Silva’s First Season
Wolves (A) 2- 2
Southampton (H)
GWLADYS
in possession versus 12th , fourth best at
restricting shots on goal against 15th,
ninth for shots on target against 16th,
third for crosses against 17th and in
terms of action zones they lie fourth for
most time spent in the opponent’s third
(against 11th last season) & second for
time spent in their defensive third versus
14th last season.
2-1
Bournemouth (A)
2-2
Huddersfield (H) 1-1
West Ham (H) 1-3
Arsenal (A) 0-2
Fulham (H) 3-0
Leicster (H) 2-1
Crystal Palace (H)
Under Silva Everton have become a
side who keep the ball well, create a
decent amount of scoring opportunities,
and increasingly dominate the game
territorially. The big omission from the
improvements has been defending set
pieces, where we have plummeted from
the sixth best in the league to the second
worst (19th). This becomes all the more
frustrating when you consider the side
is one of the most dominant in the air
(ranking third for aerial duels won) and
second in the league for goals scored of
set pieces. In all likelihood it has taken the
side two-thirds of the season to become
proficient and confident at translating
the wider improvements into defending
set pieces and it has cost us significantly.
That being said over recent weeks there
are reasonable grounds for optimism
that such difficulties could be behind us.
2-0
Man United (A) 1-2
Brighton (H) 3-1
Chelsea (A) 0-0
Cardiff (H) 1-0
Liverpool (A) 0-1
Newcastle (H) 1-1
Watford (H) 2-2
Man City (A) 1-3
Spurs (H) 2-6
Burnley (A) 5-1
Brighton (A) 0-1
Leicester (A) 0-1
Bournemouth (H)
2-0
Southampton (A)
1-2
Wolves (H) 1-3
As indicated in the opening of the article,
the team you look at and the strategies
employed are by no means a rigid final
interpretation of what Silva intends to
create. We remain a work in progress
and I suspect it may only be in the third
season we really see the full extent of
what he hopes to create. It is worth
noting that both Klopp and Pochettino
finished with lower points in their first
seasons than Liverpool and Tottenham
did the season before. In familiarizing
the players with different methods that
would help in the medium term, there
was a short term hit. I would argue you
see similar with Silva and we need to
hope, that as the new signings begin
to fully bed in (and more arrive) a
comparable level of improvement can be
seen from Silva’s young squad.
Man City (H) 0-2
Watford (A) 0-1
Cardiff (A) 3-0
Liverpool (H) 0-0
Newcastle (A) 2-3
Chelsea (H) 2-0
West Ham (A) 2-0
Arsenal (H) 1-0
Fulham (A) 0-2
Man United (H) 4-
0
Crystal Palace (A)
0-0
Burnley (H) 2-0
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