Has Martinez got it wrong?

[Lowensda]

Style of play.

Tactics (pre-games).

Attitude after losing (media focused).

Transfer dealings.

Use of 'squad'.

Persistence in playing players out of form.

 

Discuss any or all.

 

I have quips about all of them.

 

Other fans' thoughts?

[markjazzbassist]

We're 14 games in to year 2, way way too early to tell. Some might say we need to win now, we just won our group in Europa, we're playing our best football there. We did well in the league last year so we know we can, this year is more about Europe. Next year or year 4 can be about winning the treble, let's be realistic for now.

 

I think it's more the personnel than the tactics. Arsenal plays the same way, they do fine each year, but they have tons of creative midfielders and quality. We have pienaar, mcgeady, and Osman. We have the framework of a great team, stones, browning, garbutt, Coleman, Oviedo, McCarthy, besic, barkley, mirallas, lukaku, naisy. We just need to fill the gaps with better personnel and replace the aging Moyes personnel. I think as the team grows and new parts are added old ones subtracted and RM gets the team he wants playing and buying fully in to the system he coaches we will see more consistency. Till then there will be hiccups and disasters. I'm backing the man.

 

Give the gaffer some time to see his vision through, Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was barca or arsenal or other tiki taka sides. Look at Dortmund, they have tons and tons of quality, sometimes good sides just have a bad year.

[Sibdane]

"Use of squad" and "playing players out of form" stick out to me"

[duncanmckenzieismagic]

I wouldn't say Martinez has got it wrong but he does need to have a plan B. We are far too easy to defend against

 

Teams in the Premiership rumbled us a long time ago and just press us high up the pitch and we don't seem to know how to deal with that. We get away with it in Europe because we are still an unknown quantity but it wont take long before we come up against a side that does their homework

 

Until we can learn to mix it up a bit we are never going to progress. I think our position in the table is about right we are a mid table side

[Guest millwallforever]

What we need is a grand PURGE. I wanna see heads roll. 9 league goals we have conceded owing to basic errors such as atrocious goalkeeping and giving the ball away to easily.

 

How many times have you heard Howard apologise for his shitty goalkeeping? Never! This gorilla deems himself beyond reproach. I don't ever wanna see his face again. INSTANT REPATRIATION!

 

And is Pienaar in the kindergarten? Do you have to give him a lollipop, pat on the back, and tell him, 'listen son, this game is too dangerous for you!'? As a professional, he should be the first to concede that he is no longer good enough for this level.

Edited December 4, 2014 by millwallforever

[Romey 1878]

It's almost like he's caught the fear with expectations raised after him doing so well last season. He's like a completely different manager. His substitutions are a reflection of that for me. Just look at last night - fair enough if he says Mirallas is still carrying a knock and can't go past an hour, but why replace an energetic player with a snail like Pienaar when we were already struggling for energy as it was? Because Pienaar was the safe option, that's why. Why did Osman stay on? Because he's safe (except when he's losing the ball in the middle of the park, of course!). Why was it Besic that went off despite being our best player and Barry stayed on? Because Barry is the safer option and clearly a favourite.

 

Martinez is displaying a lot of the same characteristics that used to drive me mad with Moyes - playing players out of position just to fit them in the side, continually playing players when they're in terrible form, playing favourites, being a stubborn shit.

 

I could go on, but suffice to say, Martinez is getting on my tits. I'm not for a second saying I want him sacked, because I don't, but he is deserving of a lot of criticism.

[Guest millwallforever]

A lot comes down to leadership style. Some years ago a Derby player failed to perform. Nigel Clough openly stated that the player in question 'could go back to wherever he came from.' As for his dad: 'if you had been a horse, I would have had you shot.'

 

Ruthlessness like that does not always work. Louis van Gaal is known to be dictatorial, but that approach did not work for him in Spain and Germany in the long run: the players eventually turned against him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's almost like he's caught the fear with expectations raised after him doing so well last season. He's like a completely different manager. His substitutions are a reflection of that for me. Just look at last night - fair enough if he says Mirallas is still carrying a knock and can't go past an hour, but why replace an energetic player with a snail like Pienaar when we were already struggling for energy as it was? Because Pienaar was the safe option, that's why. Why did Osman stay on? Because he's safe (except when he's losing the ball in the middle of the park, of course!). Why was it Besic that went off despite being our best player and Barry stayed on? Because Barry is the safer option and clearly a favourite.

