Article on Martinez and Moyes

This was posted on 06/01/2014 by the DailyMail



www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/foo...od-enough.html



During Roberto Martinez's unveiling as the new Everton manager, chairman Bill Kenwright revealed the Spaniard had promised to deliver Champions League football to Goodison Park.

It's fair to say the comment raised a few eyebrows. How could Everton compete with the likes of Manchester United, City, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and Liverpool on a shoestring budget?

It has now become apparent Everton fans were brainwashed by David Moyes during his eleven year spell in charge of the club.



Every year the Scot - unable to sign players worthy of the top four due to the club's tight purse strings - convinced observers that he was pulling off miracle after miracle by guiding the Toffees to sixth, seventh or eighth in the table and that the club was punching above its weight.

Moyes created the illusion that it was impossible for Everton to challenge those with more financial clout - through a lack of belief in his own players and pessimism during interviews.

There was a glass ceiling and Moyes' hands were tied – he was doing the best he could. or so he claimed. But Martinez has proved that's not the case at all.

The former Wigan boss has started making significant cracks in that glass. The Blues are currently a point off fourth and seven behind league leaders Arsenal having lost just two games this season.

Deulofeu teases Everton return with video of physio session



The old regime's excuse at failing to improve was always down to money and it seemed the consensus was that a club who couldn't spend in the modern era, couldn't be successful either.

However, during his first few months on Merseyside, Martinez argued against that point very well.

'I always believe that to achieve things you don't need money,' he said. 'There are other ways to be successful, but you need time. A large chequebook just enables you to accelerate the process. In football, you can compete against anyone if you are tactical, flexible, creative and have time to build.'

Blackburn, Chelsea and Manchester City may have proved otherwise but having money doesn't guarantee a team will be successful. Take Andy Carroll. The striker has cost £65million in transfer fees but has been unable to make an impact due to injury.

Meanwhile, Everton signed Seamus Coleman for a five-figure sum in 2009 and the right back has been one of this season's star men.



After constant struggles during the 1990s, the turn of the Millennium was kinder to Everton and a vast improvement in league position, courtesy of Moyes it has to be said, who took over in 2002.

However, having helped the club comfortably finish in the top eight, year on year, it was clear Moyes didn't believe the club could go further. Through his words, the Everton boss restricted the club from moving forward.

In September 2011, ahead of the trip to Manchester City, a fixture Everton had done well in during previous campaigns, Moyes said: 'We will need to do everything perfectly to win. It is a bit like going into a gun fight and we are only armed with a knife.'

How did he expect his players to go out and perform knowing their manager had such a negative feeling ahead of the match? Unsurprisingly, Everton lost the game 2-0.

Despite an upturn in fortunes during Moyes spell in charge, Everton's best players were still leaving for teams who could offer regular European football. Mikel Arteta, Wayne Rooney and Joleon Lescott all left for pastures new.



It was a running theme of Moyes’s tenure. The 50-year-old was unable to build on previous standings as his star performers kept leaving. However, showing a clear lack of faith in the players who remain means you’ll never improve. The ‘no money to spend’ line was often bandied about as an excuse.

Martinez faces the same uncertainty this month. Similarly to Rooney nearly ten years ago, Ross Barkley, who has supported Everton all his life, is a target for Manchester United while Leighton Baines has also been linked with a move.

However, Martinez has taken a different approach to his predecessor.

Asked whether the Red Devils’ would succeed with a £50m bid for Barkley, the 40-year-old laughed: ‘How much? 50? No, I’m sorry, we won’t be letting him go out on loan!’



Financially, nothing has changed at the club during the switch of management. Everton haven’t been bought by a billionaire but, as usual, the club sold one of their players, Marouane Fellaini, for £27.5m to Manchester United.

While Moyes would bemoan talk of any outgoings, you always sensed the player would leave, there was an inevitability about it. Martinez, however, has batted away the interest with a smile on his face and with that, raising the belief that Barkley will stay.

‘If you have to bring money in, you can get a bit anxious when you read about interest in your players, but that is not the case here,’ he admitted. ‘We are in a strong position financially, so it is not an irritation or worry to see this sort of speculation.’

The Spaniard speaks positively and it makes a huge difference to everybody’s thinking at the club. Everton’s previous inability to compete wasn’t down to money, it was because the club had the wrong mentality.



Martinez has quickly set about removing the team’s underdog tag. A team who can boast a history like Everton, a club who has the same number of league titles as Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham put together, should not be settling for second best.

Neville Southall, who was part of the Blues' 1980s heyday said before Martinez's arrival: 'The thing for me, though, is the negative attitude that seems to be around the club. A winner does not want to finish fourth or sixth, he wants to finish first.'

A valid point from a man who lifted his fair share of silverware in the blue of Everton.



Moyes failed to beat Chelsea, United, Arsenal or Liverpool away from home in 46 attempts. Martinez made a mockery of that stat in his first attempt, masterminding Everton's first win at Old Trafford in 21 years;against the former Blues boss who was now sat in the opposite dugout.

Not only did the Toffees win, but they continued to attack the current Premier League champions with five minutes to go and a slender lead to protect.

Fast forward four days and Everton went a goal down late on to league leaders Arsenal. The previous regime would have accepted the defeat, rolled over and hoped to not suffer an embarrassing heavy defeat.

Not anymore. Martinez’s men rallied for an equaliser and found it as Gerard Deulofeu rifled home with minutes to go. Another point on the board.



This weekend's FA Cup action also showed the effects the manager's outlooks are having on their respective teams.

Martinez’s Everton comfortably dispatched of Queens Park Rangers with a resounding 4-0 victory.

Meanwhile, Moyes' side lost to a last-minute Swansea winner, the Welsh club’s first ever victory at Old Trafford and United’s fifth home defeat of the season.

It used to be a massive shock when the Red Devils lost at home. Is it a shock anymore? Since Moyes’ appointment, United have drastically lost the fear factor they once had under Sir Alex Ferguson - the man who motivated the club to win 13 Premier League titles.



Martinez exudes confidence and his style of play reflects that. The Blues are playing some of the best football seen at Goodison in decades, harking back to the days of the 'School of Science' – a brand of play inspired by the 'Holy Trinity' of Alan Ball, Howard Kendall and Colin Harvey in the 1960s.

Following the 2-1 home victory over Southampton at the end of December, Southall tweeted: 'Five points off top, that's our target now. Expectations are going mad. Roberto's changed the way everyone thinks. Magic'.

There’s a genuine feeling that Everton, not could, but will do something special under the Spaniard’s stewardship.



'The Champions League is the challenge that comes with the title of being Everton manager. I feel you need to have that dream,' said Martinez in June.

There’s no limitations, no boundaries. Should the season continue in the same vein as it has started, Roberto Martinez will have smashed the imaginary glass ceiling into smithereens come May.

Evertonians have been given the chance to dream again.