Jamie Carragher shared that he thought Everton needed to start playing more aggressive football after watching them draw 0-0 with Liverpool.
The Sky Sports pundit shared that he thought Goodison Park came alive for the first time under Marco Silva during Sunday’s Merseyside derby and pointed out that he felt the Toffees had been guilty of being too nice this season.
Carragher added that he believes the Toffees need to start putting the ball in the box more, closing down their opponents more and just make their opponents dread a trip to Goodison Park.
“It feels to me that was the first time the crowd have come alive under Marco Silva, he is yet to have that big standout result against one of the top sides,” said Carragher on Sky Sports Premier League (18:47, Sunday March 3rd).
“At times he has done okay against them in games, never got a result or certainly the win yet.
“I think David (Moyes) knows probably even better than me being the manager for so long, but Everton like aggressive football.
“And I mean that in the nicest possible sense and you need to come here as an opposition player and think ‘ooo do I wanna play there?’ ‘Do I want to play at Goodison’?
“I think it has been too nice, too easy, at times this season and today that felt like Everton and Goodison Park and it should always be a tough game for anyone that comes here.
“When I say aggressive football, that doesn’t mean…it means with the ball as well, we’re not talking just off the ball and putting challenges in but I’m talking with the ball.
“The famous player for Everton is the big number nine you go back a hundred years, I’m not saying Everton need to lump it forward but it now has to be a case of put it in the box, get the crowd going, get the second ball.
“It’s a really tight pitch so every time someone gets the ball, the opposition need to feel contact and I think you saw that today, but you just haven’t seen enough of that this season.”
OPINION
Carragher believes that the Toffees played aggressive football against Liverpool and clearly think that’s the way forward for the club. While the pundit makes it clear that he is not encouraging long-ball football, something Toffees supporters previously vocalised their displeasure over, he does want to see more aggression throughout the team. Given that Silva previously revealed in 2017 in an interview with Sky Sports when manager of Watford that he sees his philosophy as being one that sees his side’s go “face-to-face” with their opponents, it seems like he believes in aggressive football. So maybe Carragher will see the Toffees heed his wishes in the near future as it’s just a case of Silva putting his mark on the team. The Toffees were definitely more aggressive against the Reds on Sunday then they had been against previous opponents this season as they closed Jurgen Klopp’s side down at every opportunity, however they can’t just bottle and save their passion for Merseyside derbies.