Roberto Martinez Discussion - Including Live Poll (Poll Reset 1st May)

[orly]

"We have been very strong away from home and the points we have achieved is outstanding'

4 wins from 12

Wow.

 

[Khalekan]

Kone is just bad and Osman is well past it. Del is fab, but why would you take off our best player in 3 straight games? Nonsensical.

Del had to come on........he was the best hope of a game changer we had on the bench.

IMO he should have been on at least fifteen minutes earlier.

Now, you might argue that Lennon should have been moved to the left, or Del pur into a more central role behind Rom leaving Lennon on the right but whatever, that game was crying out for Del's runs, clever passes and wickedly deceptive and accurate crosses.

Lennon played very well in the first half but he does not carve open a defence the way Del does.

Plus Rom looks much more dangerous when Del is feeding him from the right wing or through the centre.

I thought it was a good idea fetching Ossie on.....but again it should have been done ten or fifteen minutes earlier.

All those crosses bombarding the box were being gobbled up whole by four lampposts in the Baggies back line so a player like Ossie who could pick out a pass instead if hitting and hoping was needed.

Two DMs was an unnecessary luxury so sacrificing McCarthy was a no brainer.

Kone however......what the heck was Bobby thinking

 

[Khalekan]

We weren't creating. We took dozens of "hit and hope" shots, and only 6 out 34 were on target. WBA parked the bus and were happy for us to have the ball - look at the possession stats.

The huge, glaring error Martinez made today was leaving it too long to bring Del on.

This.

In fact I will go further.....the huge glaring error was in not having Del on from the getgo against a team which did as every bugger knew it would.....park the bus.

Lennon's industry and undoubted enthusiasm will only get you so far......Del's vision and ability to execute it could have hurt Baggies more.

I came away from the game thinking yes, we battered them and could have run up a cricket score as posts were rattled, goal lines were cleared and corners were won with last ditch tackles.

But I am darned if I can think of one clear cut opening where we played someone in to see the white of Foster's eyes.

I usually leave the ground after a game like that thinking it was "just one of those days".

But today I was quite angry when the whistle blew and the anger has turned to depression this evening.

We lose or draw far too many of this this type of game to just shrug it off as a bad day at Black Rock.

 

[Lee Smith]

Can Martinez be blamed for us having about 2764 shots and scoring no goals? Not really.

Can he be blamed for thinking the best way to break down a stubborn Pulis defence is to bring on Kone and Osman? While leaving Mirallas on the bench and keeping two CDMs on the field. Most definitely.

Glad to say I didn't 'knee jerk' to IN after 3 decent wins. OUT for me.

 

[ilikecheese]

This.

In fact I will go further.....the huge glaring error was in not having Del on from the getgo against a team which did as every bugger knew it would.....park the bus.

Lennon's industry and undoubted enthusiasm will only get you so far......Del's vision and ability to execute it could have hurt Baggies more.

I came away from the game thinking yes, we battered them and could have run up a cricket score as posts were rattled, goal lines were cleared and corners were won with last ditch tackles.

But I am darned if I can think of one clear cut opening where we played someone in to see the white of Foster's eyes.

I usually leave the ground after a game like that thinking it was "just one of those days".

But today I was quite angry when the whistle blew and the anger has turned to depression this evening.

We lose or draw far too many of this this type of game to just shrug it off as a bad day at Black Rock.

Lennon was MOTM though.

 

[Khalekan]

Lennon was MOTM though.

Indeed.

And I voted for him in the Poll.

But that doesn't alter the fact that we lost and that Gerald Deulofeu is a fellow whom will create more goal scoring chances than Aaron Lennon and that for all Aaron's good work today, he did not provide the kind of service for Rom that Del does.

By all means switch Lennon to the left......or keep him on the right and play Del in an inside forward position today.

We did not need Barry, McCarthy and The Clev against a team which we all knew would just sit back behind the ball.

But Deulofeu should have started that game today, IMO.

 

[kithnou]

Indeed.

And I voted for him in the Poll.

But that doesn't alter the fact that we lost and that Gerald Deulofeu is a fellow whom will create more goal scoring chances than Aaron Lennon and that for all Aaron's good work today, he did not provide the kind of service for Rom that Del does.

By all means switch Lennon to the left......or keep him on the right and play Del in an inside forward position today.

