Following the appointments of Director of Football Marcel Brands and new manager Marco Silva, work is definitely underway for the 2018/19 Premier League campaign.
The PR from Everton hasn’t abated yet either as Brands has spoken of the job in hand and the ‘busy job’ that entails this week as he vowed we would be ready for the big kick off.
đź‘Ť | "We have a busy job – but we will be ready."
Marcel Brands' work is under way.
👉 https://t.co/PTPcTOqtCQ pic.twitter.com/2sXzYH0DZ5
— Everton (@Everton) June 7, 2018
Speaking to the Official Site Brands clued the fans in to the main aim at this early start of the season – trimming the first team squad down so Silva has a far tighter group to choose from.
Everton are currently carrying 38 players, and getting that down to a more manageable number is the focus before we look at strengthening the group further. Trimming down will obviously help boost Silva’s budget which is a secondary positive from the move.
“We have a lot of players and some we will have to sell. We have to analyse the squad and find a few targets that we want as new signings. We have a lot of good players and a lot of good young talent. We also have a few players coming back from loan periods. So, first of all, we have to look at our own squad, which players we can decide can go on for next season and some players who don’t have prospects here, maybe we have to offload them. Maybe there will be some interest from other clubs. We have to take decisions in that period and that will be one of the most important things.”
Of course, that won’t necessarily only be achieved by sales, although Silva will no doubt want to assess our younger players, some I imagine will head out on loan for greater game time and experience to aid their development as we keep one eye on the future.
Changes to the transfer window from this season onwards also adds extra pressure to the plans of all clubs.
Whilst the message isn’t based in ambition, it’s certainly based in sense and with clear plans in place to turn us into a tighter, leaner group moving forward, fans certainly aren’t against that.
Go'ed Marcel lad.
— GrandOldTeam (@grandoldteam) June 7, 2018
I really like Marcel Brands, hoping he and Silva can bring the stability we need, as well as some decent football to watch
— Amanda Aston (@Amanda_Aston) June 7, 2018
Good luck to the new management team for they have a huge task ahead of them. Identifying suitable players and incorporating members of our existing squads is no easy task but they appear to have the necessary expertise.
— Roger Williams (@RogerWi33581994) June 7, 2018
loads of positive talk, I’ll be more impressed when the dead would is gone. so far so good though!
— Trevor P Malcolmson (@trevor_p_malco) June 7, 2018
Experience, leadership, must be so much he is doing behind the scenes that us fans don’t know about. Exciting times (potentially) ahead.
— G-Man (@GThorn84) June 7, 2018
Busy is an understatement, let the culling begin.
— Lil Yan (@md49vd) June 7, 2018