Marco Silva is the current favourite in the Premier League Sack Race: We take a look at his Everton spell

Sack Race analysis: Marco Silva favourite to leave job next after Everton's disappointing Premier League start

By George Pitts

Football

Wed September 25, 2019 · 5y ago

Marco Silva is the favourite to be the next Premier League manager to leave his job after Everton's disappointing start to the season.

The Merseysiders sit 14th in the Premier League table, collecting just seven points from their first 18, and Saturday's home loss to Sheffield United was already their third defeat of the campaign.

The 2-0 scoreline against Premier League newcomers at Goodison Park was met with boos at the full-time whistle and Silva launched an attack on his players, accusing them of 'hiding' and suggested some home truths were delivered in the dressing room.

The Portuguese's position comes under threat early in his second season at Everton and the 42-year-old former Hull and Watford boss is currently 11/8 with Sky Bet to be the next top flight manager to leave his position.

We look at how it got to this, what Silva says and the damning stats around his spell...

Where has it gone wrong?

When Silva was appointed as Sam Allardyce's replacement in 2018, he told fans to expect 'attractive, attacking football'.

After spending around £85million on Richarlison, Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina, with Andre Gomes and Kurt Zouma arriving on loan, Everton finished eighth in the Premier League in Silva's first campaign, reaching the third and fourth round in the Carabao Cup and FA Cup respectively.

A club like Everton should arguably be aiming to progress in cup competitions and his side's style of play, in truth, failed to inspire.

Their home record was good, the best outside the big six with 34 points from a possible 57, while their away form was mid-table with just five wins on the road all season.

After going behind in games, Everton fans can be forgiven for keeping low expectations - in the 21 league games he has gone behind as Toffees manager, they have lost 17 and drawn just four.

Silva was then well backed in the summer, securing Andre Gomes' services permanently, while adding promising Italian striker Moise Kean, Alex Iwobi from Arsenal and defender Jean-Philippe Gbamin, spending upwards of £80million again as they attempt to break into the top six.

The Toffees have revealed plans for their new 52,000 capacity stadium, while chief executive Denise Barrett-Baxendale earlier this year set out a 10-year plan for Everton to win the Premier League and to be playing Champions League football, but that looks a long way off at the minute.

Although Richarlison returned late after international duty, the Toffees were short of goals in pre-season and they have continued that trend in the early parts of the season with just five goals in total.

With the squad at his disposal, that should not be the case and his tactics and style of play is not what Blues fans expect to see.

Question marks are reportedly starting to emerge from inside the squad over Silva's lengthy, mentally-draining training sessions and ability to motivate his players, according to The Telegraph.

If his training sessions are so long, what are they working on when his tactics so far have failed to inspire? They are yet to score from set pieces or on the counter attack, but have conceded three and one respectively at the other end.

Everton 2019/20 Premier League stats

Everton's Lucas Digne

Goals scored per game: 0.8
Conversion rate for: 6%
Goals conceded per game: 1.5
Conversion rate for: 20%

They average just under a goal per game in the Premier League, with 13 shots per game and just three on target, so they need to improve creativity in the final third. They should not be short of it though, with the likes of Gylfi Sigurdsson, Gomes, Alex Iwobi, Theo Walcott and Tom Davies to name but a few.

They face an important couple of games, with Sheffield Wednesday in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday before hosting champions Manchester City on Saturday.

Results will help no doubt, but the manner of his team's performance and whether they are playing for their manager will count for a lot.

Everton's next fixtures

Sept 28: Man City (h)
Oct 5: Burnley (a)
Oct 19: West Ham (h)
Oct 26: Brighton (h)
Nov 3: Tottenham (h)
Nov 9: Southampton (a)

What has Silva said?

The Portuguese boss insists he and his players have the character required to toughen up in the Premier League and stop their current slump.

"We have [the character]. We have the conditions inside the club to solve this situation," he said.

"It is up to me to keep talking with them, it is up to me to keep working with them.

"It is not easy to change the players' personality so fast. It is a clear sign when something comes wrong for us, it is not new, not just in this (latest) game.

"It is something we spoke about again at the end of the match. They understand what we spoke about. More than the words, we have to show on the pitch."

Marco SIlva's initial reaction to Everton's defeat to Sheff United