Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
SILVA BUCK PASS
Everton boss defends Keane after his England nightmare...
MARCO SILVA admitted Michael Keane has had his struggles during his crash course in adapting to a new style of play.
Defender Keane gifted Kosovo a goal in the first 35 seconds in England’s 5-3 win on Tuesday and Everton boss Silva reckons mistakes were inevitable as he gets used to passing out from the back.
Silva said he has to work every day to transform a centre-back who was more used to the direct tactics of former managers like Burnley’s Sean Dyche and Everton’s Sam Allardyce.
But he feels Keane, a £30million buy from the Clarets in 2017, is a quick learner who won over England manager Gareth Southgate as he showed his ability on the ball last season.
Silva said: “Last season when I arrived at the club, everything was different for Michael. In the beginning it was a little bit difficult.
“When joining Everton, Michael came from a club with a completely different idea about the build-up.
“Maybe not with Ronald Koeman but with the other two coaches, the idea was not like ours.
“Play from the back is something they do in a different way and since I came it is something we are working on every single day.
“I know the best and most important thing for defenders when you are without the ball is to be really solid and strong.
“But in our philosophy, everything starts with our goalkeeper and our back line.
“We want to attack the opposing team. Michael is working really hard. Now he understands the idea, he understands everything and because of that he had a very good season.
“He improved and then the national team manager calls him to start.
“The national team also have the idea to play from the back. Michael has the quality to do that. I have no doubts.”
Silva feels errors can happen as Keane gets used to a new brand of football and added: “It is not something new to Michael. It is important to learn from that moment and not to do it again.”
The Everton boss also believes Richarlison is a changed man after making his own his mistakes.
Everton go to Bournemouth today – where their £40million buy was sent off last season for headbutting Adam Smith.
Silva has spoken to the Brazilian and is confident he is a calmer character who won’t be provoked into getting a red card now.
He said: “He’s a different player. I had this conversation with him earlier.
“He learned from that moment, for sure. Richarlison is now a better player than before. He’s more mature than a season ago.”
Richarlison has had happier experiences of Bournemouth after scoring his first goal in English football for Watford against the Cherries.
And Silva added: “I want him to recall his first game against them.We had our first home match and then travelled to Bournemouth.
“Maybe no one knew him at that moment, and he had a fantastic performance and scored one goal.”