‘SILVA DOESN’T DESERVE BLAME GAME’
JORDAN PICKFORD was too close for comfort when Ronald Koeman was given the chop by Everton.
And the Goodison and England keeper hopes Everton’s power-brokers hold their nerve and stick with underpressure boss Marco Silva, despite their erratic start to the campaign.
After the ruthless sacking of Unai Emery from Arsenal, Pickford knows Silva could well be next following a fan backlash against the Portuguese coach that came after their woeful defeat by Norwich.
But he hopes Everton can bounce back and save Silva from the fate that befell Koeman. “I don’t want to see the manager sacked. I was here when Koeman lost his job and it wasn’t nice to see at all, it was horrible,” said Pickford. “We were in the building when it happened and you never want to see anyone lose their job like that.
“Emery has just lost his job after a bad run of form and, although a few bad performances shouldn’t put the manager under pressure, that’s the industry we are in.
“For us, it’s about putting in a good performance. The manager has been great with us and we are behind him 100 per cent. I think you can see he’s emotional and has passion.”
Pickford believes nothing will be gained by sacking Silva (above), with the players still behind the former Watford and Hull boss. “The only way is to stick together and hope negative results will bring the best out of you,” added Pickford. “We might be in a sticky patch, but I feel the squad is still together, the club is still together and together we can get through it. “Sometimes we have to look at ourselves as individuals and as a squad. It is not always right to blame the manager.
“There’s still a lot of fighting spirit within the dressing room, I just feel we have been a bit unfortunate.” Silva must try to emerge from a daunting spell of three games in the next seven days, starting at high-flying Leicester today before Wednesday’s Merseyside derby with Liverpool at Anfield and Chelsea next Saturday.
After that, it’s Manchester United and, despite a vote of confidence from director of football Marcel Brands, they are games that will define Silva’s future.
“They don’t come any harder in the next week – they’re three of the top teams,” admitted Pickford.
“We know it’s not going to be easy, but the opportunity is there.”
Negatively
A losing streak could plunge Everton into the drop zone – but Pickford sees it another way.
He said: “That’s obviously not nice, but you have to look at the positives as well. We are four points off sixth.
“If we had beaten Norwich, we’d be back up the table, not talking this negatively.
“Leicester are a great side, but last season we beat them – and we need to do that again.”