Walcott is okay, selection was tactical, says Silva

Everton fans worldwide let out a collective groan of disappointment when an hour before kickoff yesterday Theo Walcott was named in the starting lineup.

Surely Alex Iwobi deserved to start opposite Richarlison with how well both forwards have been playing? And against Manchester City, who would dominate possession, was it really the best move to go with the veteran winger?

Marco Silva certainly seemed to think there was something on City’s left to exploit.

“It’s true, you know always something can happen. We had a plan with him to explore the space we know they will give us behind them and behind Oleksandr Zinchenko or Benjamin Mendy, we did not know which would play.

“We thought with Theo Walcott we could explore something with that but unfortunately he came off so early. Alex started well and did well and we changed Richarlison to the right side.

”But of course, it’s never good when you have a plan and prepare something for the game and the first one or two minutes we have to change something.”

That change was enforced in just about the first minute of the game when Walcott stepped across the path of a cross from Raheem Sterling, and it seemed to catch him unawares in the back of head and the former England international crumpled to the ground.

After five minutes of attention from the physios, Walcott was stretchered off and the club tweeted that he had been taken to a nearby hospital for observation and further tests, presumably for concussion-related injuries.

At the end of the game, speaking to the media Silva said Walcott wass doing doing fine.

“He’s already [back] in our dressing room. He’s okay, he’s taking his shower to go home and rest.

”He did a scan [at hospital]. [Up] to now everything is okay, just waiting to speak more to the doctor.”

Glad to hear that Walcott is alright after what looked like an innocuous blow to the head that could have gotten much scarier.