I think the only post Moyes season I’ve genuinely enjoyed was Martinez’s first season.
Our football this season is disgustingly boring though
Well said.
I pity Everton. We've lost all that gritty domestic + overseas mix, youthful + pro experience with a British manager, replaced by some misfits hauled together by 6+ managers. Directionless and lacking leadership on the field.
And we get beat by lower spending Villa, West Ham, Leicester, who run on precisely the values we've paid out to de-prioritise in at Goodison...
Martinez dined out on a team that had exactly those qualities embued by West Ham this season: organised effective defence and midfield, who may lack an out and out striker but show what team ethic means. You're bang on re Martinez - He grabbed Lukaku (fair play, about the only signing apart from Dolufeu to live in the memory) and bagged enough points to make CL in most other seasons certainly including this one. Perhaps unlucky then , but totally lacked the ability to maintain team ethics re: work and organisation.
Then the rot started, and you've nailed it.
I think to put character in the side you need senior domestic players out there. We don't have any save perhaps Coleman who I love but isn't a 'leader' as such, but is committed. I can't see who's coming through the ranks which is more worrying. When the sticky plasters of more cash than character drop off. we might be in trouble. Especially if Covid reduces crowd capacity long-term. See Blackburn, Newcastle etc for what can happen next.
Build, don't buy to fix the team long-term (including the manager). Potter, Dyche, Howe, Moyes, Rogers etc have achieved far more than Martinez, Silva, Koeman, Ancelotti when you consider cash they're working on. Why does Everton show so little belief in our own? It's loathsome.