Roberto Martinez has called on the need for his side to break their mentality when it comes to “going to the big grounds”
Everton´s former manager, David Moyes, notoriously failed to conjure up a win at Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool in his 11 years at the Club and previously stated that whenever he took his Everton side to face United on their own turf his objective was “to get out of Old Trafford alive” – little wonder then, that perhaps inevitably the Scot never won at the ground as an opposition manager.
It´s that mentality Martinez is adamant his side need to address as Everton travel to Old Trafford to take on Man Utd on Wednesday, before taking on Arsenal at the Emirates at the weekend and the Everton boss isn´t shying away from the importance of the week.
Martinez: “This week will have a huge bearing on our season, it would be very easy for me to play it down but we are going to go to Old Trafford and the Emirates.
“They are games that we are not expected to win but, clearly, if we want to achieve something special, we need to be able to break the mentality of going to the big grounds and getting some wins.
“Over the last 10 years, we have not beaten Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool at their grounds and we need to address that. We need to make sure we are ourselves,”
“We need to know how we are going to play and who we are. We are excited about going to Old Trafford.”
“If you are going to be brave and try to win games rather than just being in a position where you want to keep a clean sheet and get through in damage-limitation situations, then you need to be flexible as a player and as a team and play in different ways in the modern game”
“That is the attitude we have had from the beginning. We have had one defeat in 13.
“The next test and the next challenge is can we go to the big places like the Old Trafford, the Emirates, Anfield and Stamford Bridge and get wins? That is not going to happen overnight. Probably on Wednesday will be the first step towards achieving that.”