The sharks are circling - Bobbys nonsense today seems to have caught the attention of those who merely raised an eyebrow at the Baines interview.
http://www.espnfc.co.uk/club/everto...nes-right-over-everton-martinez-woe-continues
Leighton Baines right over Everton criticism as Martinez's woe continues
The ESPN FC crew look at what has gone wrong at Everton this season.
Players stealing headlines with their words rather than their feet is a sure sign results are below expectations, whether it is
Romelu Lukaku setting his sightson Champions League football or
Leighton Baines discussing how Everton lack chemistry on the pitch.
It is easy to nod along with the Everton left-back's honest appraisal that "we're not where we should be" and "we haven't won enough games to make excuses". There was neither sensationalism nor attempts to pin another season of disappointment on hard luck. In a season of misspeak and false notes, this was a refreshingly honest assessment of a struggling side.
Addressing Baines' comments in his prematch news conference, manager Roberto Martinez said the player had apologised and had to "take responsibility" for his comments. The irony will not be lost on supporters, though, as Martinez has, at times, appeared to blame everything bar the colour of the grass for Everton's dreadful season. How can a manager who demonstrates zero responsibility for results on the pitch criticise his players for words spoken between matches.
Watford
Everton
12:00 AM ET
Game Details
However, nothing Baines said will surprise regular observers of this team. Everton do look short on chemistry on the pitch, there is no cohesion and are reliant on a select few to perform rescue acts. The damage caused by Gareth Barry's recent suspension highlights this worrying overreliance on certain players. Once Manchester United seized on the latest defensive error on Sunday, even the most ardent supporter could not compile a case for an away recovery.
Anthony Martial's second half goal ended the match as the contest. Against arguably the poorest Old Trafford side in recent memory, the visitors failed to create anything in open play. Only Phil Jagielka's presence at set pieces troubled the home side as the visitors played like strangers.
Confidence, belief and any other useful characteristics are absent. While prolonged inconsistency has haunted those in blue throughout the season, three successive league defeats and four losses in the last five has seen Everton finally hit rock bottom.
Earlier in the season, when points slipped away at a regular and thoroughly maddening rate, comfort existed in the performances; at least there was the hope results would follow. Everton were playing eye-catching football and dominating matches, they just needed to close them out and claim the results their play merited.
What is most worrying now though -- as performances worsen and the football lacks the imagination and invention evident earlier in the campaign -- is how there is precisely nothing to offer reassurance to beleaguered supporters ahead of a season-defining FA Cup semifinal in two weeks' time.
In the opening months, Everton could, to put it bluntly, attack but not defend. They are perfecting neither at present, having gone two matches (210 minutes in total) since their last Premier League goal. They last went three league games without a goal in April 2006. At the other end, it is five league matches without a clean sheet.
There is something fundamentally wrong when a team no longer looks like a team. Those in royal blue resemble 11 individuals assembled at the last minute, not a squad that Martinez has amassed across three seasons at the club. Baines has spent the best part of three seasons without any genuine support on the left flank. Aaron Lennon forlornly closed down several United players in possession on Sunday and needed a second wave of pressure to follow. It never arrived.
Whereas the best teams standout due to key partnerships across the pitch, there is scant evidence of such understanding at present. One of the few burgeoning partnerships, Lukaku and Ross Barkley, spent most of the Old Trafford defeat with half the pitch and over a dozen players between them.
Defeat at Manchester United extended Everton's losing run to three in the league.
This is perhaps the biggest area separating Everton from their reality and their aspirations. Too weak, lethargic and disjointed without the ball, there is a frustrating lack of aggression and spirit. When the intricate possession game falls short, endeavour and a display of backbone are a basic countermeasure.
Frustration only grows when assessing the better performances this season: all involved a hungry and driven team refusing the opposition any time or space. While others refuse to allow Everton to settle in possession, Martinez men's may as well roll out a red carpet and invite their opponents forward.
No sequence of results in the remaining league games can alter the landscape of another substandard campaign. The Blues sit 12th in the table, 16 points shy of the Champions League places and level on points with newly promoted Bournemouth. Chelsea endured a pitiful start to the season and sacked manager Jose Mourinho; they are now six points above Martinez's men.
Everton travel to Watford on Saturday needing a win but knowing it is still not enough to move into the top half while defeat would see their hosts overtake them. When these teams fought to a 2-2 draw on the opening day, few expected the two would reach the return fixture separated by a point in the bottom half.
Recent performances and results cannot continue. These remaining league matches are important if only to provide some modicum of form and begin rebuilding battered confidence with an FA Cup semifinal looming on the horizon. Enter Wembley in this shape and the only outcome is defeat.
