• Manager says team should motivate themselves to be better • Everton have lost six out of last nine Premier League games

Marco Silva has claimed Everton’s players are failing to motivate themselves consistently and the resulting pressure on his position as manager is understandable.

Everton suffered a sixth defeat in nine Premier League matches on Saturday when they were comfortably beaten 3-1 by Wolves, who recorded a first win at Goodison Park in 40 years with goals from João Moutinho, Raúl Jiménez and Leander Dendoncker. Silva’s side were abject, conceding from a free-kick for the fourth time in a week and failing to match their visitors in all departments. The lack of fight and character in the team was again glaring and invited criticism of Silva’s motivational skills, although the manager insists that is a player’s responsibility.

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“For me, motivation is like obligation,” said Silva, Everton’s third permanent managerial appointment in three years under the majority shareholder, Farhad Moshiri. “When you are professional and working in a club like Everton, the obligation is to be motivated, to be focused. You can perform well and you can have a fantastic afternoon, and everything comes good to you. But if not then the players are on the pitch and they have to solve the problem in that moment with our plan. So when you are talking to me about ambition or motivation or focus, then to me that is the obligation of the player.

“When you come one Sunday with it all and then the next Saturday it’s not there any more then to me that is where the obligation is: you have to be consistent. And I agree, we are not being consistent during this season. We are paying a lot because of that.”

Silva accepted the focus will inevitably fall on him given the inconsistency. He added: “Of course, of course I understand that. I am not here to find excuses or whine about something; of course I understand there will be questions about me. When everything goes well they say good things about the manager and when something is wrong it is normal as well that the manager gets pressure. It is a normal question when you have this type of job. For me it is something that you know happens, to be honest with you.”

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However, he refused to be drawn on whether he fears becoming the latest manager to lose his job after a brief spell at Everton. “For me the most important thing is what you can do as a player and a team, not to talk about individual things,” he said. “It is not the way to change things and not the way you can change the situation.

“My job is to show them clearly what they are doing, and what they are doing wrong on the pitch. To help them know why and understand why, even if you prepare and understand the plan, why you are doing always the same mistakes.”

Contrary to his calm public demeanour, Silva insisted Everton’s players are acutely aware of his anger at their dreadful run of form. He explained: “I am not here to be nice. If the truth is needed, if I have to blame I will do that, because they have to listen to the truth. Because I didn’t like this performance in some moments – more because at important moments we made mistakes, then they have to listen.

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“They have seen me many, many times this season angry with them. I am here calm after the match with the media but of course I am not the same in the dressing room. Sometimes I am happy, other moments not so happy but they have to understand because even after the third goal came after one more mistake we have to react in a different way. Our reaction wasn’t what you would expect – there was no reaction that moment, and it is up to us to do something different. Even if you are not performing at your best you still have to put the other things [effort and commitment] into it.”