The man singlehandedly destroyed the top 7 base of consistency that Moyes had created for us. In Moyes’ last two seasons he had to completely revamp the team from the depths of the 09 cruciate ligament crises and the subsequent sales of Arteta Lescott and Yakubu. He did this absolutely brilliantly bringing in Jelavic Naismith Mirallas Gibson Oviedo and Pienaar returning. He also started Barkley off and had just bought in Stones. In our last two seasons we finished ahead of Liverpool twice and would have been back in Europe if not for freak cup wins of Swansea and Wigan. The squad was full of strong experienced players like Jags Baines Coleman Heitinga Distin Fellaini Gibson Naismith Jelavic Osman Pienaar.
In the space of three seasons Martinez dismantled this with no logic whatsoever and left us with what I could only describe as a dads and lads squad of kids and geriatrics completely short of any kind of playmaking ability or pace. Creative talents such as Osman and Pienaar who had shone in Martinez’s first season were practically retired for the likes of Cleverley, Kone, Etoo, Deulofeu, Lennon or maybe any of Garbutt Besic Barkley Naismith Lukaku or whoever else he could shoehorn into a wide position (until relegation worries kicked in in 14/15 and he had to turn back to Osman to rescue us).
The football in 14/15 and 15/16 was some of the most turgid seen in the premier league by us (although Koeman showed we could sink even lower).
If Koeman well and truly cooked our Goose then Martinez went and prepared it for him. The two architects of our downfall. Two utter clowns who are a stain on the club. It is a testament to the work Moyes did at the club that neither of these fools were able to relegate us. That the likes of Osman Baines Coleman Jags Naismith kept the boat afloat at times when it looked as though we were going to completely capsize. That the academy Moyes developed chucked out a few decent kids to help us along through a few rough patches. That he gifted Stones and Barkley to Martinez.
If Roberto Martinez had walked through the door in 2002 instead of David Moyes we’d either be liquidated or in the conference now. The man is a snake oil salesman who could not manage his way out of a paper bag. He actually had the good fortune to stumble across a winning formula in 13/14: play my inept football in front of the solid defence I’ve been left, keep the scores level, then bring on the better players that I’ve benched to win the game. Yet was so stupid he then went and deviated from that in the two seasons after. Who can forget the two worst derby performances of our premier league history under him also.
No matter how bad things may seem at any point under Silva we are now leagues ahead of where we were in 14/15, 15/16, and 17/18.
