Roberto Martinez discussion

[cronullasharks]

The commentator nailed it today - every time Everton slow the pace down and pass sideways and/or backwards, the opposition simply regain their position and we're easy to defend against.

That won't be news to absolutely anyone, but when you get commentators on US television pointing out the bleeding obvious yet our highly paid manager keeps doing the same damn thing week in week out then it tells its' own story.

We're not playing good football by holding possession in stupid areas and doing nothing with it in good areas - it's poor football as you aren't presenting a consistent danger to the opposition goal.

I badly want to be wrong about Martinez but I don't see any way that I am - we've been figured out by everyone in how we play and we're consistently one of the easiest teams to defend against and counter attack in the entire league. There's no X factor in what we do.

It's frustrating watching them go forward and get into decent areas on the pitch yet 2 passes later the balls back at jags and stones feet in our own half. I'd prefer them actually losing the ball attempting to create chances than the safety first hold on to it approach.

 

[Tilling]

Well, not really! He does the same thing every game and nine times out of ten it falls flat on its' arse. He did nothing new today as a manager - same old same old in that he kept two defensive midfielders on to the end, played one winger and threw on an emergency striker; all of which done after the golden rule of not changing anything before the 60 minute mark which he dare not break.

I was talking specifically in regards to Koné, if I'm honest. Difference between playing an emergency striker or maybe moving Mirallas or Barkley even further up the pitch and bringing on a hate figure.

I thought it was the obvious thing to do, I called for it at half time, Lukaku was crying out for someone up there with him for support.

I think we all could see that Lukaku needed support, but I sure as hell didn't think he'd bring Koné on after all the vitriol he's been getting, even in pre-season. Even Martinez has noticed it which is why I think there's a sudden change of mind over wanting to bring in a new striker. Ultimately it turned out to be the right choice.

 

[sageyefc]

Christ the crazies are out already suggesting rednkapp, most overrated gash manager there was, destroyed Pompey with his wheeler dealing, then had a few decent years with spurs who were carried by 2 of the best players in the league at the time in moddic and bale

 

[SpurtingLesbian]

I thought it was the obvious thing to do, I called for it at half time, Lukaku was crying out for someone up there with him for support.

it wasn't a question of support half the time it was him not attacking the box or having any understanding of how the rest of the team were trying to get the balls through to him. Rom just seemed at a loss for what to do even when the balls were getting into the box and there was support.

 

[Tubey]

It's frustrating watching them go forward and get into decent areas on the pitch yet 2 passes later the balls back at jags and stones feet in our own half. I'd prefer them actually losing the ball attempting to create chances than the safety first hold on to it approach.

We're just too flat all the time.

This is going to be nerdy as hell but just to illustrate what I mean...

That is how we basically went today - two deep defensive midfielders, which in theory means your full backs operate as wingers and your two wide attacking players cut in when the wing backs overlap to make a three in the box with the supporting attacking midfielder just outside the box.

That's all fine when it works, but you do all that at pace or its' easy to defend against as you stop the space out wide and they're forced to turn around and go sideways. That's the problem we've been having - everyone figured out Baines and Coleman and we don't have the imagination to come up with something else.

Baines was out today - so why didn't we try something like the below?

To explain that, you keep Galloway back as a normal left back, have Mirallas operate as a 'normal' winger on that side. Then on the right keep things the way we usually do - Coleman wing back, Cleverley cutting in.

Then you only need one defensive midfielder as the left side should always have cover as Galloway isn't bombing on as much, so you'd just play Barry deep, McCarthy as a box to box a bit further forward, Barkley drops a 5 yards deeper to link up and Lukaku plays on the shoulder of the last man, as the majority of your play should be through McCarthy/Barkley to feet or out wide with Mirallas/Coleman.

It'd just make it more asymmetrical and unpredictable. I'm not saying it'd work - I'm not a football manager obviously and I could be cluelessly wrong - but surely thinking something like that as a possibility at least would see us have a manager like the Martinez vs. Arsenal (where he moved Lukaku to the wing and we dominated) instead of the insipid version of Martinez who seems to have forgotten what to do.

 

[meagher94]

it wasn't a question of support half the time it was him not attacking the box or having any understanding of how the rest of the team were trying to get the balls through to him. Rom just seemed at a loss for what to do even when the balls were getting into the box and there was support.

I was talking more about the way he was having the ball lumped up to him and expected to hold it up even though that's clearly not his game. I do miss him attacking the ball more in the box though, I don't know what's happened to that explosive Lukaku we had on loan in 13/14.

 

[ijjysmith]

Oh @Tubey

What have you done?

 

[Aar_the_Toffees]

I was talking more about the way he was having the ball lumped up to him and expected to hold it up even though that's clearly not his game. I do miss him attacking the ball more in the box though, I don't know what's happened to that explosive Lukaku we had on loan in 13/14.

Miss that time. We loaned everybody and the rest of the league was fuming.

 

[The Equaliser]

Oh @Tubey

What have you done?

I think he's just made a pitch for the Everton manager's job.

 

[The Mighty Quint]

Martinez aint doing it, and Levy cut his nose when RedKnapp asked for more wage, he transformed Spurs into a top side and Pochettino is still struggling to get back to Arry's benchmark.

It is what it is, Redknapp is a good manager, stick it in your pipe and smoke it, it is what it is.

 

[DualityNSNO]

Martinez aint doing it, and Levy cut his nose when RedKnapp asked for more wage, he transformed Spurs into a top side and Pochettino is still struggling to get back to Arry's benchmark.

It is what it is, Redknapp is a good manager, stick it in your pipe and smoke it, it is what it is.

He's also a wheeler dealer and leaves clubs in shambles when he leaves them every single time, especially money-wise. To add to that - he'll 100% resign when things stop going his way, claiming one reason or another.

And to add to those - he's now old and poo at his own job ffs.

 

[Aar_the_Toffees]

Martinez aint doing it, and Levy cut his nose when RedKnapp asked for more wage, he transformed Spurs into a top side and Pochettino is still struggling to get back to Arry's benchmark.

It is what it is, Redknapp is a good manager, stick it in your pipe and smoke it, it is what it is.

Do you seriously think he'll have that much money to spend over here? And FFS it's one game-due to the conditioning of the squad not the manager! His tactics were proven right in the second half. The first half we were too slow not his fault.

 

[The Equaliser]

Harry Redknapp working for Bill Kenwright.

Can you just imagine it ? PMSL.

LOL x a million.

 

[ijjysmith]

Martinez aint doing it, and Levy cut his nose when RedKnapp asked for more wage, he transformed Spurs into a top side and Pochettino is still struggling to get back to Arry's benchmark.

It is what it is, Redknapp is a good manager, stick it in your pipe and smoke it, it is what it is.

A really terrible idea?

 

[toffeejack]

Martinez aint doing it, and Levy cut his nose when RedKnapp asked for more wage, he transformed Spurs into a top side and Pochettino is still struggling to get back to Arry's benchmark.

It is what it is, Redknapp is a good manager, stick it in your pipe and smoke it, it is what it is.

redknapp is atrocious. we'd get relegated within a couple of years after he left if he came here. he's the most short term thinking manager i've ever known. can't work at a club without being given lots of money - despite his wheeler dealer tag. he'd buy short-term signings which would probably improve us for 6 months and then after that's it'd be all downhill. we can't do something like that with our current board.