http://www.nsno.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=42107.0
1) What do you make of Roberto Martinez? will he be a success at Everton?
" Difficult to say whether he'll be a success. He has a bigger budget & a better squad but he also has far bigger expectations weighing on his shoulders. I think Everton are at the peak of what they can achieve without big financial backing so the only way is down in many respects. At Latics he had very little pressure from either the fans or the chairman & got a great deal of patience even during lengthy runs of defeats. He won't get that anywhere else BUT having more money & (on paper) a better squad may be the spur he needs to show his true potential. "
" I don't think Martinez will replicate the same success of Moyes at Everton. Moyes seems to me like the kind of guy who is always willing to change something if it isn't working, whereas Martinez will beat a dead horse for all it is worth. This rigidity will possibly mean that Everton have periods where his attractive play decimates other teams in the league with a more primitive playing style, but then other teams will be well prepared for his often predictable ethos of focussing all possession down one flank by passing sideways across the pitch, which is easily negated by the opposition playing a wider formation. Therefore, I think under Martinez you will have absolutely blinders and then the next week absolute shockers, but never the same consistency as a manager like Moyes who can prepare a defence for the inevitability of a counter-attack started by a poor pass, which Martinez was utterly hopeless at during his time here. "
" He’s an eloquent speaker but will tell you what you want to hear. He is adept at avoiding difficult questions. It’s far too early to say whether he’ll be a success at Everton but I doubt that he’ll do better than Moyes. He won the FA Cup with us but apart from that his cup runs were poor. "
" As a group, even on this site, we have very mixed opinions. Some members will wildly disagree with me, but my opinion of him isn't very good. Starting with the positives, he's a very nice bloke, total professional, and speaks well, so will be a superb ambassador for the club. He's committed to playing his idea of the beautiful game, so you'll see some beautiful attacking moves. On the down side, based on my experience, however, you'll see 87 minutes of sideways and backwards passing, interspersed with very poor defending. We weren't the best defensive team in terms of quality, but we did have some decent players, but Martínez's defensive coaching must be woeful. When things don't go to plan, you'll not see changes in tactics (or personnel until at least 80 minutes): there is no plan B. The attacking tempo is very slow and our breaks always relied on a single man, so often were stopped in their tracks. Your free kicks will be wasted with short passes when they could easily be put into the box; that's academic though since you'll rarely see more than 1 or 2 players in the box. "
" Success will depend on your own personal opinion. I can't see Martinez getting Everton Champions League as claimed by the man himself. Yes we won the FA Cup but he ripped that one great thing up, when he left us relegated and without a Manager. Just goes to show, modern humans are always Loyal to the £££££ notes and not the club as of old. "
2) What would you say was his biggest flaw?
" He's very stubborn. He has a very set way of thinking the game should be played & will often deviate from that regardless of the players he has at his disposal. I've heard a lot from Everton fans dismissing the volume of goals Latics conceded under him as being down purely to having lesser players. Some food for thought is that under Bruce, Latics had the 7th best defence in the division - with the exact same defence, within 3 & a half months of Bobby's reign they'd conceded more goals than during the whole of the previous season & that trend continued. "
" Martinez has many flaws . The biggest I would say is that he does not have a clue how to change a game if his plan A does not work.. He has no plan B and it is at times painful to watch . Don't forget this is the man that failed to strengthen the Wigan defence in the transfer window thus leading us to go down . "
" As has been said, defence. Over the four years he was here we conceded a lot of goals including some very embarrassing ones (see the Figueroa/Robles combination last season), being thumped 9-1, 8-0, 6-0, 4-0 by the top 4 wasn't great either, however it must be said that it was under Martinez that we have managed to beat these teams for the first time as well.
I don't believe that he doesn't have a plan b (we just didn't see it very often) as the 3-2 comeback wins over Arsenal and West Ham were some of the best games I've seen at the DW and included tactical changes. "
" The list is long, but for me it's the total absence of a plan B. you can go to the game and know after 15 minutes that the tactics simply aren't working. At that point, you despair because you know there'll be another 75 minutes of the same ineffectual tactics. Einstein put it thus: "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." If that's true, Señor Martínez is a bona fide loon. "
" His stubbornness. He will never ever have a plan b, always relying on the attractive passing style. You can bank on him never changing the players of his team whether you're 2-0 up and need to defend or 5-0 down and desperately in need of a change. "
3) What do you make of our transfer business this summer with the additions of Kone, Joel Robles, Alcaraz and Deulofeu joining the squad?