 

Martinez is displaying a lot of the same characteristics that used to drive me mad with Moyes - playing players out of position just to fit them in the side, continually playing players when they're in terrible form, playing favourites, being a stubborn shit.

 

I could go on, but suffice to say, Martinez is getting on my tits. I'm not for a second saying I want him sacked, because I don't, but he is deserving of a lot of criticism.

Edited December 4, 2014 by millwallforever

[Hafnia]

All in all it requires a "complete mix" of attributes.

 

I talk about Lukaku needing to be more rounded and it is the same for Martinez. Football is all about analysis these days, if there is a weakness the other team will focus on it.

 

Its no good being a ball over the top striker and not be able to hold it up - just like its no good being a "possession focussed team" if thats all you are going to do as the opponents will press your defenders knowing full well that Roberto does not like his team to go long.

 

Once last night we looked good getting the ball out of defence by "passing it" - right at the end of the first half with nice play from Besic, Mirallas and Lukaku I think. Ultimately its high risk and for what??? We could have lost the ball and been caught with a sucker punch like we did against Spurs.

 

I like Martinez, I don't like this "I am Mr Total Football" position that he seems to be taking. Get it mixed up Roberto, you are blotting your copy book big time.

 

We wanted Moyes gone because of his overly dour tactics, we aren't going to put up with someone who is being just as stubborn for the purpose of being a footballing philosopher.

[MC11]

I see the main problem between deep midfielders and our forwards/wide players.There is absolutely no creativity to unlock the back door. We just can't break teams down. Our play goes like this: We hit a brick wall on the edge of the oppositions 18 years box. We then resort to sideways passing until eventually it end back up with our defenders.

 

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

 

It's fucking shite football. I couldn't care less if we have possession of the ball we're doing absolutely jack shit with it. There is no creativity or drive at all except from Mirallas. People can say I'm bigging up Mirallas but it's just the truth he's the only threat we have.

 

Barkley is far too cautious of late, probably drilled out of him by Hodgson bollocking him.

Pienaar looks finished

McGeady just isn't good enough - he really isn't

Osman is just floating through games.

 

Those players there should be creating and their not! We need a proper no10 or a more creative sitter. I.e a deep lying playmaker.

Edited December 4, 2014 by MC11

[Hafnia]

I see the main problem between deep midfielders and our forwards/wide players.There is absolutely no creativity to unlock the back door. We just can't break teams down. Our play goes like this: We hit a brick wall on the edge of the oppositions 18 years box. We then resort to sideways passing until eventually it end back up with our defenders.

 

Repeat, Repeat, Repeat

 

It's fucking shite football. I couldn't care less if we have possession of the ball we're doing absolutely jack shit with it. There is no creativity or drive at all except from Mirallas. People can say I'm bigging up Mirallas but it's just the truth he's the only threat we have.

 

Barkley is far too cautious of late, probably drilled out of him by Hodgson bollocking him.

Pienaar looks finished

McGeady just isn't good enough - he really isn't

Osman is just floating through games.

 

Those players there should be creating and their not! We need a proper no10 or a more creative sitter. I.e a deep lying playmaker.

 

I genuinely disagree with the McGeady bit - every time i've seen him he looks that little bit sharper. Is he what we want right now? No but he is getting there. Was Naismith up to speed in his first year? No, pretty much for the same reasons. McGeady will be a good player for us.

 

Pienaar can go the MLS or something, Osman is a last 15 minutes player and if thats not enough for him then MLS for him too.

 

Barkley looked ok last night, he looks more involved in a central position - the more he plays the better he will get. From the age of 20-22 Steven Gerrard was mentored by Gary McCallister and it was a master stroke by Houllier - Gerrard was still very raw. All this talk about selling Barkley becuase he is going to be another Rodwell is daft. He is a different breed of footballer, I want him away from that toxic England set up where he is exposed to average ability players who are playing percentage football under that dinosaur. Barkley needs a top quality mentor - simple as that.

