‘I wasn’t having a pop at him’ – Sam Allardyce defends comments about Marco Silva and Everton after backlash

‘I wasn’t having a pop at him’ – Sam Allardyce defends comments about Marco Silva and Everton after backlash
Sam Allardyce insists comments made in an interview on talkSPORT were not aimed as criticism towards Marco Silva, despite provoking the Everton boss into a vexed reaction.Big Sam, who managed Everton between 2017 and 2018 before Silva took charge, recently urged the Toffees boss to drop his ‘attractive’ brand of football and consider a more pragmatic approach in order to deliver results at Goodison Park.And following the clubs underwhelming 2-1 victory over Lincoln in the FA Cup, the Portuguese issued a damning response by claiming his predecessor is not worth listening to.Silva said: You have to look at whether these people love Everton, if they want Everton really winning, if they want some stability inside the club?4

Marco Silva responded to Sam Allardyce’s comments on talkSPORT

If there are real Everton fans talking like that, then maybe we have to be aware and to look at it, but if some people dont want good results, just instability within our club, they are not worth listening to.If it is David Moyes, maybe I would listen because he did something really important at this club.If somebody loves our club and they are not happy, OK. I see a person who loves our club and wants us to win. If not, I do not care. In this case, it is not important at all.

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MORE: Marco Silva delivers damning response to Sam Allardyce’s Everton criticism

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But Allardyce has defended his comments following the backlash, claiming they should be seen only as a sweeping statement about Everton rather than a personal dig at his successor.I dont expect him to listen to me! Allardyce told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast on Monday.I was generalising about Everton overall, I wasnt having a pop at Marco Silva.4

Sam Allardyce urged Marco Silva to consider a more pragmatic approach

I was saying that in the end, look at the previous four managers of Everton, including myself – all of them have been dismissed for one reason or another. Marco Silva hasnt yet, but pressure on him will depend on where they are in the league and winning football matches.The press man who asked the question probably didnt put it how I said it in that interview.Recent results have been a concern at Goodison Park and it is difficult to gauge whether there has been any progress since Silva replaced Big Sam in the summer. Everton have taken just seven wins from 21 games this season and currently sit eleventh in the table on 27 points the same tally as last season at the same stage.And the former England boss reiterated his argument that under-pressure managers should ditch the modern trend of playing out from the back and find a style which suits their players.He added: We are breeding the fact that you can only play one way at the moment and I think thats pretty dangerous.4

Marco Silva has endured a mixed start to his managerial reign at Everton

I think you play out from the back when it suits you, and if you doesnt suit you, you dont play out from the back.The Toffees spent almost 90million during the summer transfer window after Allardyce dragged the club from the threat of relegation to an unlikely eighth-place finish.And the 64-year-old has warned that with high spending comes the expectation of immediate results.4

Sam Allardyce insists there is more than one way of playing the modern game

Everton is the only place where results havent given me time to go and do a better job than I did last season, he added. At the end of the day, it wasnt my team. I inherited that team.I was doing the best I could with the tools I had available. Moving on from there, theyve spent a lot of money again, and where will they end up this season? Thats building expectation by the amount of money they spent.I think theres only four players that played when I was there, all the others are new players that were brought in this season.The players themselves have got to find out about each other as they play every week and maybe thats why they arent getting the results that the Everton fans would expect.

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