Everton have become a lost cause under Marco Silva

With Everton off to a disappointing start this season, the pressure is mounting on manager Marco Silva to turn things around.

Since the 2017/2018 season, 11 European teams have spent at least £350 million on transfers. Among the 11 are four teams from the Premier League: Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton.

Over this time period, Manchester City have made the most of their aggressive spending thanks to their dominance in domestic competitions. Chelsea added to their trophy cabinet with FA Cup and Europa League tournament triumphs. Man United are currently in a recent run of underachieving performances, but at the very least they recorded a top two finish in the league along with an appearance in the Champions League.

And then there is Everton. No trophies. No top six finish. No European football. To say that the past couple of years have been a disappointment for the Merseyside club is an understatement.

This season for Everton is no better than their previous two campaigns. In fact, the Blues may be on the verge of rock bottom. They currently stand at 17th in the Premier League table and a mere three points above the regulation zone; it is their worst league start in this decade.

No one expected this kind of a dreadful start. When the league schedule was released, Everton were sought out by many to make a profound early run at a top six spot. Out of their opening 11 league games, the Blues were slated to face only two sides that finished in the top six last season. Simple enough, right? Well, not for this club as they have only won three of 11 games this season.

Of course, when any team is under a spell of underachieving success, the blame is typically ensconced all on the manager. In some instances, placing all of the blame on the manager is warranted. They are the ones that orchestrate the tactical game plan and are in charge of the team’s overall setup. But in other instances, it is unreasonable to hold a manager accountable for all of their team’s struggles considering other factors such as underperforming players and injuries come into play in a long season.

In Marco Silva’s case with his Everton side, blame goes both ways. Sure, injuries and underperforming players — including Gylfi Sigurdsson — have refrained the Blues from playing up to their potential. But the team’s recurring issues on a game-by-game basis goes beyond the players. To an extent, Silva has a sustainable amount of responsibility to shoulder as to why the club are not performing up to expectations.

First and foremost, Everton’s main issue under Marco Silva is that they lack a team identity.

Success in the modern Premier League rests on managers ability to embed an identity within their team. A team’s identity not only is centered around their character or how they respond as a unit to adversity, but it is also aligned with their tactical game plan. For example, one could attest this with the likes of Liverpool and their gegenpressing style under Jurgen Klopp or Manchester City with Pep Guardiola’s synonymous possession-based, high-pressing style of play.

An example that is more relatable with Everton is Leicester City. Since Brendan Rodgers took over in February of this year, Leicester have risen from a mid-table team over the past three seasons to their current 3rd place standing in the Premier League. How? In short, Rodgers has instilled a team identity under a balanced and elegant 4-1-4-1 setup that works for the best of his squad.

Now with Marco Silva, he has not been able to establish a central and successful team identity in his short time with Everton – a key reason why the Blues have made no progress this season. Even though he sets up his team in a balanced 4-2-3-1 formation with a double pivot and a central attacking midfielder, the club still face persistent issues with both creating goal-scoring opportunities and allowing a high number of opposition chances.

From an attacking perspective, Everton resemble a team with no strategic game plan because of their lethargic play when facing a multitude of different situations on the pitch.

For example, the club essentially have become accustomed to facing teams that play under a defensive low block this season, which is a tactical setup aimed on limiting available space for the opponent in the final third. Everton respond by controlling possession — 52.7% this season — and patrol into the final third without much difficulty. Yet, time after time this season, Everton have struggled to break teams down and create effective open plays goal-scoring chances. With fullbacks Lucas Digne and Seamus Coleman involved in the team’s attacking build-up, Everton have the numbers to overwhelm their opponents and swarm into the box with multiple attackers, but it does not result to much.

When a team faces a complex challenge on the pitch, such as breaking down a low block defensive system, many  typically resort to their identity and gravitate to what tactic has worked for them in previous games.

However, Everton have consistently failed to counter low blocks as they instead play into their opponent’s tactic with a bombardment of aerial balls into the box or low percentage shots from outside the box — a recipe for an unequivocally disaster. For example, their home loss against Sheffield United in late September — the team’s most frustrating loss of the season — perfectly illustrates how much of a dire necessity an effective attacking identity is needed for Silva’s side. Everton lost 2-0 in this fixture and while they dominated possession and comfortably distributed the ball in the final third, they recorded a mere three shots on target and attempted 42 crosses. The Blues constantly aimed on sending the ball into the box via aerial balls rather than building from within on runs from their wingers — Richarlison and Bernard — or placing an emphasis on positioning more attackers around the box.

Everton’s attacking identity centers around being predictable to defend. They largely rely on crosses to push possession into the box. The Blues currently average 22.7 crosses per game in the Premier League this season, which ranks 3rd behind Manchester City and Liverpool. Now what differs from Everton and both Liverpool and Manchester City is that the two powerhouse clubs have other routes to create goal-scoring chances, from the off-ball runs with Man City’s wingers to Roberto Firmino’s movement to create space as a false nine winger. Meanwhile, Everton’s current one-dimensional attacking blueprint has resulted in a low 11 goals scored in league play and an 8.7 shots per game average.

To Silva’s credit, he has been looking for ways to instill new hope into their lowly attacking setup. He recently integrated Alex Iwobi into the central attacking midfield role, replacing Gylfi Sigurdsson. Iwobi has shown a glimmer of hope in becoming the catalyst to transcend Everton’s attack for the better with constant activity in the final third and a high number of completed dribbles per game, but it will take much more than one player to rejuvenate the team’s offensive productivity. And against Tottenham, Silva elected for a new 4-3-3/4-1-4-1 formation change, but the switch did not garner a much-needed win to veer away from the relegation line.

In the defense, Everton are not showing signs of being an efficient unit. They are one of the more well-structured teams in the league when it pertains to pressing as they rank 4th in passes allowed per defensive action (PPDA) with an 8.18 rank. However, the team’s elementary and amateur defensive mistakes on a game-by-game basis have held this unit back. Their 16 goals allowed and nine open play goals allowed ranks in the bottom half of the league.

There is no denying that Everton have the talent and personnel to be a top six side. But games are not won on paper. Managers can not just put out a starting 11 and expect their team to play like a cohesive unit on a game-by-game basis. It is ultimately up to the manager to implement a competent tactical game plan that suits his players for the better.

With over a season into his tenure with Everton, Silva is not only scrambling to find the right tactical game plan for his side, but he is failing to show any progress with his side.

In the big picture, this is not what any club board that have spent well over £350 million in transfers since the 2017/2018 season would expect out of a manager. But for both the board and Silva, it takes more than just signing players from clubs like Barcelona, Manchester City, Juventus and Arsenal to have success in the Premier League. It will ultimately stem on how these players are utilized that will determine their impact with the club.

Overall, the upcoming two months may very well determine Silva’s future with Everton. The Merseyside club are slated to face Leicester City, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal in league play along with their highly anticipated EFL Cup Quarter-Final fixture against Leicester. If Silva is unable to turn things around, he could be sacked sooner rather later.

It’s up to Silva to make the extensive changes and formulate a game plan tailored to his team’s strengths. Whether it will be to make simple fundamental tactical changes or a switch in formation, he must do what it takes to formulate just the right system for what is an expensive squad. And with the array of talent at his disposal, he has a number of options available such as opting for a more counter-attacking game plan or calling for more movement into the box from his attackers.

Silva’s days with Everton are numbered but as long as he is the manager, he still has an opportunity to somehow find a way to turn things around for the better.