[MC11]

I genuinely disagree with the McGeady bit - every time i've seen him he looks that little bit sharper. Is he what we want right now? No but he is getting there. Was Naismith up to speed in his first year? No, pretty much for the same reasons. McGeady will be a good player for us.

 

Pienaar can go the MLS or something, Osman is a last 15 minutes player and if thats not enough for him then MLS for him too.

 

Barkley looked ok last night, he looks more involved in a central position - the more he plays the better he will get. From the age of 20-22 Steven Gerrard was mentored by Gary McCallister and it was a master stroke by Houllier - Gerrard was still very raw. All this talk about selling Barkley becuase he is going to be another Rodwell is daft. He is a different breed of footballer, I want him away from that toxic England set up where he is exposed to average ability players who are playing percentage football under that dinosaur. Barkley needs a top quality mentor - simple as that.

 

I'm far from one of the Barkley sellers....so don't try and sway your writing that I am. I'm honest though when someone isn't being effective (which I know he can). It's ok looking neat and tidy on the ball but if you're not creating in the no10 role you're not doing your job.

 

McGeady is crap.

[Brett Angel]

I'm far from one of the Barkley sellers....so don't try and sway your writing that I am. I'm honest though when someone isn't being effective (which I know he can). It's ok looking neat and tidy on the ball but if you're not creating in the no10 role you're not doing your job.

 

McGeady is crap.

Mgeady looked the most threatening when he cone on last night.

[johnh]

Guardiola is probably the founder of 'tiki-taka' football. But recently he was quoted as saying 'passing football has got to have an end product which is scoring goals. Passing for passings sake is a waste of time'. Currently, I think Martinez is in the passing for passings sake phase. Lets hope he moves on.

[Deacs]

McGeady is crap.

McGeady isn't crap, and now Mirallas is fit again they should both start. Having the two genuine wide players would give us much more balance.

Which then leaves the spot behind Lukaku up for grabs between Barkley, Naismith or Eto'o.

Personally I would start with Naismith at the moment (when fit) and use Eto'o and Barkley from the bench.

I'm hoping Oviedo will push McGeady as well.

Unfortunately having a decent bench seems pointless at the moment as it doesn't get used effectively anyway…

[Hafnia]

Mgeady looked the most threatening when he cone on last night.

 

I'd agree with that, he stands players up and he runs at the gaps a little bit like Deulofeu did last year but he doesn't have that oh la la associated with his name so is therefore targetted as lazy and not good enough in terms of end product.

 

One thing I noticed was that last night when we did go long after them pressing high there was nothing there to challenge for the ball, that's not Roms game - I get that and will leave it there. But.... if we get Kone fit then that is his game, he is a willful runner and is good at holding the ball up - Naismith would have given us that last night aswell. There was nothing up there for the "out ball".

[Brett Angel]

 

I'd agree with that, he stands players up and he runs at the gaps a little bit like Deulofeu did last year but he doesn't have that oh la la associated with his name so is therefore targetted as lazy and not good enough in terms of end product.

 

One thing I noticed was that last night when we did go long after them pressing high there was nothing there to challenge for the ball, that's not Roms game - I get that and will leave it there. But.... if we get Kone fit then that is his game, he is a willful runner and is good at holding the ball up - Naismith would have given us that last night aswell. There was nothing up there for the "out ball"

Totally agree! We do miss Naismith for the ugly part of closing down early. Watched kone in under 21 game and he seems to cover a lot of ground when pressing early effortlessly. With lukaku, he seems to jog over to players without any real intention of closing down. That's pure lazy in my eyes... We don't want him tiring out early doors but he should be able to press with sprint on occasions. Does the same when he's closing down the keeper.

[Matt]

If we went on just the first half of the Hull game, this thread would've been put on hold.

 

I've never made it a secret that I hate possession football. It is boring and easy to counter. I've said it since 2008 and Spain won the Euros. Whats worse for us, is that we don't have CBs who know how to pass, and we are too reliant on McCarthy hunting everyone down in the middle of the park when we don't have the ball.

