My previous concern was we had signed the Portuguese version of Connor Wickham, meaning a big kid for his age groups who had excelled goal scoring wise as a result of that.
Improved performances aside Silva now needs to start adding goals. The first step is that he has played well enough he looks the backup now.
He had a pretty decent goals/assists:minutes last year I think? Despite frequently looking like he was a long way off in some aspects of the game he was getting into decent positions and had a fair number of chances.
This season he's certainly got more to grips with the physicality of what now faces him. He looks a bit broader but I think it's more in the way he carries himself and how he uses his body now, he's up for the challenge now and isn't shrugged out of the way like previously.
Perhaps his ability to better compete in other areas is drawing him away from the other parts that he previously concentrated on? Last year he maybe didn't bother with so many duels looking instead to find spaces but now he's doing more good work elsewhere that takes him away from the more threatening positions he's been able to loiter in before.
It's not like he's gone full Kevin Doyle corner flag magnet though anyway, yesterday he still got a shot after nicking it off Mings, the rebound before the first goal, nearly on the end of a cut back from Trincao and the late effort from the edge of the box.
