Former Everton and England defender Martin Keown believes Everton can majorly improve on last season, but only if Roberto Martinez can get the best out of Ross Barkley and unsettled Kevin Mirallas.
The Toffees ended the season 11th with 46 points last season, a huge contrast to 2013-14, when the team finished 5th with 72 points.
Keown does believe however, that with key players such as Barkley and Mirallas, the Goodison faithful will witness better this term.
“Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley are two players who really excite me,” Keown told the Premier League’s Official Site.
“I think it’s a case of, can Martinez get both of those players on the pitch at the same time and try and develop a system that incorporates both of them? Because when they run at people they are game winners.”
“When Martinez arrived in his first season he brought a wave of optimism. There was a sense of freedom about the way that Everton played and the loan signings he brought in, Romelu Lukaku in particular, and the whole thing really took off for them.
“But in the second season when some of those players came in full time, it somehow brought an extra pressure to live up to that again.”
The former Arsenal man also hailed the signings of Gerard Deulofeu and Tom Cleverley, who he feels are sure to add competition in the midfield positions.
“Deulofeu is a real box of tricks, full of pace,” he said. “He looks like a good acquisition. When Martinez believes in a player he seems to go after him in the same way he did Lukaku. Cleverley’s an interesting one. A big signing for Everton but a lot to prove for him just to get into the team; there’s going to be a lot of competition there.”
“I feel certain that he will find the right system due to the quality in that team, maybe go a little bit more direct to Lukaku and not pass the ball quite so much. If they get that balance right they could be causing a few upsets this season and be trying to break into that top four. And what he does in pre-season gives him an early indication of that.”
