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

[AndyC]

Agreed. He's generally OK from the start.

At least till the sixth minute when Arsenal carve us to pieces

 

[BlueToff]

So was it someone Martinez signed then? I doubt it.

If this was a team in an office then my money would be on:

Jagielka= kept as captain for last few seasons as knows the club and players and wouldnt look good to punt him or strip him of the captaincy inmediately. Not Martinez choice of captain and cant play our system at all...always left as the unmarked defender to pass the ba out of defence as the opposition cover Mori/Stones.

He'll be phased out this summer.


Baines = May have an existing injury but has not been good for 2 seasons now. At face value looks a good player but weak defensively and out of position for arsenals goal which is a common occurance these days. Lost his place to oviedo and perhaps someone who martinez didnt feel comfortable moving on when he first came to the club...

Weve already seen Oviedo take his place due to his superior defensive qualities.

Howard /Gibson / Osman / Pienaar = adios to the old moyes guard.

Hibbert staying on as a coach i believe.


Time to focus now on defensive signings...hes got every other position right.

It's a shame we haven't had the bit of guile that Pienaar gives us in games like the West Brom one, though

 

[BlueToff]

At least till the sixth minute when Arsenal carve us to pieces

I've got to say, I blame the players entirely for that goal. They were dreadful.

RM responsible overall but he can't be expected to legislate for that god awful defending from very experienced players - even though it was a decent move by Arsenal.

Baines, Jags and Mori were all really, really bad.

 

[DrEFC]

In fairness to RM I think he rarely gets his set-up wrong in terms of formation.

It's how he instructs the team to sit off - or does he tell them to press but they are not up to it?

Against Chelsea we pressed high and unsettled them and the players all played well. Against Arsenal we sat off and they played through us and the players all played badly.

It's RM's inability or refusal to adapt in a game that is the issue. His set up in terms of formation is often spot on. I don't think anybody would have disagreed with his team selection on Saturday, for example...

Understand but post match he never admits it

 

[Zatara]

Mutually assured destruction

Grass each other into the abyss

It's like Mourinho vs Terry without the collateral damage of winning a league title

Thats actually quite amusing...

 

[bluewally]

And how many goals have we conceded late on, or games drawn/lost in the second half...

The main issue with RM is his underlying refusal and/or inability to adapt during a game.

9 wins all season, mostly against relegation contenders and the systems ok?

 

[TheHumbleEgg]

Agreed. He's generally OK from the start.

Problem is that it doesn't count for much when an actual carrot could outmanage him during the game itself.

....that's another issue for me, I genuinely think the fitness level of the players leaves a LOT to be desired. There's been games when players have hit the 70 minute mark and been absolutely whammed. Recall seeing GERI some games ago, puffing like a lung-goosed Nan waiting on a Bingo shout...keeeernackered, utterly shot. He's a young man FFS...

And there goes 13 million beans on a player who we still deem 'not quite there' after how many weeks?

*unless, of course, he's utterly plop like.

 

[BlueToff]

9 wins all season, mostly against relegation contenders and the systems ok?

No.

From the start in games I don't think you can look at many of our team selections and say - given the players we had available either due to injury or form - that they were wrong (bar Howard).

When the team played well and won he stayed with the same team and there's nothing wrong with that.

His in-game tactics and adaptation is non-existent, though...

 

[Zatara]

I've got to say, I blame the players entirely for that goal. They were dreadful.

RM responsible overall but he can't be expected to legislate for that god awful defending from very experienced players - even though it was a decent move by Arsenal.

Baines, Jags and Mori were all really, really bad.

Just looking at the defence ONLY...

Coleman -- Frequently out of position
Jagielka - No leadership and has been saved by Mori
Mori -- If he cuts out basic errors our best defender
Stones - top notch but had a bad run of form
Baines -- See Coleman
Oviedo -- Ok all rounder

We looked more solid with Browning/Galloway at full back (obviously) and our game now isnt solely focused on attacking full backs...we need actual defenders who can pass the ball....we have Mori and Stones...

We need to improve here and make signings to fit the system.

 

[BlueToff]

....that's another issue for me, I genuinely think the fitness level of the players leaves a LOT to be desired. There's been games when players have hit the 70 minute mark and been absolutely whammed. Recall seeing GERI some games ago, puffing like a lung-goosed Nan waiting on a Bingo shout...keeeernackered, utterly shot. He's a young man FFS...

And there goes 13 million beans on a player who we still deem 'not quite there' after how many weeks?

*unless, of course, he's utterly plop like.

Del just isn't a player that is ever gonna have an engine. You don't see McCarthy or Besic or Cleverley running out of steam - they're just naturally fitter. It's often the case that wingers/forwards aren't as fit as other players.

 

[nsno-chris]

....that's another issue for me, I genuinely think the fitness level of the players leaves a LOT to be desired. There's been games when players have hit the 70 minute mark and been absolutely whammed. Recall seeing GERI some games ago, puffing like a lung-goosed Nan waiting on a Bingo shout...keeeernackered, utterly shot. He's a young man FFS...

And there goes 13 million beans on a player who we still deem 'not quite there' after how many weeks?

*unless, of course, he's utterly plop like.

Its a major issue; last year was unreal, this year is a light improvement as they can make it to 70 minuts instead of 60.

I remember reading an article last year and for the love of me I cannot find it anywhere. It was Bobby banging on about not pushing his players in preseason because match fitness comes naturally around christmas time, i've searched this internet thing but cannot find the god damn thing

 

[bluewally]

On a separate note what did Deloufeu do?

He went from Bobby raving about him and having our most assists to sitting on the bench behind kone, niasse, cleverly and even Mirallas in the pecking order

 

[BlueToff]

Its a major issue; last year was unreal, this year is a light improvement as they can make it to 70 minuts instead of 60.

I remember reading an article last year and for the love of me I cannot find it anywhere. It was Bobby banging on about not pushing his players in preseason because match fitness comes naturally around christmas time, i've searched this internet thing but cannot find the god damn thing

It was actually to do with the EL IIRC mate.

He said he didn't want to push them too hard in pre-season due to most players being at the World Cup, and then we had to build up our match sharpness slowly as we had three games a week.

He actually admitted he got it wrong at the end of last season and said that the pre-season wasn't good enough.

This year we haven't looked anywhere near as unfit as some are pointing out.

Certain players have - but the likes of Lennon, Barkley, McCarthy, Coleman etc have looked fine.

 

[Toast]

On a separate note what did Deloufeu do?

He went from Bobby raving about him and having our most assists to sitting on the bench behind kone, niasse, cleverly and even Mirallas in the pecking order

I've convinced myself we aren't using him, so he can't look dead boss and Barca take him back..

Can be only explanation.

 

[BlueToff]

On a separate note what did Deloufeu do?

He went from Bobby raving about him and having our most assists to sitting on the bench behind kone, niasse, cleverly and even Mirallas in the pecking order

He had a strop against City after missing that chance I think.

Remember Moyes never forgiving Beckford for that strop against Wolves.

Don't think it's the case though.

I just genuinely think RM brought Lennon in and Lennon proved he was worthy of the starting place and I don't see much wrong with that.

It worked as the results picked up but now they have dipped again so I'd be looking to get Del back in (along with Lennon).