Lucas Digne claims he believes Marco Silva can become one of the best football coaches in the world.
The Frenchman captained Everton to victory against West Ham last weekend, ending a run of four consecutive Premier League defeats.
The Toffees had fallen to Bournemouth, Sheffield United, Manchester City and Burnley before they beat the Hammers.
Everton played with confidence at Goodison Park on Saturday, and Digne has credited Silva as having played a big part in inspiring confidence in his squad.
Talking to the Liverpool Echo, Digne spoke about Silva’s tactical nouse as a manager, and how he never thinks to question a dressing room or touchline decision the former Watford man makes. Digne said:
We watch videos together with the staff and if I ask to work on my crosses or defensively, he helps me a lot, he gives me advice.
He reads the game really well. Some coaches can give advice during the game that you feel is not the solution but, Marco, when he gives you advice you think: ‘Ah, yeah, this is true’.
When we prepare for a game, he chooses the tactics and then he gives you the advice. When you play in the game you can see it’s the solution. He is a really good coach.
Silva brought Digne to the club in 2018 from Barcelona for £18million, and the France international has been a revelation ever since.
Having played for Paris Saint-Germain, Roma and Barcelona since 2016, Digne has experienced his fair share of top class managerial talent, and the 26-year old has labelled Silva as one of the best coaches he has had. Talking about Silva’s influence immediately following the international break, Digne said:
He gave a lot of confidence to the players and very good advice.
For me he is one of the best coaches I’ve had and I am sure he can be one of the best in the world.
The mood [in the build-up] was perfect.
You can feel that we had lost four games consecutively but everybody came with a good mentality and we saw on the pitch against West Ham that the mentality was totally different and we played very fast, with intensity, we won every challenge and we didn’t concede chances or nothing.
Read Everton Verdict
Following such a difficult period where so many fans were calling for Silva’s head, Digne’s statements are very bold indeed.
Silva has shown talent for sure and he is still very much in his managerial infancy, but he has also shown elements of his managerial style that could prevent him from reaching the heights he is likely targeting, such as his frequent refusal to move away from his pre-determined tactics.
Still, for someone who has been so impactful over the past 18 months, Digne backing the manager in this manner shows just how influential he must be on the training field.
However, Silva needs to keep the results coming. Both Roberto Martinez and Ronald Koeman were reportedly being eyed up by Barcelona during their respective Everton tenures, but one failed season can threaten to tank a promising coach’s reputation, as we’ve seen.
