Some desperately using the 'he's changed it round' that means 'we' won the argument line.
Hopeless.
Anyone who thinks a manager like RM is changing his style needs to give their heads a wobble. The pace of movement is increasing and the pace of pass is increasing. That's it.
Stats from OPTA on long ball passes by Everton (from WBA at home to Newcastle at home)
WBA 47
Palace 51
Liverpool 53
Chelsea 35
Leicester 50
Arsenal 51
Stoke 47
Newcastle 49
Doesn't exactly back that view up does it?
Any port in a storm though, I suppose.
I think he has changed it round, but there are to be a bit more subtlety than "just hoof it long" approach.
Statistics give us great reliability but I suppose watching the games gives you a bit of an insight as well. I think we are hitting Lukaku earlier and also they are not aimless passes at his head but increasingly to his feet or better still in behind. We are not just aimlessly whacking it long, nor has we completely abandoned the principles of keeping the ball. I'd hate to see us going back to using the "unsworth ball".
I think the speed of play going forward has also increased. Whether this is tactical or just that the players are now playing with a level of confidence to fulfil these requirements is up for debate. There has been a bit of a eureka moment between Lukaku, Martinez and the rest of the team over the last week or so. He is playing on the shoulder more, putting himself about better and we are feeding him with better service.
It's easy to take this away from the manager and say it's good fortune. There is some fortune in it, good managers are lucky managers. Having said that, all managers can stumble upon something but what separates managers is the ability to learn from it and adapt.
People think about Moyes great 451 formation was a master calculation thought out in his office. It wasn't. I remember Campbell being injured and suspended for Manchester United away. We had previously played Gravesen and Carsley in Central Midfield (unsuccessfully, we got whacked 4-1 at home to Arsenal). Cahill was due to make his debut. Moyes in typically conservative fashion deployed all 3 in a 4-5-1. We played well and drew 0-0. We kept the team the same and went on a winning run and it never changed after that.
It was good fortune of Campbell not being available that allowed that system to come into fruition. But the credit needs to go to Moyes generalising from it.
The same for Martinez. He played Kone up top with Lukaku to do a lot of his link up work for him and allow for Lukaku to focus on what he is good at. He also played Osman to provide some creativity.
The idea that just hoofing the ball like people are saying has been the change is untrue. There has been a change. I hope we can enjoy that developing over the next couple of months. We have a two month trial to improve now ready for next season. I think next season, with a couple of smart additions and Lukaku having really turned a corner we are going to be well worth watching. We hammered a team 3-0 yesterday without ever getting out of 2nd gear and struggling for confidence. Rather than pointing out an "I told you so" attitude I hope we can all enjoy the upturn in form.