 11:30am on Saturday we’ll have the answers, we’ll know what formation he’s playing and if he’s had the inner strength to drop the players that have not turned up this season. Sidibe will naturally come in for Coleman (long overdue), it’s whether the pace of Holgate replaces the shot confidence of Keane, and whether Bernard comes back in on the left to free Iwobi to take Sigurdsson’s place, Gomes back in mercifully ahead of Schneiderlin. All big decisions, but all rational decisions, and this will decide a) the mood before the game and b) the atmosphere during the game. Silva cannot for the sake of his ongoing employment at Everton play this game safe. He has consistently been let down by a number of players, but he has also let them down by not playing to their strengths, the rot has set in and it needs to change, not for changes sake, but to find a formula that works with the players we have not the players we’ve lost. Regardless of the rumours of Jose, Rafa, Howe or God forbid David Moyes making an ‘emotional return’, Silva has to show a degree of flexibility and must not fear being adventurous and attacking. West Ham will come to play, they will be on the front foot because they will smell blood and that can suit us as it will allow counter attacking football, which is what we are best at. Silva has some very big decisions to make, career defining in some respects, but if he’s to stay for the short to medium term, Saturday represents a chance to press reset and prove what he is capable of, or the reaper will come calling. By Matthew Barry Find me on Twitter |
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Post by rugbytoffee on Oct 15, 2019 18:40:57 GMT
Good stuff Matthew BarryA big game for Everton and Silva on Saturday |
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Post by Avinalaff on Oct 16, 2019 14:52:44 GMT
I've always sat on the fence regarding Marco.
I wasn't really impressed by our pursuit of him when he was at Watford, nor the previous 3 managers for that matter, but my stance is always to air concerns 'before' they arrive, and then once they are here, and part of the club, I'll support them.
Our fans are mostly very fickle, in that they get carried away with the prospect of new managers, new Director of football, new players, and indeed new owners, to such an extent that if you dare to be sceptical prior to their appointment, you are deemed to be negative, as opposed to the real situation, which is simply having possibly more angled concerns.
I don't see any firm plan in recruitment from Everton, as we appear to be ignoring the very thing that is important in football, and that is to score more goals than your opponent.
I was having a discussion with ex Everton player Tony Grant recently, who rightly pointed it that since Brands' arrival, players signed under him, other than Richarlison, who is clearly a Silva signing, have scored just 9 goals between them. That's a perfect illustration of how bizarre our transfer logic is, as how can you desperately need a striker, and in 2 seasons, the best you can come up with is a 19 year old, who had scored just a handful of goals for Juventus, but has 'potential'?
Yet few fans steer blame in Brands' direction, or what's left of the Everton board of directors, instead preferring to put the guy on a high pedestal, and exactly what has he done since his time here, to deserve such high praise?
Window 1 saw us sign 4 players on Deadline Day, and while you can argue that it's better to get them in late than never, the whole point of pre-season is to have the squad 'ready' for the upcoming campaign, and we've not been ready at all. Once again, we signed key players late in the last window - players who have not been fit and ready - players who have been blighted by injury since arriving - players who have 'not' improved the team.
Once again we saw a key player leave (2 key players if you include Kurt Zouma) and although once can argue we made attempts to replace Gana, the efforts to strengthen defence, knowing full well if we had an injury to either centre back, was abysmal.
Why are we being linked with young players from South America, who can't even get visas? Is it just for show?
The spotlight is on Silva, and rightly so, as performances have been poor, but it's hard to ignore the fact that the club in general do not seem to know what they are doing, and if we sack Silva, will it just be a case of taking a chance on yet another manager with potential, or do they actually have the pulling power to get a genuinely experienced and successful manager in, because if they don't, I'm not confident that it won't be anything more than a 'here we go again' moment on the cycle of poor decisions we've seen since Moyes left.
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Post by Everton News. on Oct 16, 2019 14:56:17 GMT
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Post by jimmy on Oct 18, 2019 14:30:02 GMT
I just hope we come back from the break in the right frame of mind.
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