As the Portuguese press continue their big coverage of English clubs who have Portuguese managers, it was time for Watford to get a big story from O Jogo today.
The newspaper interviewed the Hornets’ goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, one of the nicest footballers around. But even though the 36-year-old normally has a lot to say about his career in England and the Premier League, most of the questions ended up being about manager Marco Silva.
Everton’s recent attempts to get Silva from Watford were covered repeatedly in Portugal, where there’s a clear pride when Portuguese managers do well.
O Jogo first asked Gomes if the way Marco Silva works has surprised him: “It surprised me a lot! He is a manager who, despite being very young, has the respect of all. He knows how to get the best of the players, to respect and be respected, besides all the quality he has as a manager.”
“The work he does before the game, the analysis of the opponent… It surprised me positively, although we already had some information about him before his arrival, for what he did at Hull. He’s a professional of high quality.”
“I’ve been in England for many years and I’ve never had a manager who was as close to the players as Marco is. Sometimes we need someone to come to us and ask us how we are, if everything is okay with our lives… He always has the door open. He thinks a lot about that kind of detail. He has the distance as a manager for the respect he imposes, but as a human being he is always very close to the players.”
On what the manager asked the squad at the start of the season, Gomes said: “In the two seasons prior to Marco’s arrival, we also started well, but we were not consistent. We could not ride the whole season. The ambition of the club to bring Marco was with the prospect of broadening our horizons. He didn’t tell us: ‘we will stay in the first half of the table, in eighth place’… He asked us to commit to work and with the club, thinking game by game.”
Gomes’ most interesting quote, which even made it to the story’s headline, was when he was asked about Everton’s attempts to take Marco Silva from Watford.
Everton made repeated attempts to take Silva to Goodison Park as their manager, before instead appointing Sam Allardyce.
“These are more personal matters, which relate to Marco, but of course it was important for him to continue with us. He showed that he wants to stay at Watford and finish at least this season. I hope he stays with us for a long time, but I have no doubt he’s a first-rate manager. With all due respect for Everton, I think he’s a manager for much more than Everton. No doubt.”
