What a frustrating team Roberto Martínez’s Everton are. One week the sublime interplay dazzles with ‘Rom and Gerry’ (the nomenclature the Spaniard has adopted for Romelu Lukaku and Gerard Deulofeu) terrifying defences, the next they’re contriving to waste a host of chances and
allowing Norwich to come away with what would have seemed at half-time a scarcely credible point. If they showed any sign of consistency, they could have taken the Premier League by storm in the way that Leicester have. Instead, Claudio Ranieri takes the league leaders to Goodison Park in the last game before Christmas with Everton six points off the Champions League places and firmly in mid-table. Martínez has the building blocks of a top-level side, but supporters are beginning to doubt if he will ever be the man to get the most out of them. This will be all too familiar to Wigan fans, who watched with delight as he led them to a most unlikely FA Cup success,
followed all too quickly with a demoralising and hugely damaging relegation. If Martínez is to develop as a manager he needs to prove he can sustain form over the course of a season, rather than glimpses of magic interspersed with comic defending. If he can’t crack that there’s no way he’ll hold on to the likes of John Stones and Lukaku, and Everton will find themselves with one hell of a rebuilding job on their hands.
Toby Moses
