Roberto Martinez has left no stone unturned in his bid to ensure Everton FC are ready for Young Boys plastic pitch - even asking Harry Redknapp.The former QPR boss has bitter experience of the Swiss side’s unpredictable surface, watching as his then Spurs side went 3-0 down before half time at Stade de Suisse in a 2010 Champions League qualifier.
Martinez grabbed Redknapp for some advice after their win over the Londoners in December, and has since done everything in his power to be certain he won’t be similarly shocked.
Everton have trained on Widnes Vikings’ artificial pitch in preparation this week, and although the Catalan admits it is still a concern he is confident his team can cope.
“I had that conversation with Harry after the game we had against QPR,” he said. “We used the opportunity to ask how he felt about it and how it affected the game. At that time it was a different surface, they went to a grass pitch after that and returned to a fourth generation pitch.
“We’ve been able to train all week on a similar surface so we’re quite aware of what we’re going to see. If you’re not prepared the players can be shocked a bit, not sure about what footwear to wear, about what will happen with the bounce of the ball. But we are prepared so it shouldn’t be a shock.
“The other aspect is how good we can be on it, and that’s something we look forward to.”
Martinez admits that the scenario does provide the home side with an added advantage.
“The reality is that it’s a different surface and the home team are used to playing on it,” he said. “So that should give them a bit of an advantage.
“I’m a romantic. I like to play the game on natural grass and I do feel it’s a bit different. The artificial grasses are not what they used to be though. Even the appearance looks like normal grass.”
Whatever the surface, when the round of 32 action gets underway tomorrow night Martinez does not think his players will hold back from tackles.
“You get a bit of concern for players who have had major surgery or major injuries,” he said. “When you change the surface you can pick up injuries. But in general it doesn’t affect the way you play the game. It has more effect on how you recover from it than from how you actually play on it.”
A spying mission in the Swiss city last weekend has given the Blues boss plenty to mull over aside from the pitch.
“I came to watch the game and was very impressed,” he said. “They’re a technical side, they get on the ball, the pitch is very fast and they water it.
“I don’t think this pitch is a negative. It encourages good technical football that the team gets on the ball and in possession.
“Sometimes you go on to pitches in the UK where they haven’t rolled it or they train on it to make sure that the team in possession doesn’t get an easy ride. This is the opposite. It encourages the team in possession to be technically perfect, and that’s something I always welcome.
“The biggest difference is that the ball is always alive, the ball never stops and I think more than anything from a defensive point of view is to try and help the keeper and follow any rebound because the ball never stops.
“From any other aspect I don’t think it’s such a big different way of defending.
“We all know in the FA Cup that we visit many different environments, we went to Stevenage and probably that surface was harder to adapt to than it’s going to be tomorrow. The game against Napoli is a clear example. The way they played that game was quite impressive. We have to be ready to expect that.”
The Toffees strolled through the group stage of this competition, but have fallen on hard times in the league since then.
They have won just twice in 16 games since sealing qualification against Wolfsburg last November, but Martinez insists that does not mean progress in Europe has become any less of a priority.
“I said before the season this European campaign would be very important to us as a football club in terms of going into every game and seeing it with a big club approach,” he said. “Whatever the competition you are in you need to perform and get a win. That’s a mentality we want to encourage.
“The longer we continue in the Europa League the better. The better we can be in the Premier League too the more benefits we’ll get overall.
“It’s been a challenging season - there’s no hiding from that. But I think we’ll get the benefits of seeing players like John Stones, Ross Barkley, James Mccarthy and Romelu Lukaku; young players gaining experience and realising how hard it is to be consistent with your results when you play in a lot of competitions. But as a football club we want to develop that winning mentality.
“That is our focus.”
By Greg O’Keeffe, Liverpool Echo
