Things Martinez must to do save Everton’s season

There is much to admire about Roberto Martinez. The pride he has in managing this great football club. The hope and belief he gives you. The scintillating football on show under his guidance. The talented players he has signed. However - and it's a big however when you look at our current league position - he appears blind to one too many problems which could really cost him, but more importantly Everton, this season. Mistakes can be made but they should never be repeated. However, at Goodison Park and on our travels, the same errors appear to be made time after time after time. For me, he remains the man for the job but here's a rundown of what Bobby must do if he is to save our season... DROP TIM HOWARD. PLAY JOEL. MAKE PLANS TO BUY A NEW KEEPER. Tim Howard has come in for some hefty criticism for his displays this season and the general consensus from the fanbase is that he is no longer good enough to be the Everton No 1. However, while he still has some backers - though the number is dwindling with the defensive errors now rising game by game - the moment he was sarcastically cheered for catching the ball against Stoke was the moment which must now force Martinez to take action. Howard has lost the fans. From his bizarre star jumps to his failure to command his area to his indecisiveness - he has become a figure of ridicule. Sure, he might be great around the dressing room; a leader. Yes, you may trust him more than deputy Joel. But when the fans turn you have to take him out of the firing line. Whether supporters in the Gwladys Street were right or wrong to mock the American as frustrations continue to grow, persisting on starting a keeper with such a heavy burden of pressure now on his shoulders will not benefit the club or improve results in any way. While Howard will clearly sense the frustration in the crowd, what must Joel be thinking, too? The 25-year-old kept three clean sheets in his last three Premier League games and has performed well in the Capital One Cup. Give him a go! He deserves his chance. And another thing, even if Howard was the best keeper in the world, he's 37 in March. Plan for the future and make the change! PRACTICE SET-PIECES (PLEASE!) We can’t take them and we can’t defend them. It’s a problem that could be sorted on the training field but it is a problem which is instead neglected. According to Leon Osman – an excerpt of his book is doing the rounds on Twitter – Everton do not practice set-pieces. A moment in the game which can lead to a goal and we are choosing to abandon getting it right. Toffees assistant Graeme Jones apparently said: 'How many (set-pieces) do you have to defend in a game? Three? So why would we spend two hours standing around to defend three set-pieces when we could work on moving the ball?' The current thought process is seemingly ‘We’ll score more than you’. It’s not working. If we concede from a set-piece it is an uphill battle needing to score twice to get the three points. Those two hours need to be spent perfecting the art of defending a set-piece. The front men are moving the ball around just fine (we’ve scored more goals than leaders Arsenal), it’s at the back where things need to improve. TAKE ADVANTAGE OF CORNER KICKS The sight of the linesman pointing to the corner flag is enough to make 40,000 Toffees pull their hair out in frustration before the ball has even been kicked. We know what's coming! Deulofeu, Barkley, Mirallas. Take your pick, you'll get the same result. The arm gets raised as they look up into the box. They run to take it. They connect, the ball leaves the ground and... it gets headed away by the first man on the front post. Every. Single. Time. How?!?! Or, the other instance - we take it short and the ball ends up back at the feet of Howard in seconds rather than in the opposition box. Why Everton? Why?! A corner is a good opportunity to score. Make them count. DON’T WAIT TO REACT Too many times, when Everton are trailing it seems, does it take for the opposition manager to make a change before Martinez decides to spring into action and call one of his substitutes from the bench. Rather than taking the initiative and grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck, at home especially, the Everton boss appears too lax in hoping his starting XI can affect the game. Change it up. Don’t wait to concede because it’s often too late. LEARN WHEN TO SHUT UP SHOP Mo Besic is a tenacious midfielder who is more than happy to harass the opposition. Obsessed with breaking up attacks and not letting anybody past, he is the sort of player you must introduce when you have a vital lead to protect. However, after finally taking the lead and the score at the 3-2 with ten minutes to go against a dangerous Stoke side on Monday, Besic remained on the bench – Gibson was sat with him too - while attackers Deulofeu, Lukaku, Kone and Naismith (himself a second half sub who appeared before Everton’s third) stayed on the pitch. MIX IT UP Use Leighton Baines as a left midfielder? Use John Stones in that sweeper/anchor role? Push James McCarthy further up? Drop Ross Barkley into a deeper position? Just do something different. Make a change the opposition won't see coming. Everton have become far too predictable and have been for over 18 months now. GET NASTY Everton are too nice. They were too nice long before Martinez arrived on Merseyside but must get nasty if they are to challenge. Don’t cheat, of course, but the Blues must start to make their grievances heard. Stoke, ultimately, were awarded a penalty late on at Goodison after crowding the ref. Mark Clattenburg appeared to have his doubts over whether John Stones had fouled Marko Arnautovic in the area and was perhaps swayed by the sudden surge of Potters players who instantly surrounded him. Earlier on, Everton should have had a spot kick after Coleman was tripped. Did we make a big song and dance? Not really. Martinez needs to instil some nasty into this squad or we will forever remain on the wrong end of these costly decisions. USE THE SUCCESS OF THE 2013/14 CAMPAIGN Remember how Everton brushed teams aside with ease in Martinez's first season? We steamrollered whichever side was stupid enough to stand in our way. We were sensational. But what changed? Did teams work us out? Did we just stop playing at that same level? There was cohesion and balance during Martinez’s season. This year and last it’s been a case of square pegs, round holes. Kone aids Lukaku but he is not a left winger, don’t play him there. Neither is Steven Naismith and neither is Ross Barkley. It’s not fair on the players to take stick from fans when they are being forced away from their natural game. Play players in their right positions and buy players who can play in the positions in which we are lacking. Why just make do? FIX THE DEFENCE AND LEARN FROM MISTAKES Martinez's open, expansive football is a joy to watch but as a consequence his team's ship goals... and lots of them! During four seasons with Wigan, Martinez conceded 275 goals, that's just under 69 goals a campaign. Scandalous. The theme has continued with Everton - we conceded three against Bournemouth, three against Leicester, four against Stoke. You simply can't win football matches with such a vast number in the 'goals against' column but Martinez doesn't seem to acknowledge this. Bobby must find a happy medium between the attack flourishing and the defence doing its job. Scoring one goal and winning is better than scoring three but drawing. That's obvious but still nothing has been done to tighten up at the back. Employing a defensive coach or changing tactics - clearly something needs to be done.

Things Martinez must to do save Everton’s season

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