Everton boss Roberto Martinez has rallied his troops ahead of a festive period which will naturally be absolutely crucial as well as hectic. Clubs and down the table could have their seasons defined by the events of the upcoming four to six weeks, and Martinez is all to wary of the dangers of poor performances.
Taken from The Guardian, Martinez stated:
“Our team needs support now and we need to help the players as a football club.”
“It’s a period in which, if we become a better team, we will get the benefits.”
The Toffees were two goals up against Bournemouth recently – but were forced to accept just one point as Bournemouth equalised not once, but twice – the second of those leveling goals being scored seven minutes into stoppage time by Junior Stanislas, after Ross Barkley thought he’d won the game in the 95th minute.
That draw against a newly-promoted side was followed up with another, as Everton failed to take three points away from last weekend’s game against a rather poor Norwich City. Martinez said of that game:
“The way we performed in the first half at Norwich is as dominant a performance as you’re going to see from an away side so you can understand that reaction [boos from fans],” “The overall picture is we should’ve got an extra six points because we’ve been so consistent over the three games. But you don’t get that sort of consistency unless you’re a team that’s expected to win the league so I think we have to be a little bit more understanding, our team needs support now and we need to help the players as a football club.”
Currently twelve points off first-placed Leicester City in the Premier League, Everton host the Foxes on Saturday in the pick of the weekend’s fixtures in the top flight, with it effectively being worth six points to Martinez and his Toffees:
“The next eight weeks are vital for us. It’s about how good we can become in this period. It’s not about how many points we can get, it’s about how good we can be as a team, what sort of understanding the young players can get of how to manage scorelines and how to manage certain moments of the game.”
The Spanish manager has already identified where his side need to improve, too:
“We have conceded too many goals from dead-ball areas and have to look at how we can be better,” “I have always felt defending a box is a mentality. Throughout history, you always get good examples of very small defenders who can get in the way of tall attackers. Chile are one of the shortest teams in world football but defend with confidence. Barcelona are not the tallest but have found a way to cope with teams that are physically stronger. We are in the same type of process. We are a creative team and we always want to get on the ball and break teams down.”
Whilst the boys turning out at Goodison Park may not be up to matching Barcelona’s treble-winning antics of last season just yet, there have been some signs of utter brilliance.
Romelu Lukaku has scored in six games in a row now and is halfway to beating Jamie Vardy’s record. A major catalyst for that has been ex-Barcelona man, Gerard Deulofeu, who re-joined the Toffees at the start of this season and has magic flowing through his boots at the moment.
Martinez will be hopeful that the pair can link up again this weekend to find a way through Leicester’s stubborn camaraderie on the pitch.
