Marco Silva suggests Yerry Mina did something ‘not normal’ on Saturday

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Everton defender Yerry Mina didn’t cover himself in glory against Manchester City.

Everton boss Marco Silva has told the Liverpool Echo that Yerry Mina’s decision to try and switch play against Manchester City was ‘not normal’.

The Toffees travelled to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon to try and inflict a first home defeat this season on Pep Guardiola’s side, but came up short in the end.

Gabriel Jesus hit a brace before Dominic Calvert-Lewin pulled one back for Everton, only for Raheem Sterling to restore City’s two-goal lead and seal a 3-1 victory.

Everton once again showed glimpses of their quality, but were ultimately made to pay for some costly errors, most notably Yerry Mina’s part in the opening goal of the game.

Jordan Pickford passed the ball out short to Mina, but with City cutting off his passing lane down the left, Mina attempted to switch play to the right, and hit it straight to Ilkay Gundogan, who set up Jesus to score.

Some blamed Pickford for not doing more direct to left wing back Lucas Digne, but Mina’s pass was indicative of his showing at the Etihad Stadium, which was unconvincing at best.

The Colombian has fared well so far since his August move from Barcelona, but his decision to try and switch play seemed bizarre, and put Everton on the back foot.

Now, boss Silva has suggested that Mina’s decision was ‘not normal’, as Everton’s setup isn’t to try and switch the ball to the other side of the pitch, urging all of his defenders to go forward or back to Pickford rather than sideways, admitting that the Colombian made a mistake but doesn’t want to completely blame him.

“Of course, we have a style and a way to play,” said Silva. “But what is not normal in our team even when they try to block us on the side – and not just Mina but for all of our defenders – is to try to put the ball in the other side. When a team-mate is open try to find them, if they block then the ball has to go forward or you can go to Jordan if there is no solution, clear the ball and it is something we had planned.”

“In that moment Mina knows what we have to do, he made a mistake but it is part of the game and I don’t want to put all the fault on him because it is not fair, I am here to take the responsibility for what happened in the game but it is a mistake,” he added.