We did not need Barry, McCarthy and The Clev against a team which we all knew would just sit back behind the ball.

But Deulofeu should have started that game today, IMO.

+1. Those 3 offer little going forward and the last two are overrated for me. And then people complain there are no goals when you have Del and Kev on the bench. Only Lukaku and Ross to score or we are done for.
Rubbish management Roberto sorry. And I won't mention Kone again.

 

[LAToffee]

There's no trolling going on here mate. I'm just very disappointed in the management from Martinez these last 18 months.

We got it

 

[Cork Evertonian]

To misquote Davek those of you who voted Martinez in can still change you're mind.

 

[Blue Cheese]

We can all agree that this season is not good enough though? We can all agree last season wasn't good enough as well? We all agree that his first season was phenomenal too?

The balance of evidence lies with the 'plotters', at this moment in time surely? Facts and evidence are there for all to be seen.

At what point does the balance tip for the cult? Time to forget about 3 years ago and start looking at the here and now.

The here and now is woefully short of expectation and Martinez is a lucky fella that he has a patient board behind him but the balance of fans is swinging more and more against him.

He's shot his bolt, I don't think he will ever repeat his first season even though he has a stronger squad and the League is weaker, we have gone backwards. Fed up I am.

 

[Tubey]

You know what makes it worse?

I agree wholeheartedly with Martinez's philosophy. I agree that you should worry more about imposing your own will on a game than being reactive to the opposition, and that goals win games.

The tragedy is that while he has everything right in theory, he simply lacks the ability to make it happen on the pitch, because he is completely lacking in pragmatism.

Would have loved the get behind the guy and will him on to achieve what he wants to achieve, but I can't ignore what my own eyes see and what my brain tells me - he's not up to the job.

So close, yet so very far.

 

[davek]

Agenda, agenda, agenda.

We weren't creating. We took dozens of "hit and hope" shots, and only 6 out 34 were on target. WBA parked the bus and were happy for us to have the ball - look at the possession stats.

The huge, glaring error Martinez made today was leaving it too long to bring Del on, and not using Mirallas (arguably the best finisher at the club) at all when we desperately needed someone to run at defenders and draw fouls, and get some decent shots on target. Kone and Osman had no business getting on the field ahead of Del and Mirallas.

But I have come to the conclusion that you know all that, and deliberately state otherwise because you love a good WUMMING.

Anyone holding the lost souls to account for their illogical fuming is 'Wumming'.

Here's what happened yesterday: we got beat by a snide WBA team that got very lucky.
Here's what happened the previous two weeks: we beat three teams 3-0.

#FICKLE

 

[By god I'm blue]

Anyone holding the lost souls to account for their illogical fuming is 'Wumming'.

Here's what happened yesterday: we got beat by a snide WBA team that got very lucky.
Here's what happened the previous two weeks: we beat three teams 3-0.

#FICKLE

Lol

God forbid we should expect to win a couple of games every now and then! The fact that we make such a song and dance about it when we do, just goes to show exactly how low our expectations have now fallen under this bloke.

 

[Tree13]

Anyone holding the lost souls to account for their illogical fuming is 'Wumming'.

Here's what happened yesterday: we got beat by a snide WBA team that got very lucky.
Here's what happened the previous two weeks: we beat three teams 3-0.

#FICKLE

Only those who were hyperventilating over those three wins were calling "Martinez in". Those of us that have been basing our opinions on Martinez' entire body of work to date looked at this three results thought along the lines of "That's more like it - keep it up and maybe my opinion will start to change."

Here's what happened: Martinez didn't keep it up.
Here's what happened: We managed three decent wins against garbage teams
Here's what happened: We then faced a mid-table team with a tactically astute manager, and we lost. Again.

WBA weren't lucky in the true sense of the word; they played to their strengths and we failed to counter them, despite every single person on here knowing in advance how they would set up.

You are one of the lost souls @davek - those of us who have had enough of Martinez are trying to help you find your way back to the light.

 

[Caolam]

We seem to be a one trick pony under Martinez, we counter attack, if you don't come at us we don't have a clue how to break you down. Our results against the teams we should beat are poor. Lesser teams know if they sit back and soak up pressure we will pass the ball about in front of them and they always have a chance of nicking a goal. We need a No. 10 who can pick a pass.
Having the ball for 70 minutes in a game is now a meaningless statistic, if you can't hurt teams you can't win games.