" Kone will be decent only because you have the players to supply him, Robles good up and coming goalie, a good replacement for Howard in the future. Alcaraz is a very good signing if he stays injury free, no idea about Deulofeu but don't expect him to play much as Martinez seems to pick up loan players and never really used them. "
" I think all of those players are good signings, although I have seen little of Deulofeu. Alcaraz is ridiculously underrated and one of the strongest defenders I have seen in a Wigan shirt. Kone is inconsistent and rough around the edges, but with the quality of Everton's midfield and wide players, with suppliers such as Osman, Pienaar, Baines etc, he will thrive, due to his strength and speed making him able to latch onto the quality passes and crosses they will deliver. Robles was so good for us it upsets me we didn't make more of an effort to sign him permanently. Within a few years he will be up there with the best keepers in the league. So, despite the obvious displeasure of Everton fans at his apparent over reliance on his former players I think he has strengthened the right areas, with a striker who will put them away and a centre half who can lead the defence especially if Martinez plays 3 / 5 at the back. "
" Koné was excellent last season, and if he can maintain that form, he'll do even better with service from Baines, Pienaar etc. Alcaraz is also superb and was our best defender by a mile when fit, but is injury prone. If he stays fit he'll be great for you. Robles commands his area well, organises his defence, and is a star in the making. Distribution and kicking are a thing of beauty at times. Like a lot of goalkeepers though (especially young ones) he seems prone to the occasional howler, but is otherwise great. I know nothing of Deulofeu... "
" In all honesty, whilst good players for Latics, I don't think that Kone, Alcaraz or Robles are the quality of signing that a club looking to push for a top 5/6 finish should be making. They're mid-table/upper bottom half quality. As for Deulofeu - don't expect to see sight nor sound of him. He loaned loads of "promising youngsters" whilst at Latics & hardly ever played any of them. "
" I'm not sure why people rate Robles so highly here - he's decent shot-stopper and probably good back up for Howard but it's the most. Not sure he has chosen the right league to play in and 5-year contract for me is a risk. He was cheap for you and it's great but I won't consider him as a great EPL keeper, even in the future. Alcaraz is a very underrated player - for me he was the best defender I ever seen in a Wigan shirt - he is outstanding and we would never win FA Cup without him. About Kone - I don't think we ever had such good natural born striker in the last 7-8 years. I feel sorry to lose these 2 guys but in all honesty they don't deserve to play in the Championship.
4) Where do you think Everton will finish? why?
" 12th. I think you will spend the first half of the season adapting to his style of play and the second half wondering where the defence has gone. You will win games though, you do have a better side than Wigan. "
" My guess would be 10th-12th. Moyes' stability was a very solid basis for the team, and is now gone. You'll probably wonder why you've gifted so many points when you could've been in the Champions league if you hadn't conceded so many silly, needless goals. "
"Around 12th to 8th because of the high quality of the team he has inherited. I think his stubbornness and the significant change in style will hinder your performances. If Martinez has learned anything from the mistakes he made at Wigan I would expect you to be back to European contention in a couple of years time."
" I think Everton will finish above mid table, your squad doesn't look to have changed much. I would say it depends on the future of Baines, and any more signings that come in. It also depends how much Martinez changes the style of play and how the players adapt to it, so I'd say 8th. "
" Mid-table. Season of transition. I think you're likely to lose Baines & Fellaini & I think it'll take time for their replacements to bed in & for the whole squad to adapt to Bobby's system. "
5) Was Roberto Martinez the best choice for Everton FC? if not, who was?
" I think the choice was, with all respect, a poor one. I think it was based on the false promises Roberto is good at making, and his way of advertising himself as a skilled manager who kept such a 'small' and 'weak' team In the league against the odds, and the way the pundits rave about him because of the attractiveness of his passing style counteracting the way it hinders a teams ability to win. "
" Wouldn't have been my first choice. I'd have made a play for someone experienced who could take the best of what Moyes built and fine tune, rather than reinventing the wheel (to a Barcelona style system that doesn't work unless you have talent like Messi, Iniesta, Xavi etc, When he knows he's not got much money by PL standards. "
" He’s capable of managing a budget so he was probably the best choice in this respect. However, he was not the best choice if you are aiming for a European place. I would have gone for Laudrup. "
" Time will tell. I think he got the job purely because he was seen as being able to do great things with little money. The problem is for all that his good points will be magnified at a more high profile club so will his flaws. "
" Everton's budget isn't as tight as Wigan's, though you appear to have quite a lot of debt hanging around. I like Bill Kenwright, he's a likeable bloke and loves Everton. Apparently so does Martinez now! lol. I did like the sound of Ralf Rangnick, he did a good job at both Hoffenheim where he transformed the club from a 3rd division minnow into a genuine solid Bundesliga side and at Schalke where he led the club to a Champions League Semi. Martinez C.V. will say he won us a Cup and you have to give him credit for that, but you also have to give him credit/blame for relegating us. He can't have one accolade without the other. But good luck. "