 

1st half against Hull, our front 4 put the opposition under so much pressure, that Besic and Barry just cleaned up the loose balls and it never got near our back four. So we didn't miss McCarthy, his workrate was being accounted for. Usually thats Naismith but good on Mirallas, Lukaku, Barkley and Ossie to an extent. But 2nd half that workload of pressure switched teams and they did exactly the same to us. The front 4 stopped working, which exposed a tired Barry and bit to eager Besic, expecting them to do the work. When they didn't, the 2 CBs were exposed, and then some. Defend from the front, its how Liverpool were so successful last season. Suarez went after every defender like a rabid squirrel, forcing defences to panic and they benefited. We need to do that for a full game, not just a half.

 

We need another terrier in midfield to help pressurize the opposition and we need someone who is creative enough to pick the lock when teams park the bus. Because without that tricksy little playmaker pulling the strings, teams will be happy letting us dick about going side to side.

 

 

I'd agree with that, he stands players up and he runs at the gaps a little bit like Deulofeu did last year but he doesn't have that oh la la associated with his name so is therefore targetted as lazy and not good enough in terms of end product.

 

One thing I noticed was that last night when we did go long after them pressing high there was nothing there to challenge for the ball, that's not Roms game - I get that and will leave it there. But.... if we get Kone fit then that is his game, he is a willful runner and is good at holding the ball up - Naismith would have given us that last night aswell. There was nothing up there for the "out ball".

He won nearly every battle in the air last night and held the ball up. There was never anyone around him after Mirallas went off.

[bluenosetoffee]

Something just isn't right at the moment. Last year when watching Everton play I was amazed, this is the kind of football I wanted us to play. (Not long ball tactics). This year we don't seem to be clicking as well for some reason. Not sure why though but when watching Everton play this year it seems different.

 

When we were drawing against lesser opposition last year we didn't sit back we went for the kill. Now we score a goal, try and score another but to no effect. The second half against Hull was poor. The game against Spurs was even worse. Teams seem to be cottoning onto the idea that we do like patient style build up but put pressure on us, we fall. The last two games whenever we had the ball two players were on our player not giving them room to pass and play our game.

 

What got on my nerves yesterday was we were drawing against Hull at home with 10 minutes to go and we looked the worse team. We didn't look like scoring, we didn't look a threat. We even went back to our old tactics of hoofing the ball up long to hope someone gets a head on it!

 

The patient style of play is fine but a bit of tempo wouldn't go a miss. Quick 1-2 passes! Not 1 pass, take your time then under pressure and have to pass back to the keeper!

[Guest millwallforever]

The biggest problem is our back three of Howard, Distin, and Jagielka. We score a fair amount of goals; as a matter of fact only Chelsea and Manchester City have scored more goals than us. It is not just about the defensive shortcomings that have led to our conceding 22 goals, a tally surpassed only by Sunderland, Palace, QPR, and Leicester; it is also about the unnecessary toil to which our holding midfielders are subjected:

 

Howard will pass to Distin who has two opponents breathing down his neck, who will pass to Jagielka, who will then pass back to Howard, who will then hoof it. As this farce is unfolding, our midfielders are retreating to help our inept back three out: a defensive measure coming at the expense of what these midfielders should be contributing to our attacking game, thus leaving the team stretched.

 

Howard is a huge problem: his distribution has always been below par. During the days of hoofball, this did not matter much, but now that we are to pass our way forward in a methodical manner, the distributive shortcomings of Howard have become a gigantic stumbling block to our game.

 

Howard is a terrible goalkeeper. I want him out and I want him out NOW!

 

 

 

Something just isn't right at the moment. Last year when watching Everton play I was amazed, this is the kind of football I wanted us to play. (Not long ball tactics). This year we don't seem to be clicking as well for some reason. Not sure why though but when watching Everton play this year it seems different.

 

When we were drawing against lesser opposition last year we didn't sit back we went for the kill. Now we score a goal, try and score another but to no effect. The second half against Hull was poor. The game against Spurs was even worse. Teams seem to be cottoning onto the idea that we do like patient style build up but put pressure on us, we fall. The last two games whenever we had the ball two players were on our player not giving them room to pass and play our game.

