Roberto Martinez Discussion - Including Live Poll (Poll Reset 1st May)

[Wat Tyler]

forget replacing Martinez with Ferguson for the season if he's sacked. I want Hibbo.

Joseph Royle

 

[Toffeeslam]

forget replacing Martinez with Ferguson for the season if he's sacked. I want Hibbo.

Hasn't Hibbo gone fishing ?

 

[AndyC]

When I consider this season it does get harder an harder to justify. If we think back to the autumn when we had despatched Sunderland & Villa scoring 10 goals in the process (both had new managers and were doing ok) it looked like things had turned. We just never capitalised (for reasons I'll suggest below).

Back then we had a centre forward who was leading the scoring charts (and has continued too). A midfielder in Barkley who was not far off Mahrez in the scoring and assist charts (certainly not when you consider how much Mahrez has slowed down) and Deulofeu who had a similar number of assists to Ozil. While Lukaku's form has remained quite consistent, Barkley and Deulofeu have tailed off.

The question I though, imagine if we'd have kept those 3 playing well where we might be. Imagine having say, Harry Kane, Mahrez and Ozil in your team? All you would have to do is ensure the other 7 kept things tight and you would do well not to win the league, never mind not be competing or it. It would be astonishing the idea that you'd be in 14th. Yet this is where we found ourselves. All Leicester have done is essentially that, had Mahrez and Vardy and made sure everyone else kept things tight. The only difference we had was that we had an additional attacking talent over them!

You can see now though, complacency set in big time. Against Sunderland we stopped with 20 minutes to play. We could have scored 8-9 had we continued. Against Villa even more so, we stopped after an hour when w could have also scored 7/8. I never worried about it much at the time but it us built a complacency. I remember Alex Fergusan saying, the season City won the league with Aguero that he knew his side had lost it when they through away a two goal lead in a 4-4 game Everton. They still had a 6 point advantage at that point and went on to throw more points away, but he said he turned to his assistant when we equalised and said "that's it the leagues done". He qualified this by stating once complacency sets in you are finished.

Shortly after the two games I mention, we whacked Norwich and drew and were cruising against Bournemouth and drew. In both those games a top team, with a top manager would have won by a cricket score (particularly Norwich). The players to me though reflect the manager who is complacent. I don't think he or the players really know how to break free from that.

We went from having 3 of the most potent attacking weapon and just needing to be solid to ripping up the whole structure. It really is simple when you get to that point. You have star men, you then have 7 covering for them. Central defenders defend, fullbacks stay goalside and stop crosses, and midfielders cover preventing the opposition playing. That is what Leicester have done.

Yet we had a goalkeeper who was useless and a centre half who wanted to play like Maldini. Fullbacks who wanted to be wingers and midfield players who have not proved up to the job at covering the increasingly insurmountable holes that have appeared. We then changed the system to cover for this. Sometimes playing 3 centre halves. Sometimes dropping Deulofeu to play 2 more defensive wingers in the team etc. All because, from what I can see Martinez will not tell his team to be pragmatic at times.

It's very hard to justify that. He let complacency set in in the hope we would annihilate teams every week. It doesn't work like that. We had done the hard work as well. All that was needed was a bit if discipline from the team and we could have been in and around the top 4.

Bravo, quality posting !!

 

[Jimmy1]

Applauds - well said.

Cracking post. Sums it up perfectly. He's had two seasons to get the balance right and failed so its increasingly hard to defend him.

 

[a bell maul]

Cracking post. Sums it up perfectly. He's had two seasons to get the balance right and failed so its increasingly hard to defend him.

...it's actually impossible to defend him. Kindred spirit on this forum (@oldblue et al) have been arguing such axiom since they joined GOT a few months ago.

 

[Garrick]

@Garrick thoughts on JK to Everton?

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

I'M CRYING. ACTUALLY CRYING. SINGLE TEAR, DOWN THE CHEEK

@ijjysmith YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PAIN.

THE SUFFERING

THE PURE AGONY OF IT ALL

Oh, he, just like Martinez, also just looooooooooves playing people out of position and focusing on possession without any sort of end product. Except we're still not that great with the ball, because apparently Klinsmann's idea of training is just to run a lot, all of the time.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

When I consider this season it does get harder an harder to justify. If we think back to the autumn when we had despatched Sunderland & Villa scoring 10 goals in the process (both had new managers and were doing ok) it looked like things had turned. We just never capitalised (for reasons I'll suggest below).

Back then we had a centre forward who was leading the scoring charts (and has continued too). A midfielder in Barkley who was not far off Mahrez in the scoring and assist charts (certainly not when you consider how much Mahrez has slowed down) and Deulofeu who had a similar number of assists to Ozil. While Lukaku's form has remained quite consistent, Barkley and Deulofeu have tailed off.

