JOY KEANE
Silva’s words get Toffees defender Michael shining again
MARCO SILVA has revealed how Michael Keane needed his confidence rebuilt after a debut season to forget at Everton.
Keane, a £25million buy from Burnley last year, had a tough start to life on Merseyside.
The defender was not the only one to struggle in a poor campaign for the Toffees.
But it cost Keane his place at the World Cup with England.
Silva replaced Sam Allardyce as Goodison boss in May and sat down with Keane to restore his self-belief.
Now the 25-year-old has found his form again and was back with the Three Lions for the wins over USA and Croatia.
“First, and one of the most important things in football apart from the quality, is confidence,” said Silva.
“If you don’t have confidence, not just in football but in your job and in my job, normally you don’t perform well and you don’t show your quality.
“It’s easy for me to understand, maybe for you, how Michael is different now on the pitch, the decisions he takes.
“He has more confidence even in challenges as well than the Michael that started the pre-season.
“I don’t want to talk about last season, it’s not for me but it’s a normal process. He’s performing well and the confidence comes. Our defensive process is different for him than what he was used to last season. He is understanding, he is learning and he is performing very well. He is a different player.
“Even the national team coach thinks in the same way because he called him into the national team.”
Silva sat down with other players to try to lift them and is starting to see the rewards as Everton begin to find their best form.
They won four of their last six league games and held Chelsea to a goalless draw before the international break.
“In football you have to understand where you are at any the moment,” Silva added ahead of today’s clash with Cardiff. “It was easy to understand the lack of confidence.
“The easiest way to give it to them is results, even if you perform well or not. Now they’re enjoying what they’re doing. They are working in a good environment.”