 

What got on my nerves yesterday was we were drawing against Hull at home with 10 minutes to go and we looked the worse team. We didn't look like scoring, we didn't look a threat. We even went back to our old tactics of hoofing the ball up long to hope someone gets a head on it!

 

The patient style of play is fine but a bit of tempo wouldn't go a miss. Quick 1-2 passes! Not 1 pass, take your time then under pressure and have to pass back to the keeper!

Edited December 4, 2014 by millwallforever

[MikeO]

Not buying this, "teams have cottoned on to our style in England but we can get away with it in Europe" theory.

 

Our new style was obvious after two games last season, everyone already knew how we intended to play but (more often than not) they couldn't stop us. And are we supposed to believe that European opposition will do no scouting once they know they're playing us? No looking at easily available videos of all of our fifty/sixty games under Martinez?

 

I don't have a scooby-doo what the problem is to be honest, why, for example, are the two best attacking full backs in the league (on last year's form) suddenly as potent as a pair of sixty year old eunuchs?

 

It's depressing, but I can't agree with the "we've been found out" explanation. Whatever it is needs to be addressed fast though; we're a long way from being in a relegation fight as some doughnut suggested last night, and a relatively short run of results would put us right back in the thick of things.

 

I fear for Saturday though .

[Guest millwallforever]

Style is not the problem; rather our opponents are able to pinpoint our weak links with ease. Yesterday as many as four Hull players were putting our back three under pressure, because they know perfectly well that we have players there who are wont to panicking.

 

 

Not buying this, "teams have cottoned on to our style in England but we can get away with it in Europe" theory.

 

Our new style was obvious after two games last season, everyone already knew how we intended to play but (more often than not) they couldn't stop us. And are we supposed to believe that European opposition will do no scouting once they know they're playing us? No looking at easily available videos of all of our fifty/sixty games under Martinez?

 

I don't have a scooby-doo what the problem is to be honest, why, for example, are the two best attacking full backs in the league (on last year's form) suddenly as potent as a pair of sixty year old eunuchs?

 

It's depressing, but I can't agree with the "we've been found out" explanation. Whatever it is needs to be addressed fast though; we're a long way from being in a relegation fight as some doughnut suggested last night, and a relatively short run of results would put us right back in the thick of things.

 

I fear for Saturday though .

[MC11]

Not buying this, "teams have cottoned on to our style in England but we can get away with it in Europe" theory.

 

Our new style was obvious after two games last season, everyone already knew how we intended to play but (more often than not) they couldn't stop us. And are we supposed to believe that European opposition will do no scouting once they know they're playing us? No looking at easily available videos of all of our fifty/sixty games under Martinez?

 

I don't have a scooby-doo what the problem is to be honest, why, for example, are the two best attacking full backs in the league (on last year's form) suddenly as potent as a pair of sixty year old eunuchs?

 

It's depressing, but I can't agree with the "we've been found out" explanation. Whatever it is needs to be addressed fast though; we're a long way from being in a relegation fight as some doughnut suggested last night, and a relatively short run of results would put us right back in the thick of things.

 

I fear for Saturday though .

When one team cottons on how to close the system down everyone does it. Sit back let us have possession - then press our back four high when they're messing about with it. It was very obvious from the start that's how Hull set out. Tottenham did it on Sunday.

[MikeO]

When one team cottons on how to close the system down everyone does it. Sit back let us have possession - then press our back four high when they're messing about with it. It was very obvious from the start that's how Hull set out. Tottenham did it on Sunday.

 

My point is that we've been running the same system since the beginning of last season; are you seriously suggesting that the rest of the footballing world has only just come up with a way to counter it? I can come up with a theory about how to beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon if I watch enough tennis, just because you know how to do something doesn't mean you can do it if the opposition is superior.

[MC11]

My point is that we've been running the same system since the beginning of last season; are you seriously suggesting that the rest of the footballing world has only just come up with a way to counter it? I can come up with a theory about how to beat Roger Federer at Wimbledon if I watch enough tennis, just because you know how to do something doesn't mean you can do it if the opposition is superior.

