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On the difference between this season and last season: It’s been a combination of things. As a team we took a while to find a way of playing in the league. The big thing difference this season has been the expectations we’ve had earlier in the season. We couldn’t get those expectations into real momentum and enjoyment. The first four games in the league set the tone. Dropping 2 points at Leicester after going ahead in the 83rd minute, after the game we had a feeling of a defeat and there were 37 games left. It shows you we were so excited about the team we had got together. You can imagine, once we finished the season, it was a real feeling of can we keep the same team together?
The signings of Romelu Lukaku and Gareth Barry, all the players were getting excited. The first result, psychologically, hit us hard. Then we had the Arsenal performance, for 60 minutes we were at the same level that we were at in the previous season against them and all of a sudden we end up with a draw. You lose four points and we are playing catch up straight away. Psychologically we didn’t find enjoyment in the league, we found enjoyment in the Europa League and you saw a real contrast. Coming back from the World Cup effected us defensively, we came a little bit loose. There were hangovers from the World Cup. Especially Rom, he was a completely different player physically when he came back from the World Cup and it took him until January to really get going.
On the Europa League journey: I felt that we were one of the strongest teams in the competition.We had one bad night in Kiev and we were out of the competiton. Beating Wolfsburg, home and away, the performance against Lille at home…the whole European campaign was phonemenal. The Kiev game is the only bad performance that we had. We couldn’t cope with the atmosphere, with the knockout phase in that we had something to lose and there are things we need to improve and learn from. Other teams had a similar situation. Teams that I thought would go all the way…Napoli, Wolfsburg, Inter Milan, they had one bad night and they’re out. Others, Seville had a couple of bad results and games but they were able to turn it around and that’s what happens in cup competitions.
But it is true that we were the last British team in Europe, and I do think there are things in the British game that makes it very, very difficult, in comparison with other leagues, to be competitive in Europe. If you are 95% in the Premier League, you lose. In Spain I can tell you that at 60% you can still win. Sometimes that helps. You can make three, four changes and refresh it…you don’t have to manage the game after 50-60 minutes. In the Premier League you have to be at it every game. Now the other thing is Christmas. Every league, more or less, they stop. They have one week but they can switch off from the mental fatigue. The British game, this is when we play the most…it’s the busiest period. I do think that something needs to be done if you want to help British football get the reputation we deserve because I am listening to a lot of leagues saying what about the Premier League…the best league in the world and they can’t progress any further than semi-finals and there is that debate in European football.
On Everton being ‘found out’ this season: I think as a team we are very flexible. I know from the outside people will tell you that we are predictable and we’re easy to play against. I think that it is the opposite, we are flexible and can do things in a different way…I quite enjoy when teams want to press us high up the pitch and stop Gareth Barry because that opens up spaces and you can stretch teams. It is true that we have had a big tactical problem this season which has been not having replacements for Leon Osman and Steven Pienaar. We missed Steven Pienaar for 20 games in the league. It’s not that we couldn’t take advantage of the tactics of the opposition, but at that time we were missing a profile of player that was very important for that.
When you have got something special, and it works, sometimes you take it for granted. The combination of Leighton Baines and Steven Pienaar, is something we have took for granted. How good they are, and the understanding and chemistry that they have. Stevie Pienaar comes on at Swansea a few weeks ago and you realise what we have been missing. There is nobody else that can get that relationship. Leon Osman, because he’s such an experienced footballer, he’ll try to do it and he’s made a big difference. Probably that is what we need recruitment wise. Having someone else who can give you that. And that’s a number 10, that playmaker. We are missing someone who can get deeper, as deep as James McCarthy and Gareth Barry, but get into the box aswell and have a real effect on the final part of the pitch by scoring goals. We have a very, very exciting young player in the system that will be that but we need to give him a couple of years.
On having no ‘Plan B': It’s important that you have control over your own fate. We are a team that wants to be on the ball. We don’t want to be relying on 50/50 balls and putting long balls into the number 9 and seeing where that goes. We can be dynamic, we can hit teams on the counter like we did a couple of times this season. We are a flexibile team in that respect, and that’s down to to the intelligence of the players. I get frustrated that people do not see the variance in our play. That has been a battle I have faced since 1995 when I arrived to the UK. From kick off you are told to put it into the box so that you have a chance to score. Well if we haven’t got anyone there, how are we going to score?
You need to have control of the ball but it is true that when you don’t get the results you are going to have people question the style of play. Clearly you need to go a little bit deeper. If I’m honest with you this season, the only disappointment that I have is that we had 19 leads. Now the hardest thing in football is to get in front, the easiest thing in football is to keep a clean sheet and put 11 men behind the ball. Well, I don’t believe that you can win things by doing that.
