The Importance Of Pre-Season For Everton

It is no secret that 2014-15 was not one of the finer seasons in Everton’s recent history.

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In Roberto Martinez’s first year in charge of the Blues, the football on show was outstanding, and the results matched, so the disappointment of the last campaign was even more palpable given the heights reached in 2013-14.

A lot of critics have pointed to the Toffees’ inability to juggle the challenges of the Europa League along with their domestic duties as a reason for last season’s struggles, and this is a fair point.

However, another factor that has passed under the radar somewhat is the lousy pre-season Martinez’s men endured last summer. The preparation for the Premier League campaign last time around left much room for improvement in 2015-16, and a lot of importance can be attached to the pre-season coming up for Everton.

This year, the Blues have the benefit of not having a World Cup to contend with, which saw many key players return to domestic duty late last year.

Belgian duo Romelu Lukaku and Kevin Mirallas were just two of many who returned to Merseyside late on in the day, and with their limbs and minds tired after an exhausting World Cup campaign.

Pre-season is known for its gruelling demands at the best of times, so when the players are far from being fresh and arrive late, it is especially difficult to reap the benefits from it in the short term.

However, all of Everton’s key men have played no football since the end of the 2014-15 season, barring a few international matches a few weeks back of course, and should be well rested after their holidays. A full pre-season should do them the world of good for the big kick-off on August 8^th, and hopefully this will result in a better start to the campaign.

Additionally, Everton have recently made two signings that will be feeling the pressure in contrasting ways going into the new season.

Tom Cleverley has a point to prove after fading from the limelight in the last few years. Not long ago he was one of the more impressive performers in a successful Manchester United team, but now he is considered to be one football’s forgotten men.

A free agent in the summer after an unproductive last few years at the Red Devils and an on-off year with Aston Villa in 2014-15, not many Blues fans were over the moon with the signing of the midfielder, and that is putting it generously.

If Cleverley is to revise the opinions of both Toffees supporters and football fans in general, he will have to hit the ground running. Therefore, he will need a beneficial lead up to the season proper, where he gets minutes under his belt and gradually goes about restoring his fragile confidence piece by piece.

Gerard Deulofeu is not one to lack for confidence, but the new signing from Barcelona also has some wrongs to put right and some time to make up.

The winger looked like he was set for superstar status when he shone during a loan spell at Goodison Park and was pushing for a first team spot at the Nou Camp, but after a dreadful season on loan at Sevilla last year, it feels as though the 21-year-old’s career has stalled significantly over the last twelve months.

He is still adored by the Goodison faithful, and unlike Cleverley, he will perhaps be given more time in his quest to fulfill his potential, such is the admiration and esteem he is held in by Everton fans.

However, for his own development, it is best for him if he gets off to a quick start in his new beginning as a permanent player under Roberto Martinez, and like his fellow summer signing, a positive pre-season can only be helpful in that regard.

If Cleverley and Deulofeu are to settle in quickly in pre-season and take this form into the proper thing at the start of August, the whole club should feel the benefits long term.

Additionally, it must be noted that Martinez chopped and changed a lot in last year’s pre-season campaign, with the starting line-up in each friendly seemingly never close to being the same with each fixture that went by.

It is vital of course to make sure as many players as possible are in peak condition going into August, but the likes of Tony Hibbert, Chris Long and Shane Duffy – players who were never going to get much game time anyway – were playing regularly and denying obvious first team players crucial minutes.

There were times last season late on in important games where the Toffees couldn’t find the goal they needed or protect their lead late on because the players simply looked dead on their feet.

With the demands of the Premier League increasing all the time and the teams competing becoming more and more clinical and ruthless, fatigue is simply not an option anymore.

Martinez has to prioritise certain players and give them as much game time as possible between now and the start of August. It’s all well and good giving the likes of Tyias Browning and Brendan Galloway experience, but if lessons have been learned from last season, consistent first team players should bag as many minutes as they can to get their eye in early on and make sure tired legs don’t become a feature late on in crucial fixtures when they come around.

There is a saying that winning breeds confidence, and from minute one last year confidence is exactly what the Blues were missing.

In a memorable 2013-14 some excellent displays and results in pre-season generated excitement and positivity before a ball had even been kicked in the top flight, but the opposite was true in the last campaign.

Poor performances and results to match saw Martinez’s men go into the first game against Leicester with an uncertain mindset. A mixture of a lack of fitness and a lack of winning form in general saw the Blues squander a lead at the King Power Stadium late on, and from then on in things went from bad to worse, with another late meltdown against Arsenal coming the following week.

2014-15 is now behind us. The upcoming pre-season will tell us whether lessons have indeed been learned ahead of a vital summer for Everton.