Everton have appointed Marco Silva as their new manager with the 40-year-old's commitment to "attractive, attacking football" convincing the club he is the right man to replace Sam Allardyce.
Silva signed a three-year contract with the Goodison Park club on Thursday having been the first choice of Farhad Moshiri, Everton's major shareholder, to succeed Allardyce since his sacking just over a fortnight ago. Moshiri had wanted the Portuguese coach to succeed Ronald Koeman in October but Watford rejected Everton's advances for their new manager and potential compensation of over £10m. Watford then sacked Silva in January, blaming an "unwarranted approach" for a loss of focus and downturn in results.
The former Estoril, Sporting Lisbon, Olympiakos, Hull City and Watford manager is Moshiri's third permanent appointment in just over two years at Goodison. He has spent around £30m in pay-offs to managers and compensation to other clubs in that period. Silva is joined at Everton by assistant manager João Pedro, goalkeeping coach Hugo Olivera, technical scout Antonis Lemonakis and fitness coach Pedro Conceição. Duncan Ferguson will remain part of the coaching team.
“Everton is a really ambitious club and that is what I want,” said Silva. “What we are seeing now are good changes at the club. The club is changing its approach. But one thing we cannot change and nobody wants to change is the huge history and ambition of the club.
“Everybody knows Everton’s history. When you are a club like Everton, you only have one solution - to aim to win. In football it is impossible to win every match but we must do everything to show in every game that we have ambition. That is what I want and I’m sure we will show that every single week.”
Silva will work closely with Everton's new director of football, Marcel Brands, who met the club's new manager prior to the appointment being finalised. The 40-year-old has won a total of 13 Premier League matches during brief spells with Watford and Hull, who he was unable to save from relegation, but Brands, marking a departure with the Allardyce era, insisted Silva's style of play fitted Everton's long-term plans.
“Marco is a young coach but also an experienced coach and he’s worked already at the top, while also gaining experience of the Premier League which is also an important factor,” said Brands. “One of the most important things is that he’s a guy who wants to play attractive, attacking football and also wants to work in the structure we have at Everton. He’s a guy who has proved already that he wants to work with young players, make them better and he has performed very well with the teams he’s worked with. He will be a very good manager for Everton.
“His vision in football, the way he is thinking about football is what we want. He wants to structure a team and he has proved already with a few clubs with good results, so I believe strongly in him. He’s an open guy who wants to work together with good staff and in an environment at Finch Farm which is conducive to building something strong.”
Everton were among the biggest spending clubs in Europe last year but the return on their investment was abysmal with Koeman, caretaker manager David Unsworth and finally Allardyce all struggling with a squad in need of further surgery.
Silva added: “We have a lot of work to do in this next month and it is important to prepare everything in the right way. But there will be even more important work to do from the start of pre-season into the first Premier League match of next season.
“I know what our fans expect - they expect results but not only results. I want our fans to be proud when they see our team on the pitch. I want them to feel that we are committed, that we are working hard and enjoying our football because that is important as well. We want to build a great connection between the squad and the fans, and I’m sure that with our attitude and demands of commitment then our style of play will see that, I believe.” – Guardian service
