What Does Next Season Hold For Roberto Martinez?

This time last year Everton were busy securing fifth place in the Premier League and with it qualification to the 2014-15 Europa League.

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The Blues had narrowly missed out on a gallant push for a place in the top four to the ever-present Arsenal. But memories of a sensational 3-0 drubbing of the Gunners at Goodison Park were still fresh in the memory of the fans.

At that time, Roberto Martinez could do no wrong in the mind of everyone associated with the Toffees – affable, intelligent, tactically superb and ambitious – it was hard to see what the Spaniard didn’t have in his locker.

However fast forward twelve months, and the consensus has shifted with regards to Martinez, with most believing he doesn’t have it in him to lift Everton back up to those heady heights. This follows a poor season where the threat of relegation loomed large for a worryingly long time on the blue half of Merseyside.

So, was his first campaign in charge at Goodison an over-performance, or has the current season been a case of whatever could go wrong has gone wrong for Martinez?

There are various factors that come into play to support both arguments, but really it is next season that should tell us all we need to know about the managerial know-how of the former Wigan boss.

What Martinez had in his favour in 2013-14 was the unpredictability factor. Gone was the cautious, measured, and borderline pessimistic approach employed by former manager David Moyes who, it should still be emphasised, had worked wonders after his appointment from Preston.

It was replaced by a fearless, flexible, possession-based toe-to-toe approach that stunned sides from every level of the Premier League.

The movement was fluid, the ball dominated by men in blue shirts, with a swift threat on the counter should the Blues have to defend in numbers at any point during matches.

All this contributed to a wonderful style of play that was a joy to watch and was extremely effective for the majority of the campaign.

However, by late season, opposition had become used to the Toffees’ style of play. The season somewhat faded away for Martinez’s men as opponents sat back in numbers and hit an increasingly fragile defence on the break with ruthless efficiency – the prime example being the 3–2 loss to Crystal Palace at Goodison Park in April.

Such defeats became the paradigm for 2014-15, with teams allowing Everton to play in front of them before exposing an error-prone backline time after time on the counter-attack.

In September Crystal Palace were again to profit by the same score they had achieved five months earlier. However, Martinez continued to play the same way, with a possession game that was nice to watch, but which seldom garnered results.

It has been like this for most of the current season and the evidence is mounting that the Spaniard may be somewhat one-dimensional with his tiki-taka approach to football.

As soon as Martinez walked into Finch Farm in the summer of 2013, there was an infectious feeling of positivity that was reflected in the pre-season performances, with the Blues blowing away teams from England before defeating Juventus on penalties and losing narrowly to Valencia and Real Madrid in a brilliant tournament in America.

The style of play was exhilarating at times and some of the best sides in Europe were ran close by Martinez’s side.

However, the pre-season the Toffees had last summer was a complete write-off, as Martinez failed to manage his best players following their arrival back from the World Cup in Brazil.

Key Belgian duo Kevin Mirallas and Romelu Lukaku were nowhere to be seen and had to be rushed back for the first games in the top flight.

Meanwhile players who were never going to be a part of the current campaign, such as Tony Hibbert, Shane Duffy, Hallam Hope and Chris Long, to name but a few, were played with perplexing regularity.

Additionally, the performances were an indicator of what was to come when the real stuff started in August.

Some of the displays were completely inept as the Blues failed to mount any momentum, and indeed struggled against opponents the proverbial mile away from the likes of Juventus and Real Madrid in terms of quality – teams they had gone toe-to-toe with in 2013.

While pre-season form can never really be used as a reliable barometer going into a full campaign, there is no doubt that the ill-prepared nature of the summer had a major impact on the Blues’ start to 2014-15. From there everything seemed to snowball into a massive negative downturn in momentum and form.

The signings Martinez made in his first transfer window at Everton were by and large hugely successful, with the on-loan trio of Romelu Lukaku, Gerard Deulofeu and Gareth Barry serving the side excellently in different positions during 2013-14. But the purchases made by the Blues boss this season have fallen well below that mark.

Lukaku has been signed permanently and has bagged an impressive 19 goals. However, he’s not exactly a new face, and the striker aside no one has been brought in that has made a big impact on the team.

Samuel Eto’o’s signature was greeted with widespread delight by Blues fans, but he had left before he had even learnt everyone’s name at Finch Farm in what was ultimately an unsuccessful stint on Merseyside.

Christian Atsu was supposed to be the man who filled the boots of the departing Deulofeu. However, he has barely been seen on the Goodison turf this season, and when given his chance has failed to really stamp his authority on matches despite his frightening pace down the flank.

Muhamed Besic has been the only summer signing to really impress with his performances, showing ambition and maturity in his debut campaign in England. But even here there has been a reluctance by Martinez to fully utilise him ahead of the at times out-of-form Gareth Barry, a situation baffling to most Evertonians.

The Spaniard’s selection policy at times has been a little confusing to say the least. Joel Robles did a fantastic job of filling in for Tim Howard in goal at a time when the American had picked up an injury at the turn of the year.

The former Wigan keeper had made a slow start to life on Merseyside in his first couple of appearances, but there were signs that he should be keeping an under-par Howard out of the starting eleven when he came back to fitness, having put in a number of solid displays between the sticks, culminating in three clean sheets.

At this point the defence looked to have regained stability and confidence. But Howard came straight back in and the Blues began to ship goals again fairly quickly.

The lack of new faces that have made any sort of telling impression in their time with the Blues this season has proved costly in a year that has also seen Martinez’s men contend with the added pressure of the Europa League.

The Europa League is actually a mitigating factor for the Toffees’ boss this year. The fatigue, both mental and physical, of playing two matches in three days, with long trips to all corners of the continent, takes its toll on a squad short in adequate depth.

Obviously this is a circumstance that may partly explain a sub-par season by Everton’s recent lofty standards. Another could come in the form of a spate of injuries to key players.

Summer signing Romelu Lukaku, tasked with leading the line both domestically and on the continent this year, had come back fatigued and injured after the World Cup in Rio. He was needed quickly, however, due to the lack of options the Blues had up front at the start of the season – a circumstance which possibly held back the Belgian’s progress until the New Year.

Meanwhile defender John Stones, arguably Everton’s best player in 2014-15, suffered a horrific injury at the back end of last year. That kept him out of action for a significant period of time, a time when the Toffees looked incapable of defending against a pub team, let alone the top sides in English football.

The return to form of Lukaku and fitness of Stones has started a mini renaissance for the Blues recently, which has coincided with their European exit. They are beginning to exhibit the heights Martinez could have hit with his side had he had his more important players fit more often. Or indeed if Everton were blessed with a bigger squad, sadly always dependent on resources.

Nevertheless, could the former Swansea boss have dealt with the problems more effectively? Or were they simply obstacles that couldn’t be hurdled? Whatever your opinion, one thing is for sure – next season is going to be a big year in the managerial career of Roberto Martinez.