No, but I'm suggesting it's definitely part of the problem. No plan B. We are being neutralised where we are dangerous.

[Paddock]

Something just isn't right at the moment. Last year when watching Everton play I was amazed, this is the kind of football I wanted us to play. (Not long ball tactics). This year we don't seem to be clicking as well for some reason. Not sure why though but when watching Everton play this year it seems different.!

It's quite simple, teams have figured us out . We're predictable, we don't do anything different from one game to the next, it's like fucking groundhog day.

 

Easy peasy... Snuff out our two full backs, press us really high then defend in their own final 3rd and let us have the ball. Job done.

 

We aren't playing any different we are just easy to play against and any opposing manager knows with the back two of Jagielka and Distin that there is a mistake in there waiting to happen because neither are ball playing centre halfs. Pressure them they will eventually crack. I said this ages ago and got scoffed at add to the mix coco the fucking clown in goal, again, just tell your strikers to shoot to his near post as he is very rarely there to stop it going in.

[chicagoblue]

Not buying this, "teams have cottoned on to our style in England but we can get away with it in Europe" theory.

 

Our new style was obvious after two games last season, everyone already knew how we intended to play but (more often than not) they couldn't stop us. And are we supposed to believe that European opposition will do no scouting once they know they're playing us? No looking at easily available videos of all of our fifty/sixty games under Martinez?

 

I don't have a scooby-doo what the problem is to be honest, why, for example, are the two best attacking full backs in the league (on last year's form) suddenly as potent as a pair of sixty year old eunuchs?

 

It's depressing, but I can't agree with the "we've been found out" explanation. Whatever it is needs to be addressed fast though; we're a long way from being in a relegation fight as some doughnut suggested last night, and a relatively short run of results would put us right back in the thick of things.

 

I fear for Saturday though .

 

Don't think either one is fit to be honest. That was the biggest problem against Spurs, half the team was completely unfit. We're a machine that needs a big majority of the pieces to be in good working order before we start to show quality. After Garbutt's performance in Germany and Baines non performance against Spurs I was quite surprised we didn't rest him yesterday.

 

Also have to agree that our CBs are simply not fit to play this style of football. They have two passing modes 10-15 yards and hoof. At least one CB has to be significantly more comfortable on the ball for use to increase the pace of moving from defence to attack. It looks to me like Distin and Alcaraz are both essentially finished. Jags may still have a role, some games will demand his style, but that leaves us at least two first team players short. That said though, Martinez has known for weeks now that Stones and Alcaraz aren't available, yet we keep trying to play back to front every time and keep coughing up possession cheaply. At least one element of plan B has to be a useful way of getting the ball into midfield without requiring 18 passes between the back 4. We've got pace on the wings and we really don't use it. Simple diagonal and through balls are constantly eschewed for safety first. Put a few balls in behind and get on to them and all of a sudden the opposition can't press like mad and everything opens up.

 

You'd have to think a professional football organization would be aware of these basic ideas but it just hasn't looked that way lately.

[Paddock]

 

 

 

Also have to agree that our CBs are simply not fit to play this style of football. They have two passing modes 10-15 yards and hoof. At least one CB has to be significantly more comfortable on the ball for use to increase the pace of moving from defence to attack. It looks to me like Distin and Alcaraz are both essentially finished. Jags may still have a role, some games will demand his style, but that leaves us at least two first team players short. That said though, Martinez has known for weeks now that Stones and Alcaraz aren't available, yet we keep trying to play back to front every time and keep coughing up possession cheaply. .

According to Martinez and a lot of people on here we don't need another centre half . ?

[Hafnia]

If we went on just the first half of the Hull game, this thread would've been put on hold.

 

I've never made it a secret that I hate possession football. It is boring and easy to counter. I've said it since 2008 and Spain won the Euros. Whats worse for us, is that we don't have CBs who know how to pass, and we are too reliant on McCarthy hunting everyone down in the middle of the park when we don't have the ball.

