Everton boss sets sights on long stint
LIVERPOOL: New Everton manager Marco Silva wants to stay at the English Premier League club beyond his threeyear contract and said yesterday he would try to impose an attacking style of play to mend the rift between the team and the fans.
The Portuguese coach was named last week as the replacement for Sam Allardyce, who guided Everton to an eighthplaced finish but was fired after fans grew disenchanted with what they perceived to be a bland style of football.
‘‘It is my goal and the club’s goal for me to have joined not for one, two, or three years, but something more,’’ Silva, who caught Everton’s eye as Watford boss, told a news conference.
Amid doubts over the future of club captain Wayne Rooney, who is in discussions with Major League Soccer’s DC United over a possible move to the United States, Silva also said he would speak to the 32yearold former England captain about his plans.
‘‘We will talk with him. We need to understand everything,’’ Silva said. ‘‘The door is open any time for him. We’ll talk and see what is happening. It’s Wayne’s decision.’’
If Silva does stay beyond the end of his contract, it will represent his longest spell in charge of a single club.
‘‘I want to prove every day I want to stay here . . . Everton want to get to the next step. It cannot happen in one month but we need early results too.’’
Everton, which is owned by BritishIranian billionaire Farhad Moshiri, spent heavily on players last season in an attempt to break into the Premier League top six.
Its record transfer outlay ended in disappointment, however, as Moshiri’s first managerial appointment, Ronald Koeman, was sacked in October with the club in the relegation zone.
Interim boss and exEverton player David Unsworth steered the Merseysiders out of danger before he was replaced by Allardyce, but the turnover of managers has left the club with a bloated squad that needs to be trimmed before the new season.
Silva will work closely with Everton’s newly appointed director of football Marcel Brands in his new role.
‘‘The squad is too big. That’s clear,’’ Brands said. ‘‘It’s difficult to work with that many for a coach. We have to change that and then fill in our own targets that we need.’’ — Reuters