Chelsea head towards another international break with a match hosting Everton. Marco Silva’s side will provide a good November test for Maurizio Sarri.
Marco Silva’s young career has been rather interesting. He was fired in Portugal because he did not wear the club’s crest for a cup match. He then went to Greece where he set domestic records before abruptly quitting after just a season. A few months later he took charge of an atrocious Hull City whom he nearly kept in the Premier League.
Fast forward a few weeks and he had his pick of several Premier League clubs after his near success in Hull. He opted for Watford and had them firing hot at the start of the season. Rumors that he would be hired by Everton after just a few games derailed Watford who eventually sacked him (blaming Everton’s interest). The next summer, Silva finally took charge of Everton.
Silva is clearly a manager with ambitions higher than his current station. Everton may satisfy him for now, but if any other bigger club comes sniffing he might turn his head again. For his part, he has proven to be a tactically sound manager capable of changing teams and getting them to punch above their weight.
Though Silva has flirted with a few formations, his go to at Everton is a 4-2-3-1. This makes since at Everton because of the midfielders they have available and the characteristics of the wingers and fullbacks. The pivot allows the wide players to stay wide and interchange with one another while Gylfi Sigurdsson can create in between lines.
Offensively, the play goes as the formation does. They look to get the ball wide as quickly as often as possible, using the speed of Theo Walcott and Richarlison to create breakaways. If the wingers cannot find themselves through on goal themselves, they’ll play the ball back to Sigurdsson or cross to the striker.
Defensively, most of the team will fall back when possession is lost as a few players press aggressively right away to win possession. But the players falling back in time to prevent counters is usually an issue because of how high the team presses. Their press is also quite zonal based, so smart players will find a way to confuse them.
Their biggest strength lies in the individual skill of their wingers and the aggressiveness of their initial press. They lure opponents in before attacking quickly and clinically. Their initial press often retrieves possession quickly and simply starts everything over again.
But their weaknesses have been clearly shown against better teams such as the top six. Everton over commit and leave themselves open at the back. Better players know how to escape their press easily and can send their own players through on goal. Also, strangely, they are good at attacking set pieces but not very good at defending them.
Everton will most likely be the most difficult team Chelsea has faced since Manchester United. That is ironic because Silva’s tactics are very reminiscent of Chelsea’s under Jose Mourinho in 2014/2015. The same sort of issues that prevailed in 2015/2016 exist however, so if some of the players remember how they were burned they can turn around and do it right back to Everton.
If Sarrismo is fully up and running (as in fast passes from tight areas and frequent runs), then Chelsea should make short work of Everton. But if the Blues start sluggishly again, they may find themselves behind the eight ball sooner rather than later. This is the type of game where a killer instinct early and often will deem the victor.