Roberto Martinez cut a frustrated figure on the touchline yesterday, as the Blues slumped to a third home defeat of the season at the hands of Leicester City. Had the Blues been outplayed by the surprise league leaders? Hardly. Once again, for what feels like the umpteenth week running, the Toffees’ soft centre cost them valuable points.
After a solid if not spectacular start to the season and some tough fixtures; this current run of games was identified as a period where Everton could really pick up a head of steam and land a large haul of points. But the reality has been somewhat different, and the statistics don’t make pleasant reading, particularly for the manager.
Fixtures against Bournemouth, Palace, Norwich and Leicester have yielded just 3 points, amid tales of thrown away leads, missed chances and set piece frailties; it’s simply not good enough.
The bigger picture is also worrying. Just 16 wins from the last 51 games is nothing short of atrocious.
The last four games in particular have highlighted specific problems which have plagued Martinez’s time in the Everton dugout, and if anything seem to be becoming more frequent.
From open play, there’s few teams better than Everton at the moment. 31 goals scored from open play is an impressive feat. From set pieces though, this team are one of, if not the worst in the division, both offensively and defensively.
It’s been well documented that Martinez and his staff rarely practice set-piece routines. To an extent you can understand; it’s absolutely correct not to be reliant on set-pieces to score goals. But there has to be a compromise, as whether the Spaniard likes it or not; they are a fundamental part of the game of football.
We had 10 corners against Leicester, and I don’t think even one of them caused any sort of discomfort to their keeper.
Compare that to anything coming into our box from a corner, and it’s panic stations, stemming from a goalkeeper who appears to have no interest commanding his area. This uncertainty means we’re essentially relying on the roll of a dice as to whether we concede or not. Until this is addressed, we will continue to concede from set-pieces, meaning we’ll need to be scoring 2 and 3 at least to win games week in, week out. It’s naivety in the extreme to disregard this fundamental flaw.
Although some appear to have lost patience with him, I myself am not advocating sacking the manager. I think he deserves until the end of the season at the very least to sort things out. There’s still plenty of points to play for as well as two cup competitions. It’s clear he is building something, especially around the likes of Lukaku, Barkley, Deulofeu and Stones. If you sack Martinez, you run the very real risk of losing these players as well. Some of the football we play is on a different planet to anything witnessed under Moyes.
But you can’t keep defending him forever, and this promising group of players will never fulfil their potential if certain issues continue to be ignored. It’s up to Roberto now to show he is adaptable and address the problems that continue to hamper his team. His job may depend on it.