The hardest thing is to find a way to break teams down and get into the lead. 19 leads, you should end up with 15/16 wins as an average. We ended up with a lot less than that, so we lost a lot of points. I’m looking at the performance against Crystal Palace at home, where for the first 30 minutes it was as good as we had played in 2 years. We lost that game. There are aspects that we need to get better and I do think that the last third of the season we have done that much better. Plan B and Plan C is knowing how to get better; that know-how of managing leads. If you haven’t got the talent as a team you do not get in front, unless you rely on a set-piece or a dead ball situation.
On selecting Alcaraz over Stones in Kiev: I see the players train, the way they work. Antolin Alcaraz played against Dinamo Kiev because he was man of the match against Newcastle at home. I know that, for whatever reason, there is a campaign against Antolin because he comes from Wigan, because he’s Paraguyan…I don’t know. If he plays well, he’s supposed to play well. If he plays bad, it’s his fault why the team lost. I’m a bit more neutral than that. John Stones at that team was going through a period as a young man…he got sent off against Young Boys and he had a couple of difficult moments and an injury as well. He was also ill in the week leading up to the game and wasn’t ready to be thrown into a game of that magnitude. When you make a decision, it’s not because you are flicking a coin to please the fans. Remember there’s a lot more work and the data we have which allows us to see fatigue and moments of form.
On dropping Joel Robles for Tim Howard: That was probably the hardest decision of the campaign. I have known Joel Robles for a long time now and I didn’t see what Joel could do playing for Everton until those three games (West Brom, Liverpool and Crystal Palace). Playing in goal for Everton is not an easy task and you need to fulfil that role before you can really perform. The reality is that in goal you cannot have that situation where the goalkeeper is thinking if I make a mistake someone else is going to take my place. Your number 1 has to have the confidence because the goalkeeper is the last man and you’re going to have moments when things are not bouncing your way and you can be unfortunate so you want positive people.
Tim Howard is our number 1 and Joel is our number 2….until that changes. At that moment, what I was very pleased with was that Joel showed to all the fans what he can do. After those first three clean sheets, we saw the Joel that I feel he can be. He made his position a lot stronger. I don’t think he lost confidence, it’s the opposite…it gave him a bigger appetite to push Tim until the end. But you cannot underestimate what we have in Tim Howard. I know that people can get tired of seeing the same face. It’s happened at Real Madrid. All of a sudden, Iker Casillas has been a bad player after winning everything. The level that Tim Howard has performed at in the second half of the season has been really impressive. I’m very happy to have Tim Howard and Joel going into next season, because I feel that both now are capable of being themselves in goal and I think last season Joel found it difficult and had to adapt.
On spending £28m again this summer on one player: We haven’t got £28m now! You’ll have to give me another 2 years! Unless Robert (Roberto turns to Robert Elstone at this point) has got it there! What excites me about next season is not the players that can come in but the players we have got. Players like John Stones, Ross Barkley, Romelu Lukaku, Seamus Coleman, James McCarthy. Now you look at the experienced ones like Leon Osman, Phil Jagielka, Leighton Baines…there is a real strong group of players that is there. Finances, we don’t need to look at the finances to be a good side.
We need to be very precise in what we want to bring in and attract the right player and personality. We’ll bring in the players we need with the mentality that we need at our football club. I’m delighted with the young players we have at the club and it’s making sure we bring in a centre half, a playmaker, a wide player and maybe another player to increase the numbers in the squad. We don’t need the numbers we had last season, being out of Europe we can reduce the squad size. We will be fine with an extra four players, it’s more making sure that we don’t lose any of the performers we have had this season. We don’t rely on knowing how much we have to spend. We’re not in a position where we have to sell assets in order to balance the books…but we need to make sure that the players in the squad want to play for Everton. If the player doesn’t want to play for your team, we’re not going to fight it. We don’t want them.
On Gareth Barry: Gareth Barry is such a reliable character that he brings more than what he does on the football. There are things that off the ball, he covers other players, he gives you a real composure and plays through lines and always wants the ball. The role that he has, only Darron Gibson could fulfil it. Darron has been out longer than we expected and Gareth has had to play more than I would have preferred. But the same way, he’s such a reliable footballer that what he gives you is a platform for the others to perform. The way that he sits around the centre halves, the way that he allows other teams to press him and open space for the other players is important for us. The role to the team he has is very important.
On signing another forward this summer: The truth is that I feel that Arouna Kone deserves the opportunity to show what he can do. He had such a horrendeous injury, I’ve seen many players retire from that. Arouna Kone has shown a couple of good moments, a few flashes, and you not have seen him be able to have the next step and that is match fitness. I’m sure that after a good pre-season, we will all see what Arouna Kone can do. If we can have Arouna Kone fully fit, Rom fully fit and desperate to progress, and we still have other players in the squad who can play that number 9 role, but I wouldn’t bring anyone else in for the sake of it in that position.
