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Martinez’s fatal flaw
- Updated: May 12, 2016
Following the news that Everton have sacked Roberto Martinez, Adam Bate argues that a promising coaching career risks stalling if the Spaniard cannot compromise…
There’s a lot to like about Roberto Martinez. Enthusiastic and intelligent, he’s embraced English football since joining Wigan as a 22-year-old but retained the firm principles he established growing up in Spain. There are times when it has seemed like a happy fusion.
Martinez will always be the man who delivered the FA Cup to Wigan. But what risks being lost amid the rancour is that Everton cherished him too. There was more than a little schadenfreude in David Moyes’ Manchester United travails while Martinez flourished.
He was the man who reintroduced football to Goodison Park. Moyes might have been the one who coined the moniker of The People’s Club, but it was the Spaniard who reopened the School of Science for business and it brought plenty of pleasure too.
Former Everton captain Dave Watson told supporters to expect excitement. “His training is based on a lot of attacking drills – everything is about scoring goals and creating chances,” he explained. Now it was ‘rondos’ at Finch Farm and goalkeepers working on their touch.
“It was different from what I believed Everton was and what it had seemed like for years,” midfielder Leon Osman told Sky Sports. “The manager came in with some great new ideas, a breath of fresh air as such. He really changed the philosophy of playing from the back.”
He wasn’t alone in relishing the change. Captain Phil Jagielka said it was “brilliant playing under Roberto” and Tim Howard agreed. “It’s been great,” he said. “Every week is different. It’s been a good change and the players seem to have bought into it so it’s working.”
The results arrived. In his first season in charge, Everton were two points off the lead at Christmas with Martinez having lost only once as manager in the Premier League – and that was at Manchester City. Everton finished the campaign in fifth with a record points tally.
This is surely the season to which Martinez was referring when he asked to be judged on the past three years. Instead, he has been sacked by Everton chairman Bill Kenwright – sacked for the first time in his career. So where did it all go wrong?
In …
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