Moving Target – Marco Silva

After parting company with Mike Phelan on Tuesday night, Hull City moved quickly to appoint his replacement, with former Sporting Lisbon and Olympiakos boss Marco Silva announced as the Tigers new head coach yesterday.

Silva has agreed on a deal until the end of the season, and will take charge for the club’s FA Cup third round tie against Swansea City tomorrow.

The 39-year-old takes over at the KCOM Stadium with Hull rooted to the bottom of the table, three points adrift of Crystal Palace in 17th.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Silva insisted he can help the club avoid relegation back to the Championship:

“It is a really difficult challenge because at the moment the league position is bad and the results are not the best so it is important that we change this situation… There are things that we need to improve. Our organisation and concentration in games is important… If I didn’t believe I would not have come here. I believe we can help this team to stay in the Premier League.”

The History

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Silva spent most of his playing career in the lower divisions as a right-back.

He only made two Primeira Liga appearances, one for Belenenses, and the other for Campomaiorense, before ending his career with a six-year stint at Estoril.

In June 2011, immediately following his retirement, Silva was appointed as the director of football at Estoril.

But during the early part of the campaign, Silva took over the managerial role and guided the club to the league title and promotion back to the Primeira Liga, following a seven-year hiatus.

The 2012/13 campaign was another historic one for Estoril, who finished fifth in the Primeira Liga, securing a place in the third qualifying round of the Europa League.

Incredibly, Silva would go one better the following season, steering Estoril to a fourth-place finish, and automatic qualification for the Europa League.

Those successes convinced Sporting Lisbon to appoint Silva as their new manager on a four-year contract in May 2014.

Silva would only spend one season at Sporting, though, with a third-place finish in the league, and a Portuguese Cup triumph not enough to prevent him getting sacked in June 2015.

In July 2015, Silva signed a two-year deal to take over at Greek club Olympiakos.

Silva guided Olympiakos to an historic 17 consecutive domestic victories, before eventually winning the league title with six matches remaining.

Silva resigned in June 2016, though, citing personal reasons.

The Prospects

With Hull having taken only six points from the last 48 on offer, there’s no doubt Silva has a huge task on his hands to preserve the club’s Premier League status.

It has been reported he will have some money to spend, though, with Tigers vice-chairman Ehab Allam stating the club is working hard ”to deliver some key additions” during the transfer window.

Silva inherits a side that has predominantly been playing in either a 3-5-1-1, 3-5-2 or 3-4-3 system, with the players that Phelan had at his disposal appearing best suited to those formations.

Long-term injuries to Moses Odubajo, Alex Bruce and, more recently, Will Keane, left Phelan with a very small group to work with.

Silva will have to make do without the services of key first-team players Ahmed Elmohamady and Dieumerci Mbokani over the next few weeks as they depart for the Africa Cup of Nations.

In terms of tactics, Silva is known to prefer a 4-2-3-1 system, but given the lack of natural wide players on the books at the KCOM Stadium, it will be interesting to see whether he adopts that formation from the off.

Currently, only Robert Snodgrass, Markus Henriksen, Adama Diomande, Shaun Maloney and perhaps Ryan Mason appear capable of filling the attacking midfield spots, with only Snodgrass and Diomande having made any sort of impression so far this term.

Silva does have some decent options in central midfield to work with, though, with Jake Livermore and Sam Clucas perhaps best suited to playing in a midfield two, although Tom Huddlestone, Mason and David Meyler all provide plenty of Premier League experience.

The 39-year-old also likes his full-backs to push forward and offer plenty of width, and in Elmohamady and Andrew Robertson, he has two players who appear perfectly suited to those philosophies.

But when facing the likes of Arsenal in the Champions League during his time with Olympiakos, Silva was known to favour a pragmatic approach, happy to see his team concede possession.

Given the gulf in quality between Hull’s squad and some of the top clubs in the Premier League, this is certainly something which we may see continued during his time in England.

Regardless, it is clear that, in whatever system he chooses, Snodgrass will remain key to Hull’s survival chances.

The Scotland international has totalled an impressive seven goals and two assists so far this season, and given Silva is noted for his fondness of set-pieces as an attacking weapon, Snodgrass’ deadly delivery should be utilised to its fullest under the new boss.

Michael Dawson already has three goals to his name this season, despite missing the first few months of the campaign due to injury, while Curtis Davies, Harry Maguire and Abel Hernandez all provide reasonable threats from set-plays.

With the glaring need for some extra creativity and pace in the attacking midfield areas, and a proven goalscorer up front, there’s no doubt Hull will need to bring in one or two fresh faces in order to have a reasonable chance of staying up.

Silva would seem likely to play a major part in this process. Upon retirement, his main brief in his first non-playing role at Estoril was to assess the needs of the squad and identify transfer targets – a task he fulfilled exceptionally well.

The Tigers have been linked with a move for Romanian attacking midfielder Alexandru Maxim, who has scored two goals in 18 appearances for German second tier outfit Stuttgart this season, while the same report suggest they could be interested in bringing Bournemouth defender Tyrone Mings to the club.

Hull were also linked with former Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o during the final few days of Phelan’s reign, although that was dismissed by the then Hull boss.

From a Fantasy perspective, it’s only been Snodgrass who has really made an impression amongst the current roster, and unless Silva can tighten things up at the back, bringing the likes of Dawson and Robertson into the frame as budget options, that’s likely to remain the case.

The new boss faces a home encounter against Bournemouth in his first league match in charge, which is then followed by an incredibly difficult run of fixtures (che, mun, LIV, ars).

The tough schedule should allow us to assess what we can expect from Silva’s Hull side then, with investment more likely from Gameweek 26 onwards, when the fixture list eases considerably.

Silva clearly faces a huge challenge at Hull, but his CV is pretty impressive given he’s only been coaching for less than seven years, and doesn’t feature any glaring failures.

He’ll hope that winning mentality will rub off on the players, then, but Silva, who has been referred to in his native Portugal as “the new Mourinho,” has never had to deal with the pressures of a relegation battle, let alone the scrutiny of managing in one of Europe’s top leagues.

Hull will certainly hope he can make a similar impact to that of Mauricio Pochettino when he arrived at Southampton, but for every Pochettino, there’s also a Remi Garde, and unless quality is brought in during the transfer window, it’s difficult to see Silva being able to stem the tide at the KCOM Stadium.

Further Reference

Marco Silva Wikipedia

Marco Silva Transfer Markt Page

Marco Silva’s First Interview as Hull City’s new head coach