West Ham goalkeeper Roberto says he is looking forward to reuniting with Marco Silva when Everton host the Hammers, although he hopes his former coach is on the losing end.
The Spaniard will start in goal for the Hammers when they travel to Goodison Park this afternoon, with Lukasz Fabianski unavailable after having undergone surgery following a recent injury.
The West Ham summer signing was previously Silva’s captain when the Portuguese coach was manager of Olympiakos, with the duo winning the Greek Superleague in the 2015/16 season.
With the pair now due to come head to head as Everton look to get their season back on track, Roberto claimed he would be happy to see his former manager, although he wouldn’t wish him well for the game ahead.
As reported on West Ham’s official website, Roberto said:
I will be really happy to see Marco and all his staff again on Saturday as we spent some really good moments together in Olympiacos.
I think he deserves to be in his place in Everton because he did really well in Olympiacos and he has done a great job at other clubs, too.
Football is football, though, and everyone wants the best for themselves and the most important thing for us is to win and get the best result we can get.
Unfortunately, in football, the good moments for one are bad moments for the others. Personally, I wish him the best but I want him to lose!
Read Everton Verdict
Hopefully Silva’s history with Roberto will enable the Everton side to exploit any potential weakness the Spaniard has.
Silva desperately needs a win, as do Everton who are floundering in the bottom three. Any advantage to beat the Hammers has to be taken, and hopefully the manager’s prior experience with the West Ham shot-stopper can help.
Silva will need to try something new, because Manuel Pellegrini will inevitably plan to defeat Silva’s tired tactics. A change of personnel and formation would greatly improve Everton’s chances at coming away with three points.
