By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88
In the most unpredictable season in Premier League history,
many supporters up and down the land have had their ups and downs. There will
be many stories throughout the campaign to tell, from those overachieving like
Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur, to those who have underachieved,
including Chelsea, Manchester United and Manchester City to name a few.
Another team though that has underachieved badly is Everton.
Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Watford has seen the Toffees slip into 14th
place in the table. The supporters have had enough, with banners hurled out at
Vicarage Road calling for the departure of manager Roberto Martinez.
So, despite reaching two domestic cup semi-finals, is time
up at Goodison Park for Martinez?
Entertaining
Everton have been one of the most entertaining sides to
watch, and have scored 52 goals this season in the Premier League. Only the current
top four in the division have outscored the Merseysiders. In Romelu Lukaku,
Everton have one of the hottest properties in European football, let alone the
English game.
The Belgian was discarded by Chelsea but has proven to be a
top goalscorer in this country. Over the past four seasons with West Bromwich
Albion during a successful loan spell and now in the past three seasons with
Everton. Lukaku is a deadly finisher and still has an outside chance of
challenging Jamie Vardy, Harry Kane and Sergio Aguero in the race for this
season’s Golden Boot.
Fans going to Goodison Park can’t complain with the value
for money they’ve had this season. Sadly, the results don’t agree with this.
Only bottom club Aston Villa have a worse home record than Everton. Mustering
just nine wins all campaign is a sorry statistic. This would put the club in
the bottom five of the table. Therefore, their position doesn’t lie.
That is despite having the goalscoring abilities of Lukaku,
the emergence of Ross Barkley, who has bounced back from a difficult second
season in the first-team, the Spanish flair of Gerard Deulofeu and Aaron
Lennon, who has enjoyed an Indian summer in his career after being frozen out
in his later days at Tottenham.
Individual errors
However like last season, individual errors are costing
Everton dearly. They’ve shipped 43 goals already this campaign and only AFC
Bournemouth (55) above them in the table have conceded more. Another example of
this came on Saturday at Watford.
Having just gone a goal up on the stroke of half-time, John
Stones played an unnecessary backpass to goalkeeper Joel Robles, who could only
put the ball out for a corner. Watford duly scored from the set-piece to find
an immediate equaliser to James McCarthy’s cute finish. It is mistakes like
this that have been the story of Everton’s Premier League campaign.
They haven’t been able to hold onto enough leads. They
dropped points from winning positions against AFC Bournemouth in November from
a 2-0 position, dominated the first half at Carrow Road against Norwich but
failed to win and should have finished Chelsea off at Stamford Bridge in
January long before John Terry’s 97th minute equaliser.
Has Martinez ever learned
the lesson?
There is no doubting that Roberto Martinez is a talented
manager. He did win the FA Cup at unfancied Wigan Athletic in 2013, but they
got relegated from the top-flight just days later. In his Wigan reign, they
were always an eye-catching team to watch but very leaky in defence and it
ultimately caught up with them.
He took over at Everton with the promise of Champions League
football to arrive at the club and the early signs were good. A fifth-place
finish and record Premier League points haul for the Toffees in 2013/2014 was a
promising start. It has gone backwards since.
Last season was the first time Everton had finished in the
bottom half since 2005/2006. Their exertions in the UEFA Europa League last
campaign might have played a bit of a contribution to their lowly return of 11th
place. They don’t have that excuse this time around. For a club with the
playing options they have available to them, 14th is a terrible spot
to be in at this stage of the season. Everton at the very least should be
fighting the likes of West Ham United and Southampton for a place in the top
six. They have the resources to be doing far better than what they are.
At times, it does feel like Martinez’s current Everton side
are a Mark II from his Wigan squad, just with better and more skilful players.
What is the solution?
This Wednesday, Everton will find out who their FA Cup
semi-final opponents will be when the belated sixth round replay takes place
between West Ham United and Manchester United. The FA Cup has become such a
vital competition for them and they’ve got to go and win it and win the fans
back again.
Everton’s last major silverware was this trophy back in
1995, when Paul Rideout’s goal beat Manchester United in the Wembley showpiece.
Apart from a 2009 final appearance under David Moyes, they’ve never looked like
winning a trophy since.
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| Roberto Martinez is getting increased pressure from Everton fans |
If they win the FA Cup, it might give Roberto Martinez (pictured) a
stay of execution. Everton chairman Bill Kenwright is one of the most patient
owners around and that is a great commodity to have, especially in an era where
managers are lucky to get even a season to get their blueprint for success
across. This will go in Martinez’s favour when it comes to decisions this
coming summer.
However, patience is running thin with the supporters. The
players might be making costly errors and they have to shoulder the blame, but
the buck normally stops with the manager. With plenty of managers available on
the market at the moment, the next few weeks are crucial in the Everton career
of Roberto Martinez.
A win at Selhurst Park on Wednesday night would be the ideal
start to ease the pressure, but an FA Cup victory could be his only ticket to
seeing in another season on Merseyside.
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