Marco Silva wants his time at Everton to be defined by one word

Just hours after his official appointment as Everton’s 17th permanent manager, Marco Silva has already drawn the line, thrown down the gauntlet, challenged the establishment and whatever other cliche you would care to come up with.

The Portuguese manager, soon to turn 41, has shown himself to be an exacting a taskmaster behind the scenes as a devotee of flamboyant attacking football in front of the fans. Speaking to evertonfc.com, he comes off as a man ready for the challenge of taking Everton into the top six.

“For me, there is a fantastic word to describe everything – demand.

”I think every day, every single moment, from when we start in pre-season, every single moment from when we start working, we need to be demanding.

“Firstly, I am demanding from myself and my staff, and I will demand a lot from our players. Even everybody who works to support our squad, we need to be strong and demanding all the time. Because football matches today are really hard to win and all the details will make the difference. We need to be aware of what to expect.”

A strong work ethic was a part of the fabric at Everton as recently as during the David Moyes era, but the club seems to have lost that identity in the last few years. Silva’s record shows that when he has been given the time and funding to establish himself, his sides have been capable of playing attractive yet hardworking football.

“It is important to talk about desire,” said Silva. “And, for me, when you talk about desire, you can talk about ambition, commitment and attitude – all these things that you can expect are important in our team.

“After, you can talk about style. My style is to play to win matches, of course. And, for me, it is clear that if we play better than our opponent, if we have better football than our opponent, then we are closer to winning the match.

“Of course, that is not 100 per cent because in football some things are not easy to explain but I believe that if you play better than your opponent, you are closer to winning the match.”

“I can say that I am really excited to start and looking forward to that. Of course, I know the responsibility of being Everton manager. I know what is behind me, I know the big-club history and what the fans expect, as well.

“That is really important for me and important to feel that confidence in my work.”