We often think of Roberto Martinez as one of the most promising managers in the Premier League.
At the age of 42 he’s not even a teenager in gaffer years but has already achieved a great deal; he helped kick-start the revolution at Swansea City whilst they were still battling it out in League One, and claimed the first FA Cup in Wigan Athletic’s history with an incredible underdog win against Manchester City in 2013.
Yet, his tenure as Everton boss has been split by two polarised campaigns. During the first, the Toffees were praised for their adoption of a more aesthetic brand of football and finished fifth in the Premier League. Last season, however, that philosophy became dogmatic as Everton recorded their worst final standing, 11th place, in a decade.
Suddenly, the Spaniard doesn’t seem like the managerial-genius-in-waiting he was when appointed Goodison gaffer in summer 2013.
In fact, we at Football Fancast are starting to think he might be holding the club back. Here’s four reasons why.
TECHNICAL PHILOSOPHY FOR PHYSICAL PLAYERS
Of course, Roberto Martinez’ biggest selling point when first being appointed Everton boss two summers ago was his style of football; the aesthetic, technically-demanding and possession-based critically-acclaimed philosophy that had 2013 FA Cup winners Wigan Athletic performing far beyond their capabilities and also laid the foundations for the comfortably top-half house Swansea City are now built upon.
We knew there would be some significant differentiation from the more attritional David Moyes days. But two years on, have the Toffees really benefitted from playing what many would describe as a more ‘positive’ and ‘spectactor-friendly’ brand of football?
Their two league finishes under the Spaniard thus far, 5th during his debut season and a harrowing 11th last term, suggest not particularly. Moyes ended up in the bottom half just twice during his eleven full campaigns at the Goodison helm, whilst finishing 5th or higher on three occasions.
There’s certainly some weight to the argument that the club had stagnated under Moyes and needed to be taken in a different direction, but is their current path under Martinez necessarily the right one?
After all, their squad is still filled with predominantly physical players – the likes of power-runner Seamus Coleman and rugged skipper Phil Jagielka – and bizarrely, Martinez has only added to that cohort through 6 foot 3 striker Romelu Lukaku, battle-cruiser Gareth Barry and box-to-box enthusiast James McCarthy. Even loan signing Lacina Traore measured in at a monolithic 6 foot 7.
Of course, top end Premier League footballers are highly talented and highly adaptable. But there’s a concerning lack of coherence between philosophy and transfer policy, whilst idealism over pragmatism arguably isn’t getting the best out of a squad probably better suited to direct football.
Refusal to cash in on John Stones
I don’t expect everybody to agree with this one and there’s certainly something commendable about Roberto Martinez refusing to simply bow down to the wishes of a major Premier League club trying to whisk away the Goodison outfit’s brightest prospect.
Likewise, he’s correct in accusing Chelsea of tapping up priority target John Stones. They’ve been far too vocal about their interest in the media, even using England team-mates John Terry and Gary Cahill to try and convince the defender into a west London switch, and have resultantly broken quite a few FA rules regarding what you can and can’t say about players from other clubs.
Yet, there’s no question that the Premier League champions are offering a fair deal for the 21 year-old, their latest offer being worth £30million. Just to put that into perspective, Manchester United paid as much for Rio Ferdinand way back in 2002 when £30million was still a ludicrous amount of money.
Likewise, Stones’ career is by no means set in his material namesake. He may go on to become a world-class defender, but may also waste his talent and join the ever-expanding collection of England internationals who were hyped and peaked too earlier in their careers. He could also break his leg in training tomorrow, spend the next two years in the physio room and never be quite the same player again.
Whilst Everton fans will be very disappointed to see Stones leave without making even 50 league appearances for them, the fact of the matter is that the Toffees could replace him for not even a third of Chelsea’s bid – albeit with a perhaps less prodigious talent.
Other areas of the squad do require investment in my opinion; particularly goalkeeper and on the flanks; and should that money be spent wisely enough, it could propel Everton into the top four.
obsession with positional tinkering
As previously stated in this article, Premier League footballers are a highly talented, highly adaptable bunch – but Roberto Martinez seemed obsessed with taking that privilege to the extreme last season.
We all enjoy a good throwback to the ‘total football’ era but at one point last term, the Toffees had Leighton Baines – indisputably, the best left-back in the Premier League – playing in central midfield and 6 foot 3 striker Romelu Lukaku floundering around on the wing. Rather incredibly, in the same game – a 3-2 defeat to Newcastle.
Likewise, we saw poaching extraordinaire Samuel Eto operating as No.10 during his short stint at Goodison Park and Ross Barkley, easily the best attacking midfielder within the Everton squad, partnering Gareth Barry in deep midfield.
Some are perhaps reasonable tactical quirks to explore. Lukaku has proved useful on the wing from time to time – particularly in a 3-0 win over Arsenal the season previous – but others, such as Baines’ inclusion almost as an advanced playmaker, border upon mind-boggling.
One again, it’s evidence of Martinez’ idealistic theorising causing far more problems than it solves.
POOR RESULTS AGAINST TOP SIX
Roberto Martinez arrived at Everton on the back of beating Manchester City 1-0 with an excruciatingly ordinary Wigan Athletic side in the 2013 FA Cup final, but his performance against the top six since hasn’t lived up to that impressively high standard.
Indeed, from his 22 encounters with clubs who finished in the top six during his time as Goodison gaffer, the Spaniard has claimed only three wins and six draws, losing thirteen accordingly.
Perhaps that’s to be expected; the Toffees were hardly giant killers under David Moyes and we are talking about clubs that in comparison, boast almost infinite resources and finance to the Merseyside outfit.
But most worrying is Martinez’ record against Everton’s closest divisional rivals. They essentially compete in a mini-league with Liverpool and Spurs every year for an outside hope of Champions League qualification and better seeding in the Europa League.
Currently, however, the Everton boss is still waiting for his first league victory other either side; claiming just three points from his eight encounters with Spurs and Liverpool in the form of draws, whilst conceding 18 through the aforementioned ties and five defeats.
Despite being widely regarded as a shrewd tactician, the 42 year-old is yet to prove it in Everton’s most important fixtures.
