I haven't posted regularly or anything decent in a year or two now but feel compelled to post about Silva given the current situation.
Marco Silva: The Analysis
Style of Play/Tactical Nous:
So, what is it? After a year and a bit now I couldn't really tell you. It is as if he is trying to take all of the parts from top managers and mould it into one style. Pressing, check. Possession, check. Fullbacks high up the pitch, check. Using possession as a defense mechanism, check. It's eerily reminiscent at the moment of someone who is trying to be a Pep/Klopp hybrid but coming out looking like a more depressing and lacklustre Mourinho. Yes, we can keep possession, but what do we do with it? Little of our attacking play comes down to well drilled tactical measures or conviction. It's mostly from individual brilliance. If i look back to last season a lot of our attacking prowess came through Gylfi and this year he's playing really poorly so what then? We can't rely on Richarlison to always bail us out as he's only 22 and our other options are DCL/Kean/Iwobi in the attacking front who are all worryingly looking likely to go down the Rashford/Martial route where the expectation to step up and be a senior player is thrust down their neck when they don't have the senior authorities around them who are stepping up and helping them through that development. Against Wolves we were really good going forward but why was that? They gave us so much space that it wouldn't matter who played them that day, they would have leaked a few goals. Against sides that are well set up defensively we are absolutely hopeless and it doesn't look like we will score or even craft a chance. Digne is one of our most threatening players and he's a left back. That's worrying. The reason TAA/Robertson do so well is because they have forwards that are tactically aware and know where to be and how to play in the system. Ours is get it out wide or to Gylfi, see what they can do. We aren't a possession team though and shouldn't play like one. Our best forwards are pacey or like DCL capable of holding the ball up and playing it off to others. That's when we play best. A counter-attacking style with mixed long and short balls. But we persist on possession.
His tactical ability when going a goal down is also dreadful. Oh, we are losing? Better put on another Striker and go with two up top because we are desperate now. The absolute fecking worst was the Sheffield United game.
We finished with Walcott, Iwobi, Richarlison, Gylfi, Tosun and Kean all on the pitch. Yes. 6 of our 10 outfield players were forward players leaving one CM in Delph and three defenders. It's just embarassing. Is that a move of a manager who knows how to tactically set up a team to grab a goal? God no. It smacks of a manager that knows his job is on the line if he doesn't score. Complete desperation and no composure.
Set Pieces:
Since the summer of 2018, no side have conceded more set-piece goals in the Premier League.
Bang. Straight off the bat. Fachts. At Hull it was the same. At Watford they were 3rd highest. It's a consistent component in his managerial career yet he's not amended it. Why isn't he? More importantly why aren't the analysts at the club looking at that and directing him to change/Brands to address this issue? How did we concede against Burnley in the loss? You guessed it. I'm personally not a fan of zonal marking but it works for some teams. We are not a team that is capable of it which is clearly shown. We have small fullbacks and centrebacks that aren't the most pacy so it's obvious that when an opponent is attacking in the box we are going to be outmanouevred. Why aren't we combating it by playing a man-marking game? Keane and Mina are big lads and have the ability to outmuscle opponents. Play to your strenghts man.
Motivation: I don't know what he does in the office to the lads but they all seem to be behind him which I can't understand. He's so dull and morbid on the sidelines. We conceded a goal one week and he just sat in his chair. Slumped. When you are in a good run of form and it's going to be your first loss for a while then fine, but we aren't. It just increases the negative energy around the club. The more I listen to podcasts and ex-players speak the more I realise how crucial motivation and man-management is to the players. We might think it is silly that a player needs to be nurtured/praised/spurred on to the extent that some animated managers such as Klopp are but they need it. We laughed at Klopp when he did the WBA drawing thing but you know what? He knew that it was about creating a bond. Not just between the players and fans but between the players. Yeah, we drew against WBA but we are together. I don't see that with Silva. Sure, he implores the players to clap for the fans after a loss but it's a 'shit, we lost I better thank them for watching my shit' rather than him being passionate about it.
Youth: Had a bit of back and forth with
@RedSky regarding this before and while I do think at times I understand why he is playing senior players for League Cup ties because the demand for a trophy from the fans is there, we aren't taking advantage of out youth enough. We have an U-23 side that is regularly excelling at the level and a bunch of exciting prospects but they just aren't being given a sniff when they've performed. Gibson was great in pre-season and now isn't anywhere to be seen. Davies has looked good everytime he's came on and offered something different but still doesn't get a start. Gordon has been great in recent weeks for the U-23s but was told we have too many players in the attacking positions to think of giving him a chance...why? He's scared of playing youth compared to the 20-30m players we have bought. Is that because of him or the board? I'm starting to question it a lot especially after yesterday when that Connolly lad for Brighton got his chance after performing well. It's irritating now as I can understand initially why you'd play seniors but when they aren't performing and we have someone who is and deserves a chance it's not good management.
Facts:
We haven't came from behind to win under his management. Ever.
He's got to the point now where he has the same amount of losses as wins.
We've played 2 promoted sides and have lost both. We've played 8 league games and have lost 5 already. Losses - Villa, Sheffield United, Bournemouth, Burnley, City. We finished above 4 of those last season. It's just shocking.
Liverpool:
This is what hurts the most. Seeing how much money we have both pumped into each club and where we both sit now. Liverpool have a direction. We were lording it over them during the Martinez era and just before when they were sitting in 7th/8th but they recruited well in every aspect and are now sitting comfortably in the top 2 of the PL. We had ambitions for top 6 and we are in 17th. Liverpool committed to an identity and despite having a slow start with Klopp they're now reaping the benefits from it. It doesn't feel like we have done that with a manager at all. We have panicked in terms of most of our decision making. I don't even care if they finish above us but the gap between us at the moment is disgraceful and I don't remember a time when it was this big especially considering how close we were to each other 5-10 years ago. We had a chance to kick on and get back to competing alongside them and instead we have completely regressed.
EDIT:
Forgot to add my final input. He has to go. A club with ambitions of top 6 does not sit in 17th with 5 losses after the first 8 games. A club with top 6 ambitions does not get beaten by two promotees with convincing fashion and using desperate tactics to even draw against one of them. A club with top 6 ambition doesn't have such an obvious weakness such as ours in terms of the set-piece situation yet do nothing to adapt and fix it. It's just not good enough.