football

Marco Silva hits back hard at criticism from Sam Allardyce

Published 10:57 7 Jan 2019 GMT

Home football

Get our Pub Quizzes and latest news straight to you by clicking here »

Silva said Big Same was "not worth listening to."

Marco Silva has responded to comments made by Sam Allardyce about Everton's style of play, dismissing suggestions that they should adopt a more pragmatic tactical approach. Speaking on talkSPORT, Allardyce said: “you can talk about playing it out from the back and attractive football, but you will never survive, as Ronald Koeman and Roberto Martinez learned. They all played so-called better football than me, but they didn’t survive. “At the end of the day it’s all about winning football matches and trying to win them as best you can and as attractively as you can. “So if you’re going down the attractive football route, it’s got to be attractive AND get you the results to keep you the job, which is extremely difficult to do.” Allardyce lasted just six months in the Everton job during the 2017-18 season due to the negative style of football he had implemented despite lifting the team from 13th to eighth in the league table last season.

Everton are currently 11th in the Premier League table, with an identical record to this time last season, but the fans are enjoying the new, expansive style of play that Silva has brought. Following Everton's 2-1 FA Cup victory over Lincoln, Silva responded to Allardyce's comments, claiming he was not worth listening to. "I am not here to make comments about him. You have to look at whether these people love Everton, if they want Everton really winning, if they want some stability inside the club?" he said. “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 don’t 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.”