Marco Silva has claimed Farhad Moshiri, Everton’s majority shareholder, still backs him to develop a young team over the long term at the club and has not lost faith in yet another manager.
Silva is Moshiri’s third permanent managerial appointment in under three years at Goodison and the latest to come under pressure following a miserable run of form. Saturday’s abject home defeat by Wolves was Everton’s sixth loss in nine Premier League matches and they host title-chasing Manchester City on Wednesday.
The Everton manager has spoken on the phone to Moshiri since the Wolves defeat and claims to have received further support from the billionaire. “When we have the possibility to meet we do; when not, we speak on the phone,” Silva said. “I know what his feelings are. I know what is our project also when he spoke about the situation with the young players. We decided at the beginning of the season that some of them would be part of our squad.”
Silva confirmed that he, Moshiri, the director of football, Marcel Brands, and the chairman, Bill Kenwright, collectively decided last summer to promote young players at Everton, only months after another £50m was squandered in the transfer market on two Sam Allardyce signings, Theo Walcott and Cenk Tosun. “Always the manager with the owner, the chairman and the sports director,” he said. “We decided, because we believe they are good enough.”
The Everton manager was referring to Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Ademola Lookman, Tom Davies, Jonjoe Kenny and £40m summer signing Richarlison, who are all yet to impose themselves consistently on the Premier League.
He added: “You cannot achieve your goal just with young players. We have to see them growing in a stable, mature squad. I believe in our squad, I believe in what we are doing and I believe in our young players also. We took one decision at the start of the season and in the January market also. We didn’t go in the market because we took a decision and now is not the moment to go in a different way.
“Everyone thinks about Everton spending a lot of money but if you look at last season you can see how different it is to this season. The club spent more than double last season [compared to this season] and in the January market signed two new players. This season we did it differently. We took a decision as a football club and the manager is always involved. We took it together and we are together in this project. Football will always be about the results because if you are winning and taking good results you are not asking me about the young players.”
Everton’s form has nosedived in recent months while City, despite losing three of their last five Premier League away matches, appear to be edging back to their imperious best. Silva described Pep Guardiola’s team as the best in the division but believes they can be defeated at Goodison.
“What gives me hope?” he said. “I believe in my job and I believe in my players. We are here working at Everton, so you have to always believe you can win. What will give us the answer is what we can do on the pitch. Always, always, always when you prepare for a game, you prepare to win the match. Our fans can push our squad, even if they were not happy with the last match, and create a strong atmosphere.”