Rideout Excited By Silva's 'Attractive' Blues

Paul Rideout says he is excited about the “attractive and attacking” football employed by Everton manager Marco Silva.

Toffees FA Cup winner Rideout scored 40 goals in 140 appearances for the Club and admits he would relish the prospect of spearheading today’s formidable Blues frontline.

Brazilian forward Richarlison struck twice to crown a sparkling Everton debut at Wolverhampton Wanderers last week, when Silva’s side drew 2-2 but looked the likelier winners despite playing a large chunk of the contest with 10 men.

“I really like the way the manager plays,” Rideout told evertonfc.com. “He wants to play attractive, attacking football – but with a very clear idea of how to defend, too. I think his appointment is an exceptionally good move for the Club.

“If I was a striker in that Everton team, with that manager and the way he asks his side to play, I would be very excited.

“There have been a lot of changes at the Club during the summer but it is a fresh start and everyone is on the same page. I am really looking forward to watching them this season.”

Everton host another of Rideout’s former clubs in Southampton at Goodison Park on Saturday afternoon.

The meeting with Mark Hughes's side will represent Silva’s first competitive home match in charge of the Blues, with Richarlison, signed from Watford last month, potentially set to be unleashed on the south coast team following his double against Wolves.

The Blues added seven players in all ahead of the campaign, injecting a fresh cocktail of flair, creativity and steel into the squad which finished eighth in last season’s Premier League.


And while Rideout is keenly anticipating seeing Everton’s confident young talent in action – the seven new recruits' average age is 22.9 – he is equally enthused by the idea of an energised Cenk Tosun leading the Toffees' attack.

Turkey international striker Tosun joined from Besiktas in January and scored five goals in 12 top-flight starts in the second half of 2017-18.

The 27-year-old worked feverishly against newly-promoted Wolves seven days ago and drew a sharp save from goalkeeper Rui Patricio with an opportunistic curling shot.

Tosun’s strength and delicate touch played in Richarlison to score his and Everton’s second goal.

“It takes a period to adjust to a new league and country,” said Rideout, who spent three years in Italy with Bari in the mid-to-late ‘80s and had spells in China and USA at the back end of his career.

“Expectations were high when he came in and I think he handled those very well. He scored goals but showed he had more to his game as well.

“Now he has a new coach and new ideas, you have to adjust and it takes a little bit of time. I think he will do well.

“I am confident he will produce for Everton and achieve impressive stats – which are such a feature of the game these days.

“Richarlison is a young kid and it is a tough environment to come into. There would have been pressure on him to perform quickly and what a way to start.”


Rideout – who is the subject of a feature-length interview in this weekend's revamped Everton matchday programme – spent three years with Southampton after moving from Bari in 1988. He joined Everton four years later via Notts County and Rangers and scored the only goal of the 1995 FA Cup final when Joe Royle’s Toffees beat Manchester United.

Rideout left for China after four-and-a-half years and counts his time at Goodison Park as the pinnacle of his career. He lives with wife Carol in America today and works as a youth-team coach at Real Salt Lake Arizona. The former centre-forward, who also played for Aston Villa, Tranmere Rovers and Major League Soccer side Kansas City Wizards, raised sons Josh, Tyler and Ben as Evertonians.

And he confesses the Rideout clan are bullish about their team’s prospects for the forthcoming campaign.

“I am telling the kids I coach to watch what my club will do this season,” added Rideout. “I am really excited about it.

“They have made some very promising signings and I think they will do well.

“They have a great goalkeeper, too, in Jordan Pickford. There is a lot of youth in the team but also plenty of experience and players who have proved they can perform to a very high level in the Premier League.”