Has it all gone a bit wrong?

[Timak]

Judging a manager by pre-season results is silly.

However equally silly are the people pretending Wigan played some kind of fantasy football. Everton played FAR better football under Moyes than Wigan did under Martinez.

 

[Timak]

Yes, that's just it though. Three months playing with purpose and freedom...then when the first sign of pressure comes Moyes had the team dumping the ball upfield asap- and they were relieved to use it. It's that type of security blanket Martinez is attempting to take away from this squad of players. 'Uncoaching' that mentality is an enormous task.

And that dumping the ball upfield asap gave us a superb defensive record and saw us accumulate 60 odd points.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

Spot on that. He's got a Herculean task coaching these players to have confidence in their own ability to keep the ball.

Dave mate, at times I think you've been in a deep freeze with old Nige since 2004 lad.

You make it sound like we were playing like one of Harry Bassett's sides last season, when the reality was we were often extremely pleasing on the eye & creating chances for fun.

 

[Brennan]

No it's not harsh at all to expect us to be ready for the start of the season.

I expect then that you were calling for Moyes' head two years ago around Christmas time, and the year before that. Because he consistently failed to do so until the most recent season.

Find it hilarious that people don't realise just how much of a sea change at a tactical level Martinez is undertaking, after years of being told to get the ball up the pitch as quickly as possible and play it to Baines at every opportunity it takes time.

 

[billycopper]

So Martinez has tried to implement some new tactics and it all looks fairly terrible at the moment, players don't look comfortable with the positions they're being asked to play and we look poor defensively. The signings he's made haven't been great in my opinion and he generally looks a bit lost on the touchline.

How long into the season do we give him if it's not working? We haven't kept a clean sheet this pre-season and alarm bells are ringing already for me.

Vienna- A fitness exercise. We only had half our first team back, a new 'keeper and we gifted them a goal.
Accrington Stanley- Same story.
Blackburn- Convincing win only marred by an error defending a corner, which we weren't so hot on last season, near the end.
Juventus- The Italian champions were fortunate to score through a mass of bodies.
Real- Both goals were borderline offside. The Spanish giants didn't take us to pieces.
Valencia- Another massive club with bags of European pedigree and our young side lost by a single goal.

I was concerned that we'd be the whipping boys for the tournament but we've held our own without resorting to parking the bus. Both Jelavic and Mirallas must be happy with their goalscoring form and we're showing that we can compete no matter what line up we put out, which was an issue under Moyes.

I'd have expected Martinez to know his best XI by now and to give them time to gel, especially if we're using a new system. It seems though that he wants to experiment as much as possible. I've no problem with that, as the players all know each other anyway and it keeps everyone on their toes.

Given that we've played in just one way for so long I think we're adapting very well to a new philosophy. I'm sure their will be a few hiccups at the start of the season, but I'm much more confident that we're heading in the right direction than I was when Martinez was first appointed.

 

[dannyboy]

I expect then that you were calling for Moyes' head two years ago around Christmas time, and the year before that. Because he consistently failed to do so until the most recent season.

Find it hilarious that people don't realise just how much of a sea change at a tactical level Martinez is undertaking, after years of being told to get the ball up the pitch as quickly as possible and play it to Baines at every opportunity it takes time.

Agreed it's going to take time to implement these new tactics, I just hope he's not stubborn enough to continue with them if it's simply not working.

At the moment our players just aren't comfortable enough on the ball to be stroking it round like a team on the continent.

 

[Del]

I think anyone who knows anything about football can see Martinez is out of his depth by a mile

Hes a Championship manager and nothing more, I really fear relegation this season, Lets just hope Moyes cocks up at Utd and is willing to come back here to save a sinking ship once again

 

[SwedishToffe]

I must be nuts ... I thought we looked pretty good in most games aside from of course the last game which was a hideous mess (but that happens to the best of them). I certainly expected it to take longer than a handful of pre-season games to change the way the team plays. So far, if anything, I'd say we look ahead of schedule.

Yeah there have been a few moments of confusion but guess what? That happens all the time even without changes. It's just if nothing has changed you chalk it up to pre-season rust; if we've made changes and have a new manager then its a fundamental flaw in tactics.

No worries from me yet. I'm fairly happy with how things have gone thus far.

THIS!

 

[steken1]

I expect then that you were calling for Moyes' head two years ago around Christmas time, and the year before that. Because he consistently failed to do so until the most recent season.

Find it hilarious that people don't realise just how much of a sea change at a tactical level Martinez is undertaking, after years of being told to get the ball up the pitch as quickly as possible and play it to Baines at every opportunity it takes time.

Where did I say he should be sacked if we don't start well?

I expect us to be ready at the start of the season every season.

If that means the manager persists with a system he doesn't favour over his own so be it. Changes can be made and experimented with in cups and in training until we're ready to win games with it.

The league isn't where you experiment. If we needed another four games to get it perfected he should have arranged another four.

I find it hilarious some people describe teaching international footballers how to pass and move a 'sea change'. Did you watch us play last season? And as for 'get it to Baines' Coleman and Mirallas both has excellent seasons last year playing off the right.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

If that means the manager persists with a system he doesn't favour over his own so be it. Changes can be made and experimented with in cups and in training until we're ready to win games with it.

The league isn't where you experiment. If we needed another four games to get it perfected he should have arranged another four.

I find it hilarious some people describe teaching international footballers how to pass and move a 'sea change'. Did you watch us play last season? And as for 'get it to Baines' Coleman and Mirallas both has excellent seasons last year playing off the right.

Spot on mate. What I find even equally amusing is that they're talking as if he's come from a side that played like Barcelona, when the reality is that their football was often absolute ****e.

 

[Goat]

But wigan played tiki taka all the way to der championship.

 

[Muggins]

But wigan played tiki taka all the way to der championship.

*Tika taka

 

[Goat]

*Tika taka

Crapa Flaka.

 

[Divver]

I think the point is that it doesn't really matter. Pre-season is all about achieving maximum fitness which obviously also means avoiding injury and in my opinion leads to a much lower level of commitment, particularly in midfield.

 

[BoysInBlue]

*Tika taka

To be fair, he was actually right, it's 'tiki taka'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiki-taka