Marco Silva makes Marcel Brands admission about role in his Everton sacking

Marco Silva has claimed that Marcel Brands was against his Everton sacking - but was overruled by Farhad Moshiri.

The Toffees appointed Silva as manager in the summer of 2018 as he replaced Sam Allardyce.

He guided Everton to eighth spot in his maiden campaign, having signed the likes of Richarlison, Lucas Digne and Yerry Mina.

But the axe would be wielded on Silva in December 2019 after a 5-2 loss to Liverpool in the Merseyside derby - which left the Goodison Park outfit languishing in the Premier League relegation zone.

Speaking to Portuguese newspaper Record, Silva - who is now manager of Fulham - felt expectations of a top-six finish in 2019-20 were set too high after an encouraging first year at the club.

He insisted that former director of football Brands - who left in December 2021 - was still behind him but owner Moshiri decided to dismiss him.

What’s been said

Via Sport Witness, Silva said: “A club with a tremendous fan base, with a full stadium and great support even away from home. They’ve won many titles in the past and it’s very much based on that, in a city passionate about football and with a tremendous rivalry with Liverpool.

“It was a three-year project with a complete overhaul: new coach and new sports director. It was about continuing to have results and creating a younger team, with a sports director who came from the Netherlands where the focus on young players is important. We made a very good market. We spent a good amount of money, but we signed Digne, Richarlison and other players.

“We built a young team with the potential to play in the toughest championship in the world, where the best players and coaches are. We started the season well, we had a break in the middle with the elimination in the cup, a competition in which Everton has a history and the fans look at the cups with tremendous ambition – and we finished the league in my image and playing very good football.

“We fought until the end to reach European competitions and we lost that possibility with two games to go. We took eighth place and improved on what had been the previous year at Everton. The second season came in which we lost very important players and we couldn’t replace them.

“The sporting director admitted that he was against the decision, with players fully involved with the coach, but the decision was up to the owner.

“The year before we also had bad results and we beat that moment of the season and it would happen again in the second season. We wouldn’t win titles, because Everton weren’t prepared for that to be in the top six. It was said outside, but internally we knew it was almost impossible and that brought a lot of pressure from outside.

“It’s good to have ambition and expectations, but there can’t be too many expectations for what you want to create. We finished the first season in eighth place, the club changed coaches and got a huge name from football, like Carlo Ancelotti, and stayed in 12th and 10th. And last year they fought to the last to not go down.”