 

1st half against Hull, our front 4 put the opposition under so much pressure, that Besic and Barry just cleaned up the loose balls and it never got near our back four. So we didn't miss McCarthy, his workrate was being accounted for. Usually thats Naismith but good on Mirallas, Lukaku, Barkley and Ossie to an extent. But 2nd half that workload of pressure switched teams and they did exactly the same to us. The front 4 stopped working, which exposed a tired Barry and bit to eager Besic, expecting them to do the work. When they didn't, the 2 CBs were exposed, and then some. Defend from the front, its how Liverpool were so successful last season. Suarez went after every defender like a rabid squirrel, forcing defences to panic and they benefited. We need to do that for a full game, not just a half.

 

We need another terrier in midfield to help pressurize the opposition and we need someone who is creative enough to pick the lock when teams park the bus. Because without that tricksy little playmaker pulling the strings, teams will be happy letting us dick about going side to side.

 

He won nearly every battle in the air last night and held the ball up. There was never anyone around him after Mirallas went off.

62%. There was a few where he just didn't jump.

[Bailey]

I wouldn't say Martinez has got it wrong but he does need to have a plan B. We are far too easy to defend against

 

Teams in the Premiership rumbled us a long time ago and just press us high up the pitch and we don't seem to know how to deal with that. We get away with it in Europe because we are still an unknown quantity but it wont take long before we come up against a side that does their homework

 

Until we can learn to mix it up a bit we are never going to progress. I think our position in the table is about right we are a mid table side

 

Pressing high up the pitch will rumble most teams... In fact I would go as far to say all teams in the Premier League. Its something I have banged on about for a long time and at times it was something we used to do very well under for a few games here or there under Moyes especially against the likes of City.

 

We havent been 'found' out. If managers didnt realise what Martinez would do when he even came to Everton then they didnt deserve the job they were in. Like Mike has said, its far too simplistic and ignores so many factors. The reason why we might be doing better in Europe is because they simply dont play with the same intensity as we do over here. Krasnodar came flying out of the blocks and Wolfsburg werent too much different to many English teams in the way they played but we still picked them off.

 

Guardiola is probably the founder of 'tiki-taka' football. But recently he was quoted as saying 'passing football has got to have an end product which is scoring goals. Passing for passings sake is a waste of time'. Currently, I think Martinez is in the passing for passings sake phase. Lets hope he moves on.

 

This is the point as far as I am concerned. We are passing for the sake of passing because we dont have any better options. Why dont we have any better options? Its because we arent playing at the same intensity as last year on or off the ball.

 

We play our best football on the front foot, when we dictate to the opposition. Dictating isnt having 70% possession its dominating the pattern of play so we may only have 40% of the ball but if we are in control of where they have the ball and break with pace then we will cause problems, I guess like we did at Wolfsburg. Just look across the park and look at their problems too. Ok losing Suarez hasnt helped but they dont have the same drive and commitment as last year. They havent become a bad team but they dont have the same pace to their play and they dont defend as aggressively. Our problems are the same. Instead of the forcing the opposition into mistakes, winning the ball back high up the pitch and hitting them on the counter which helps quicker, free flowing football, we are sat deeper, slower to the tackle and then when we win the ball we are deep in our own half or clearing the ball long from general clearance or goal kicks.We also end up putting ourselves under more pressure this way, which I dont like to see. I cant remember which game it was but we were either losing or drawing and were chasing a goal. Stones was so good at stopping attacks and also playing the ball around quickly from the back it was unreal and he ended up putting in a huge challenge to the win the ball back in the opposition half which led to a goal. That spell in that game epitomised everything we should be. We need to play with that intensity for 70-80 minutes a game not the 10-15 we have at the moment.

 

Its fairly safe to assume we are attempting to execute that type of game plan and move the ball quickly but for some reason we just dont have that spark. We have had a lot of creativity get injured this season so that hasnt helped but we should be doing better against the lower clubs. That said, we have created enough chances to see off games but fuck ups at the back have cost us far too much this season.

[Paddock]

 

 

That said, we have created enough chances to see off games but fuck ups at the back have cost us far too much this season.

Hou think? Because I haven't seen us create many at all most of the season which is the whole point. Edited December 4, 2014 by Paddock