Roberto Martinez discussion

[Saint Domingo]

Neither of us have any expertise in organising a group of professional PL defenders how to defend, so maybe we should leave it to the manager...and the directors of the club, who also know more than the manager...apparently.

So you're quite happy to trust the manager with the poor defensive record to organise the defence but not the one with the decent defensive record? Where did I say I wanted to organise the defence? You really are slipping on here lately.

 

[Dexter]

I dont think so. Which teams at the time outside of Arsenal, United, Liverpool would the majority of those highlighted struggle to make the team in?

The ones they didn't get signed in

 

[Aar_the_Toffees]

...but we do also play on the counter. The possession/counter balance is ok. The defensive solidity isnt.

It's not that we can't do well defensively. That win against Southampton was a brilliant defensive performance and counter attacking to perfection.

People mention the idea of Galloway as Left back and Baines as a defensive minded left midfielder, thoughts on that?

I don't think it would work, and we still need a proper left winger or Mirallas to get more game time in that role.

 

[hullefc]

It's not that we can't do well defensively. That win against Southampton was a brilliant defensive performance and counter attacking to perfection.

People mention the idea of Galloway as Left back and Baines as a defensive minded left midfielder, thoughts on that?

I don't think it would work, and we still need a proper left winger or Mirallas to get more game time in that role.

I would go with 3 in the middle with Deulofeu Lukaku and Barkley up top. My preference would be McCarthy Barry Besic or Cleverley. But seeing that 2 are injured I would have besic and Barry and Barkley against Spurs with Deulofeu Lukaku and Mirallas up top.

 

[boris]

I don't think it's even the personnel myself, it's the roles there asked to do when we are defending.

 

[Saint Domingo]

vs Fulham 2-1 in 2002, starting eleven

Steve Simonsen
David Unsworth
David Weir
Alessandro Pistone
Alan Stubbs
Tony Hibbert
Lee Carsley
Scot Gemmill
Thomas Gravesen
Duncan Ferguson
Tomasz Radzinski

vs Norwich in 2013

• 24 Howard
• 03 Baines
• 06 Jagielka
• 15 Distin
• 23 Coleman
• 11 Mirallas (Naismith - 70' )
• 20 Barkley (Anichebe - 90' )
• 21 Osman
• 22 Pienaar
• 07 Jelavic (Kone - 81' )
• 25 Fellaini

Not just age, but quality.

You'll have someone along in a minute convincing you that the first group of players is better and that Aston Villa have a comparable squad to us now.

 

[davek]

It's not that we can't do well defensively. That win against Southampton was a brilliant defensive performance and counter attacking to perfection.

People mention the idea of Galloway as Left back and Baines as a defensive minded left midfielder, thoughts on that?

I don't think it would work, and we still need a proper left winger or Mirallas to get more game time in that role.

My thoughts on both FBs (whoever is in there) at the moment is to get closer to any opponent out wide swinging crosses in.

I think when you hit a bump in the season everyone and everything looks wrong. It's tough at the moment to keep a clear head and avoid demanding lots of change when probably only fractions are out in each performance at the back and central midfield, and only one player in particular is a common denominator in the downturn.

 

[steken1]

I think it's quite obvious to all what's going on. We need to see him address the issues quickly or his dogmatic stance will see a lot of the fans put him in the same bracket as Moyes. Albeit with a different brand of football.

 

[MikeH72]

I'm nowhere near as "anti-Martinez" as I was this time last year, however some of those worries still haven't been addressed. He still can't organise a defence, and he still persists with that absolutely useless biff in goal. People keep saying he's young and he'll learn, but he's been a Premier League manager for the best part of 7 years now. How much longer does he need to learn? And a manager of any age should be able to recognise and address the problems that are holding us back right now, they're glaringly obvious

 

[BernieWright13]

Simple really, he cares more about Martinez than he does Everton.

And almost as much as he does about his bewildering self-image as 'all-seeing' 'all-knowing' sage of Goodison Park

 

[Stan Lee Park]

Martinez just doesn't do defending. He didn't bother with it at Wigan and he's ignored it here so that he can concentrate on some eye-catching and highly effective attacking football.
Unfortunately, that is why we are in 11th place at the halfway stage of the season, with a potentially more difficult second half to come.

 

[boris]

with a potentially more difficult second half to come.

Totally irrelevant really but why is our second half of the season more difficult than anyone else's considering everyone has to play all 19 teams once more again??

 

[1966efc]

And almost as much as he does about his bewildering self-image as 'all-seeing' 'all-knowing' sage of Goodison Park

Try googling 'narcissistic personality disorder'. Tells you all you need to know about him & one or two others.

 

[Darth Vader]

I see us losing our next 2 against spurs and city just because of our inability to defend

We could find ourselves only 6 points off the bottom 3

How much pressure would he find himself under if that happened given the players we have

 

[Dymak]

Martinez has it far easier than Moyes did, he actually has a transfer budget and is operating within a far more level playing field. Arguing that having a substantial transfer budget in a more even league is a disadvantage for Martinez is a really, really poor excuse, right up there with whinging about having to play 50% of our games against top half clubs, who we have failed to win a single game against this season.