On ‘Martinez Out’ graffiti at Goodison: I felt good at that moment because I felt that it was a Howard Kendall moment! I’m hoping we win the league next season!
On the pressure of managing Everton, and the criticism this season: I want that pressure. I wouldn’t enjoy saying ‘we are Everton…we’re happy to finish top 10′. I’m here to try to win titles and achieve footballing dreams. I believe in that. I don’t think you need the finances that others have in order to achieve. It is true that the fans need to understand what I am trying to do. We need to have time in order to compete with the other teams. But the pressure needs to be there. Unless you have expecation and pressure you will never achieve. I’ll take the responsibility for the results, that’s the way it should work.
I understand the criticism, I know that when results aren’t there it’s going to turn that way. Deep down you get a little bit disappointed because you feel that we are a special football club and we are going to stick together and get through the adversity together and that helps us grow and achieve something special. It’s like a family, you don’t want to see people diverting and getting doubts, because it’s going to cost the team results. But I accept it because I understand how the game works and it’s my job then to bring the belief back to the fans and give them enough signs to see that the team will perform and be successful. It is a shame, you want to be together and get that support and understanding when things are not going well.
On Brendan Galloway/Luke Garbutt: I feel that Luke needs a bit of time to make his decision and I don’t think it’s right for us to put him in a position where has to perform to help us win games. It’s a good opportunity for a young man like Brendan Galloway who has had a terrific ten months with the U21’s. Brendan will play the next 30-40 games as a left back but after that he will play as a left-sided centre half.
On Gerard Deulofeu: I will always remember an image, I don’t know what game but one of the later ones, with Gerard on the ball running towards Gwladys…and the whole stand just stood up and thought something is going to happen here. I think that’s the type of player that he is, when he gets on the ball you think he can do something special. He fitted really well at our football club. I think his position with Barcelona, I don’t know what it is now but as you know they’ve got a ban and can’t sign any players. I don’t know if that’s something they will entertain.
I’m sure that in the summer we’ll find out a bit more. Gerard was a special character and a special fit and the talent that he has is what you want to pay your money on your ticket because he brings that magic and goalscoring threat. He’s an interesting player for us at all times but it may not be realistic for us at the moment.
On Samuel Eto’o: I was always very aware that Samuel would bring something straight away. He wasn’t a player that had to adapt, he was a player that was ready to perform. He played 20 games, he scored 4 goals…2 of those very important against Burnley to give us three points. The Samuel Eto’o signing was always in mind of giving us an impact of how to perform in Europe, away from home and having that experience and know-how. Bringing that worry into the opposition, and giving time for Arouna Kone to get fully fit.
We got into a position in December where Samuel felt that he should be playing every game, and then it was the best decision for everyone to allow him to go and find a solution. The role that Samuel had with us was very successful. All the young players learning mentally from him, remember at one point he was the best striker in world football. Even the way when Phil Jagielka scored at Anfield…Samuel was the one who didn’t allow the opposition to start the play quick enough. He had so much experience that we benefitted from. But the second half of the season I knew it was going to be a completely different situation and a different proposition.
On 20 years without a trophy:What it shows you is how difficult it is to win titles. At the start of the season you have six or seven clubs with the focus of spending as much as they can in order to win trophies so it’s not an easy task. But I do feel that as Everton we should be considered to win a title. Every competition next season is an opportunity to do well and that’s the way we are going to look at it. Going out the Europa League was a sobering experience. We were chasing the dream. We felt capable of winning the competition. It was a bad night in Kiev but even then when we scored I always felt we could get through. We were very unlucky, I do not feel that we deserved to go out of the competiton.
The second leg was something nobody could expect. We wanted to play the game normally and win the tie but I felt at times we were at a crossroads in wanting to keep a clean sheet. They scored two incredible goals, if they play another 1000 games they will never do it again. At 1-1 we enjoyed our best period in the game, and Kiev were really beginning to doubt themselves. We had a corner, we concede on the counter attack of the corner and 27 seconds later while Phil Jagielka is off the field getting treatment, they score. In 27 seconds, from attacking a corner, we concede two goals. It was one of those games that will never happen again, but I do feel that we haven’t been lucky once this season. Everything had to be perfect and we had to put so much effort. Sometimes you get a bit of luck and momemtum…we never had that. This season we didn’t get any. What we did in Europe, we were an outstanding team.
On thousands of Evertonians in Europe: Until you see it, you don’t realise how unique our away following is in our club. That feeling when you’re coming out onto the pitch and you feel proud because you’re looking around and saying ‘yeah, we’re Everton’ and the players feel that way. The new players coming in haven’t experienced it before. You feel on top of the world, and the performances showed that. The players are desperate to get back in Europe, I can tell you that.
