So called tactical geniuses

[mrb85]

Today we had the nonsense team selection and substitutions of Martinez.............and threw away 3 points.

Just previous to this we had van Gaal taking off his key players 'safe' in the knowledge the game at Leicester was won..................and throwing away 3 pts.

And a week or so ago we saw Rogers leave out his only matchwinner in the RS game v Villa ............. and throw away 3 pts.

Three much-heralded managers and I'd bet that in all 3 instances the majority of their clubs' supporters would have had grave concerns about the decisions but rationalised that the manager always know best.

Meanwhile a footballing dinosaur, Neil Warnock, makes Martinez look like a tactical donkey.

It's a funny old game. But one thing these instances do tell us is that you underestimate opponents and try and be too clever in the PL at your peril.

 

[toffee matt]

What did Neil Warnock do that made Martinez look like a donkey exactly?

 

[Hellerad]

Shame Roberto lined us up with Howard wearing lead boots and gloves.

And his decision to cut out the tongues of Stones and Jagielka is shocking.

And since when were opposing teams allowed to field 11 players in a compact, bus-like formation?

 

[L4Everton]

What did Neil Warnock do that made Martinez look like a donkey exactly?

Had a laugh with his pals on a rawkous website forum?

 

[Eric Djemba-Djemba]

He made a mistake putting Osman in.

He couldn't exactly do anything about Howard being a tit though could he? Imagine the fume if he'd dropped him for Robles after he'd had a stormer on Thursday.

Basically, LOL at you.

 

[ilikecheese]

It's like he lives to post negative stuff about Everton...

 

[EvertonFury19]

If anyone is at fault, it's Howard and I am sure he recognizes that today. He will get it together and rebound like he always has.

 

[Pienaar's gloves]

Few bad performances - at the back - and we get all sarky about a manager who we loved when it was all going well.

Take the good with the bad lads, no overreacting.

 

[tadpole]

Martinez is still the man.

But one point from 3 home games in the PL is not acceptable.

4 defeats in 6 at Goodison in the PL (15 goals conceded in those 4 games) is not acceptable.

Having the leakiest defence in the PL is not acceptable.

Martinez needs to sort this out, and fast.

 

[mrb85]

What did Neil Warnock do that made Martinez look like a donkey exactly?

For one he was content to let RM's side push the ball around meaninglessly for 20-25 minutes after our first goal. That sort of non-progressive passing may be beautiful to Roberto, but it is so predictable and one-paced that it just allows the opposition to settle down. He also didn't waste any of his substitutions, unlike RM with his RB switch. And he focussed what little attacking intent he had on using Belassie as his out ball, taking advantage of our weakness down that flank (weak not just because Stones is not experienced in that position and his replacement McCarthy just doesn't read the game from a FB perspective, but also because Atsu is not a protector).

In other words he let Everton fart around when we should have been going for the jugular, made sure his team kept its shape in the face of our switching the ball from flank to flank, and once they'd become more confident he then got them to press higher up the park, producing amongst other things, the dispossession of Osman for the third goal.

Football is not rocket science, whatever crap is often spoken by the modern manager. It's still 80% organisation and 20% individual abilities as Brian Clough once said (and proved).

Despite saying all this, I still think RM is the man. And that Warnock is crap.

 

[COYB]

i love bobby but i just wish after the games we should of won he didnt
bang on about how well we did or the other team the squad need discipline
an should drop anyone after a bad game straight away and use the depth that we have
losing 3-2 too palace theres no excuse what so ever they shouldnt even score 3 goals against us thats the kind of things he needs to say regardless what the oppisition thinks of him

 

[meagher94]

WARNOCK IN!

 

[cduff]

Apparently Big Sam out thought Rodgers too!
In fairness, they played some nice football WHU.

 

[Toffee-nerd]

It's funny how these things always come back on the manager.

It'd be fair kop if these players were young and it was a gamble starting them but the guys who have been making the mistakes so far this season are our veteran players. Between them Howard, Distin and Jags have cost us a lot of points this season. Stones has to be our first choice CB now. Nobody would have predicted we would have started the season so poorly from a defensive point of view. We have looked solid for the past 5 or 6 seasons and that has been our one strong point.

I don't really think the blame lies at Martinez's door, it's a player issue. Lack of concentration mainly. Saying that, it was obvious last season we were crying out for cover at RB/CB, Hibbo and Alcaraz aren't good enough if you want to be winning trophies and getting into the CL.

It's a turd start to the season but we have looked good going forward. We really need to sort out the defence 13 goals in 5 games in the league is unacceptable, the nature of the goals is diabolical. Any pressure and we just collapse at the back. It doesn't bode well for the derby. Wolfsburg was a much better performance and it looked as if we'd turned the corner but obviously not. We need to win at the pit and win well.

Our season starts on Saturday! Please Everton FFS

Edit: Less so Howard - He was immense against Wolfsburg.

 

[cduff]

I agree that it is hard for the manager to control player mistakes, especially Howard who played really well on Thursday.
However, I do think that starting with Atsu was a bit suss. As he hasn't had any game time to date (which i think he should have) then it would be better to bring him on later in the game with 20/30 mins to go.
Also, it is fairly obvious that John Stones cannot play the same RB role as Seamus. So, we probably should adjust to that tactically. IMHO it would have been better to go 4-3-3 and move some of the attacking emphasis up to MF.