The question I though, imagine if we'd have kept those 3 playing well where we might be. Imagine having say, Harry Kane, Mahrez and Ozil in your team? All you would have to do is ensure the other 7 kept things tight and you would do well not to win the league, never mind not be competing or it. It would be astonishing the idea that you'd be in 14th. Yet this is where we found ourselves. All Leicester have done is essentially that, had Mahrez and Vardy and made sure everyone else kept things tight. The only difference we had was that we had an additional attacking talent over them!

You can see now though, complacency set in big time. Against Sunderland we stopped with 20 minutes to play. We could have scored 8-9 had we continued. Against Villa even more so, we stopped after an hour when w could have also scored 7/8. I never worried about it much at the time but it us built a complacency. I remember Alex Fergusan saying, the season City won the league with Aguero that he knew his side had lost it when they through away a two goal lead in a 4-4 game Everton. They still had a 6 point advantage at that point and went on to throw more points away, but he said he turned to his assistant when we equalised and said "that's it the leagues done". He qualified this by stating once complacency sets in you are finished.

Shortly after the two games I mention, we whacked Norwich and drew and were cruising against Bournemouth and drew. In both those games a top team, with a top manager would have won by a cricket score (particularly Norwich). The players to me though reflect the manager who is complacent. I don't think he or the players really know how to break free from that.

We went from having 3 of the most potent attacking weapon and just needing to be solid to ripping up the whole structure. It really is simple when you get to that point. You have star men, you then have 7 covering for them. Central defenders defend, fullbacks stay goalside and stop crosses, and midfielders cover preventing the opposition playing. That is what Leicester have done.

Yet we had a goalkeeper who was useless and a centre half who wanted to play like Maldini. Fullbacks who wanted to be wingers and midfield players who have not proved up to the job at covering the increasingly insurmountable holes that have appeared. We then changed the system to cover for this. Sometimes playing 3 centre halves. Sometimes dropping Deulofeu to play 2 more defensive wingers in the team etc. All because, from what I can see Martinez will not tell his team to be pragmatic at times.

It's very hard to justify that. He let complacency set in in the hope we would annihilate teams every week. It doesn't work like that. We had done the hard work as well. All that was needed was a bit if discipline from the team and we could have been in and around the top 4.

Nailed it mate.

Great post

 

[Jimmy1]

...it's actually impossible to defend him. Kindred spirit on this forum (@oldblue et al) have been arguing such axiom since they joined GOT a few months ago.

Well thats the posters I was alluding to.

 

[blulouie]

Eddie Howe aside , Martinez is the 4th longest serving manager with his current club........frightening !

 

[ijjysmith]

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

I'M CRYING. ACTUALLY CRYING. SINGLE TEAR, DOWN THE CHEEK

@ijjysmith YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PAIN.

View attachment 21032
THE SUFFERING

View attachment 21033

THE PURE AGONY OF IT ALL

View attachment 21034

Oh, he, just like Martinez, also just looooooooooves playing people out of position and focusing on possession without any sort of end product. Except we're still not that great with the ball, because apparently Klinsmann's idea of training is just to run a lot, all of the time.

Why would I know the pain mate?

I sort of want him because it will cause more fume. Then on the off chance he's boss the backtracking would be beautiful.

Fierce.

 

[a bell maul]

Well thats the posters I was alluding to.

 

[Garrick]

Why would I know the pain mate?

I sort of want him because it will cause more fume. Then on the off chance he's boss the backtracking would be beautiful.

Fierce.

I might have to quit on being a football fan, including Everton, if he's the next manager.

Because it's looking like the Gods do not want me to be one.

 

[a bell maul]

Why would I know the pain mate?

I sort of want him because it will cause more fume. Then on the off chance he's boss the backtracking would be beautiful.

Fierce.

keep up mate

 

[TheHumbleEgg]

I've just come off the phone to a mate who has himself in - as me old Ma would say - 'a bit of a doo-dah...'

This is kinda how it went...

'Imagine though mate...a permanent, classy manager is sorted for next season, it's boss...but MOYES comes in 'til the end of THIS season, to steady it all. His first game is the Derby. We turn them over, it's a different side entirely... His next is against MAN UTD in the semi...the atmos is horrible...UTD think it'll be a doddle, that the Derby was a one off...and we BATTER them...tellin' ya mate, it's written, mark my words etc etc...'

'You had a drink kid?'

'Yes mate, afternoon off an' that, lovely out...'

'Sound'.

Still, if it makes him happy I suppose.

 

[Garrick]

I am seriously ill right now, and I don't think it's the hangover.