Silva calls Huddersfield’s tactics normal, disappointed by Everton performance

Everton were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Huddersfield Town in a game strewn with errors and a general lack of creativity and urgency. The Blues have been struck by a spate of recent injuries and suspensions have further limited manager Marco Silva’s options.

Speaking after the game to evertontv, Silva said -

“It wasn’t the best game, it wasn’t the best performance. We performed really differently and better in previous games.

“Even in the first half after I saw how our opponent came here to play, we expected them to come here and put 9 or 10 players in the box. In that case we have to play faster, and not give them time to organize every time.

“In the second half we didn’t make good decisions, especially when attacking, we need to show more creativity.”

When asked if it was a sign of respect that sides like Huddersfield are coming here with such defensive intent, he agreed -

“Yes. “It’s normal [for an away team to show Everton respect]. They have seen how we are playing, and they came here to put everyone back in their box, just waiting for us to make a mistake. Of course you have to play in a different way to disorganize them.

“They showed big respect for our team but you have to be aware that can happen. You have to play faster to create chances.

“We controlled possession but in some moments it was too slow. In this type of game we have to put more creativity into our game and play faster offensively. And disorganise teams when they are sitting back and waiting for our mistake.

“It’s not the best thing to see, but it’s normal the way they came to play.”

Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored his third goal in four days and the manager was happy with the youngster.

“Yes it was important to him. It’s what I expect from our strikers. When they score it’s always significant. I hope and expect that the goals come soon for Cenk Tosun and Oumar Niasse as well.

“He has a different profile of player, he’s different. In the box he’s really strong when we’re attacking. He can score goals with his head, it’s a strength of his.

“We have three strikers with different profiles, this afternoon he showed he can play out on the left as well.”

Kurt Zouma had a very good game as centrehalf as well.

“Yes it’s something we expect from him. It’s important that he can give us this quality, and his stability is something we are trying to find.”