Everton stalwart Leon Osman loving life under Roberto Martinez as he gets set for testimonial
Kings of Leon: The 32-yaer-old will give his testimonial money to charity
Leon Osman will always be grateful to David Moyes for handing him his Everton debut.
But, more than 11 years on, the 32-year-old midfielder admits that, when it comes to job satisfaction, nothing beats working under Roberto Martinez.
There has been no “transition season” at Goodison Park, with Martinez immediately implementing a change to a playing style that has been both easy on the eye and efficiently effective.
And, while Osman has been awarded a testimonial for his service to a club that he joined straight from school, he was in no mood to look back on his career ahead of today’s visit of Arsenal... there’s too much business still unfinished.
“I’m not going to say that I didn’t enjoy my time playing for Everton before this season,” said Osman.
“But any footballer will tell you that this game is a lot more enjoyable when you have got the ball than when you haven’t got it.
“I’ve always enjoyed playing for this club. I love the place. And, ultimately, football is about winning games and I would rather be without the ball for 89 minutes and win rather than have all the ball and end up losing.
“But, if you can put the two things together – retain lots of possession and win games – then any footballer will tell you that’s a lot more satisfying.
“That’s what we have done under Roberto Martinez. We have taken the next step. There’s been no period of transition.”
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Osman, who was in the Everton team that finished in the top four nine years ago under Moyes, only to lose a Champions League qualifier against Villarreal, added: “If you look at all the teams at the top of the Premier League, they have the ability to win matches and keep possession of the ball.
“Last year, we would have games where possession would be 50-50. This season, we are a possession team – and we live or die by that. I don’t mean any disrespect to previous Everton teams I’ve been a part of – even when we finished fourth in 2005 – but we were always a team that didn’t necessarily want the ball.
“We would let our opponents have it, try to defend and then score on the counter-attack.
“We won a lot of games that way. But we could never take the next step because, when teams started paying us more respect, we couldn’t change our game and break them down.
“Right now, we are all about possession. And if we managed to qualify for the Champions League this time, we will be in a much stronger position to go forward.”
Everton trail the Gunners by four points, but have a game in hand. And Osman understands that qualifying for Europe’s top tournament would change the financial landscape at Goodison.
But he also craves some silverware to show for a career that has brought him nothing more tangible than two England caps and an FA Youth Cup medal.
“This is a massive club and for us to have gone so long without winning anything is a big disappointment,” Osman said.
“It would be a fantastic achievement to qualify for the Champions League again and everybody knows what the financial rewards are for doing that.
“But, if I’m honest, I’d love to win a trophy. That’s why you play this game, to win things,
“That isn’t possible this season, but getting into the top four is and that was what Roberto Martinez pinpointed when he first came in.
“He was adamant that we could really challenge and now it’s all about whether we can go out and do it on the pitch in the final few games.
“Arsenal are currently in fourth, so if we’ve got genuine aspirations about overtaking them, we have to win this game.”
Osman, who will be donating money from his testimonial to the Claire House Children’s Hospice on the Wirral and the Make A Wish Foundation, will only know what dates are free once Everton’s top-four fate is known.
He said: “A Champions League qualifier might make it complicated, but I don’t think anyone at Everton will worry about that too much!”
