Silva Pinpoints Key Improvement Needed By Everton

Marco Silva says Everton must get back to becoming the resolute team that made them a defensive force after Sunday's 3-1 loss at Bournemouth.

The Blues were undone on the south coast following what Silva described as costly errors at the Vitality Stadium. Callum Wilson put the hosts in front on 23 minutes from a corner before Dominic Calvert-Lewin headed Everton level shortly before half-time.

Despite dominating the opening stages after the break, Bournemouth regained the lead when substitute Ryan Fraser scored straight from a low free-kick, and the Cherries added a third on 72 minutes as Callum Wilson chased a long ball and finished past Jordan Pickford.

Silva was unhappy with the way the Blues conceded and insists his side have to return to the dogged outfit that produced 10 clean sheets in 13 Premier League matches before 23 August.

"It's a disappointing result, of course. We didn’t deserve more after the mistakes," admitted Silva. "We conceded the three goals so easy. I don’t want to take away the credit from Bournemouth but it was our fault. We had good offensive moments in the game but the way we conceded the goals made a big impact.

"We reacted well to their first goal. We started the second half doing what we planned, creating dangerous chances around their box but then they scored from one mistake from a set piece and were clinical.

"We have to become again that solid team that we were towards the end of last season and at the start of the season when we had 10 clean sheets in 13 games. We created chances and should have scored more but when you defend like that you are not going to win the game.

"It was a lack of focus. We addressed these type of moments last season. We were solid at the start of this season and we need to be more solid again. It’s something we must address as fast as we can. We’ve been a solid team before and I don’t see any reasons why we can’t be again.

"Last season we improved our away form from the season before but we want to do better than that. We created problems for them, created spaces but conceding goals like that makes you lose confidence."

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01:55 Sun 15 Sep 2019

CALVERT-LEWIN'S BELIEF ON BLUES AWAY FORM

Striker on target but frustrated by Bournemouth loss.

Calvert-Lewin was chosen to lead Everton's attack and grabbed the leveller when he rose high to meet Richarlison's right-wing cross and plant a header past Aaron Ramsdale.

Silva was pleased to see the England Under-21 international get off the mark for the season and hopes he can gain confidence from the goal.

"We have three strikers, all of them need goals for confidence," added the Everton manager.

"It was important for Dominic to score. I decided to use fresh legs when I made the change to bring him off with Moise [Kean] and Bernard coming on but he did good things."