POLL: Have Everton been a more enjoyable side to watch under Martinez so far?

[orly]

Superb football? Baines and pienaer played some superb football, but as a team we never.
It was basically long punts to felli who brought it down, passed on to baines who linked up with pienaer and they would do the damage, occasionally mirralles would do something on his own

Mirallas vs Swansea away last season is one of the finest pieces of counterattacking football Everton have played in a decade. Brilliant team goal.

I don't think we control a 90 minutes as well as we have done on previous seasons but 2nd half vs West Ham and 1st half vs Newcastle are examples of how I'd love us to play football.

 

[orly]

just not having that little yes man phil neville at the club makes everything more attractive in every way

... but ultimately, I think this is the core reason behind our improvement.

 

[Kay20]

Yes - I love the new players, and watching Lukaku is tons of fun.

 

[Kurt.]

just not having that little yes man phil neville at the club makes everything more attractive in every way

Sorry mate but I'm not having that..... In his time here he may not have been the best player but his attitude and professionalism were second to none and he demanded that same commitment from every player in the team.... His whole attitude lifted standards of the players around hm n my opinion...... Regardless of what some supporters think of him I will always respect the man for the mentality he brought to the club with him.

 

[Jags..class]

Sorry mate but I'm not having that..... In his time here he may not have been the best player but his attitude and professionalism were second to none and he demanded that same commitment from every player in the team.... His whole attitude lifted standards of the players around hm n my opinion...... Regardless of what some supporters think of him I will always respect the man for the mentality he brought to the club with him.

Does this mean he should have been one of our key players over the last 19 months tho? sometimes it was like playing with 10 men

 

[Kurt.]

Does this mean he should have been one of our key players over the last 19 months tho? sometimes it was like playing with 10 men

I never said that though did I ? And no , he shouldn't have been, but his presence and the way he conducted himself was a lesson to the youngsters at the club, a better role model in football would be hard to find. He is/was the epitome of making the most of a talent he had no matter how limited ( compared to others ) that talent was.

 

[Jags..class]

I never said that though did I ? And no , he shouldn't have been, but his presence and the way he conducted himself was a lesson to the youngsters at the club, a better role model in football would be hard to find. He is/was the epitome of making the most of a talent he had no matter how limited ( compared to others ) that talent was.

The point we're better at a team without him, he was Moyes weakness, he should have retired and became a coach for Moyes while at Everton, his rally calls use to annoy me as well and also he outbust at the fans when they booed Moyes was out of order as well.

 

[Kurt.]

The point we're better at a team without him, he was Moyes weakness, he should have retired and became a coach for Moyes while at Everton, his rally calls use to annoy me as well and also he outbust at the fans when they booed Moyes was out of order as well.

I hear what you're saying, honestly.... The man though is a waking contradiction if you like, in many ways he proved to be one of moyes' best signings (not for footballing ability alone), but in other ways he became an easy target for people to blame and abuse when Moyes continued to select him when it was clear to Stevie wonder that hs leg had gone.

 

[Elong]

I hear what you're saying, honestly.... The man though is a waking contradiction if you like, in many ways he proved to be one of moyes' best signings (not for footballing ability alone), but in other ways he became an easy target for people to blame and abuse when Moyes continued to select him when it was clear to Stevie wonder that hs leg had gone.

Exactly. He didn't pick himself in the team did he? The first few years of his career for us he was actually decent. Had Gareth Bale in his pocket vs Spurs a few years ago as one example that springs to mind.

 

[Kurt.]

Exactly. He didn't pick himself in the team did he? The first few years of his career for us he was actually decent. Had Gareth Bale in his pocket vs Spurs a few years ago as one example that springs to mind.

I just can't hate on the guy Longy.

*shrugs shoulders

 

[Elong]

I just can't hate on the guy Longy.

*shrugs shoulders

People like to judge on the here and now and forget the past. I remember some posters like Jags raving about Moyes and how he was the best thing since sliced bread and now can't stand him when we showed her the dark side very topsy turvy.

 

[Khalekan]

Sorry mate but I'm not having that..... In his time here he may not have been the best player but his attitude and professionalism were second to none and he demanded that same commitment from every player in the team.... His whole attitude lifted standards of the players around hm n my opinion...... Regardless of what some supporters think of him I will always respect the man for the mentality he brought to the club with him.

Up until Wigan I would have agreed with every word of that, Kurt and indeed I am on record on here as saying he might have been the man to succeed Moyes when he eventually left.

But not now......and I have highlighted the part I no longer agree with.

In the aftermath of that debacle he wrote an article in the national press saying that "finishing in the top ten is phenomenal for a club like Everton".

If that was his own mindset then I am thinking he would have transmitted it to those around him and the only "standards" he raised others to were standards of averageness.

I just get the feeling now that Neville was always hankering after an OT return and like Moyes, adopting a no frills, no risk, steady hand on the tiller at a very big "small" club like Everton was the perfect way to negotiate what he regarded as a stepping stone to achieving his aim.

 

[banno]

I didn't mind Neville at the beginning. He give us a couple of decent years and I always preferred him at right back than hibbo. It was in the midfield that he was found wanting and what I cannot understand is the fact that many Evertonians could see his decline over the last few seasons but Moyes persisted with him. Didn't make sense.

 

[Foot Long Hot Dog]

I seem to remember that around this point last season we were lauding a stat that said we'd created more chances than any other side in Europe & we were averaged something daft like 20 shots per game.

& yet to read some of the comments on here, you'd think were playing like Stoke...

That said, I can see what Martinez is trying to achieve in terms of our playing style & it's already possible to see glimpses of what the future hopefully holds in spells during our games to date.

I just think the entire, "we were dull before, now we're ace" is a complete misnomer

 

[Tubey]

I seem to remember that around this point last season we were lauding a stat that said we'd created more chances than any other side in Europe & we were averaged something daft like 20 shots per game.

& yet to read some of the comments on here, you'd think were playing like Stoke...

That said, I can see what Martinez is trying to achieve in terms of our playing style & it's already possible to see glimpses of what the future hopefully holds in spells during our games to date.

I just think the entire, "we were dull before, now we're ace" is a complete misnomer

We were playing very well last year early on under Moyes like you say - in fact, we were a few points better off IIRC.

But I think it isn't a misnomer to look at Moyes' reign over the last few years when answering this question. Martinez has clearly started off looking to play a certain style of football that was foreign to Moyes's style. Even when we were doing well last year, it wasn't the same as it was more of a direct, fast paced, bulldozer style of football that was enjoyable to watch purely because it was effective rather than because it was technically sound.