After a 4-0 victory against Manchester United on Easter Sunday, Marco Silva has now guided Everton to four wins in five games.
It is an exciting time for their fans as life could not be sweeter for the Toffees. At last, they finally seem to be fulfilling their unbounded potential. Aside from a blip against Fulham, Everton have convincingly beaten and kept a clean sheet against Chelsea, West Ham, Arsenal and now Manchester United.
Everton Finding Their Feet Under Marco Silva
Taking Time
It has taken some time for Marco Silva’s project at Everton to take off and truly come into fruition. Yo-yoing in mid-table for the majority of the season, it has been largely underwhelming.
Their recruitment last summer was beyond impressive and it seemed as though Marco Silva could compete for European football. It has taken time for his catalogue of high-quality stars to gel, but the former Watford boss has seemingly found the winning formula.
Against the Red Devils, they were completely dominant throughout and looked a constant threat. Apart from being a physically dominant, they were also slick, composed and comfortable in possession.
Though Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s side put in a disgracefully poor performance, this should not overshadow the promise of Everton’s display.
Silva’s Magic Formula
At long last, Marco Silva has found the antidote to Everton’s inconsistency. With it, their style of football has become incredibly pleasing on the eye.
As ever, Gylfi Sigurdsson has the ever-reliable metronome and source of goals in attacking midfield. With Andre Gomes and Idrissa Gueye sitting behind him, it provides a solid basis for the Icelandic international to operate with freedom.
Up top, Dominic Calvert-Lewin has discovered a great run of form and is playing beyond his years. Crucially, it has allowed Brazilian tricksters Bernard and Richarlison to play off of him to great effect.
Their strength-in-depth is also very impressive, which was demonstrated by Morgan Schneiderlin seamlessly filling in for the injured Andre Gomes against Manchester United.
Defensively, this was demonstrated against Arsenal when 36-year-old Phil Jagielka rose to the challenge to score and keep a clean sheet.
World Cup star Yerry Mina has even struggled to hold down a starting place, which demonstrates how much talent there is in Everton‘s ranks.
The infusion of Brazilian talent and Barcelona players, combined with seasoned Premier League professionals, has made them an absolute joy to watch.
Time to Build
Everton have enjoyed fantastic performances against the elite of late. They have tended, however, to be viewed in relation to the negative state of their opposition.
Pundits and commentators should be dwelling on Everton’s professional performances, emergence from the shadows and unbounded potential. Instead, there is an emphasis on how poor the other team were.
This was particularly demonstrated once again against Manchester United as the focus was on their terrible week.
In reality, Everton now sit in seventh place and are announcing themselves as the ‘best of the rest’. At present, they are enjoying an extremely successful, if generally underpublicized, denouement to this Premier League season.
Even so, many will consider this a disappointing campaign on balance. Despite beating Manchester United they still sit 17 points off of them, by extension, the ‘top six’.
They have now won 14, lost 14 and drawn seven, which exemplifies their overall stasis in this campaign.
Next season, however, there is every chance that they can challenge for European football. Marco Silva can achieve this by retaining their key players and preserving their winning formula.
With Idrissa Gueye heavily linked with a move to Paris Saint-Germain and Andre Gomes returning to Barcelona at the end of his loan, this may prove difficult. That said, their trajectory at present is very attractive and something special seems to be in its infancy.
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