Listening to Martinez talk in interviews, and seeing how he seems to be building the squad, I think it's pretty clear he's playing the long game. I think he's placing a huge emphasis on Everton being a tight-knit team that's a pleasure to be a part of, and by extension building a team that will play together for a long time. Here's a little look at how a first XI might look in 2018:
That's a squad that currently has an average age of 22. There's a huge amount of variables in there, of course - a lot of the players have huge potential, but them delivering on it is far from certain. That risk is the necessary price for not having the cash to be able to buy players in their prime, however.
The upside of that risk is this: IF all those players do come good on what they've been tipped for, then in, say, 4-5 years time, they'll mostly all be in their peak and will have played together week in, week out for nearly that same period of time - you don't get that with buying in a couple £50m players from different sources, it's a chemistry that comes with building a team from the ground up.
It won't be overnight, and it might not work out that smoothly at all, but it's clear as day what Martinez is going for, and at the moment we're just building towards that. The future could be very bright indeed...just sayin.
???
Coleman (c), Stones, Galloway, Oviedo
Besic, McCarthy
???, Barkley, Mirallas
Lukaku
Coleman (c), Stones, Galloway, Oviedo
Besic, McCarthy
???, Barkley, Mirallas
Lukaku
That's a squad that currently has an average age of 22. There's a huge amount of variables in there, of course - a lot of the players have huge potential, but them delivering on it is far from certain. That risk is the necessary price for not having the cash to be able to buy players in their prime, however.
The upside of that risk is this: IF all those players do come good on what they've been tipped for, then in, say, 4-5 years time, they'll mostly all be in their peak and will have played together week in, week out for nearly that same period of time - you don't get that with buying in a couple £50m players from different sources, it's a chemistry that comes with building a team from the ground up.
It won't be overnight, and it might not work out that smoothly at all, but it's clear as day what Martinez is going for, and at the moment we're just building towards that. The future could be very bright indeed...just sayin.
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