I keep seeing the theme that the squad Martinez inherited was unbelievele and full of talent and that no other manager would ever take over a squad as good whilst at Everton.
I for one disagree completely.
I think the squad he was left was aging and unbalanced with players either having loads of game time or none. Its below for reference as of the end of the season 2012/13 with the players age at the time of departure also included.
J. Mucha 30
T. Howard 33
T. Hibbert 31 L. Baines 29 J. Heitinga 29 P. Jagielka 30
B. Oviedo 22 S. Distin 35 S. Coleman 24 J. Stones 18 S. Duffy 20
T. Browning 18
D. Gibson 26 T. Hitzlsperger 30 P. Neville 35 R. Barkley 19 L. Osman 31
S. Pienaar 30 M. Fellaini 25 Francisco Junior 20 M. Kennedy 18
N. Jelavić 27 K. Mirallas 25 S. Naismith 26 M. Gueye 22 A. Vellios 21
V. Anichebe 24
1 -Aging
If you look at the squad above, 11 out of 28 are 27 or over. Of these eleven, all of them bar Jan Mucha were regulars in the premiership.
2 - Unbalanced
Looking at the squad, there is a severe lack of depth in any positions as well as quality up top or in midfield. Moyes built his game on not conceding goals and that was where the quality lay. Martinez has had to change the whole attitude and sypnosis of the team from not losing to trying to win. This isnt a quick fix.
Look at that forward line up and midfield; there is zero depth. Out of the 15 names, only Jelavic, Gibson and Pienaar played their natural position. Other regulars i.e. Mirallas, Naismith, Neville, Osman, Fellaini - they all played where they had to. Jack of all trades, masters of none.
Look at the others in the squad; the young lads. Just how many appearances did the likes of Stones, Duffy, Vellios, Gueye, Kennedy, Browning all play under Moyes? 10 max I imagine in total.
Martinez has had to replace these in the squad with better quality; I name the likes now of Oviedo, Garbutt, Etoo, Osman, Kone, Pienaar, Alcaraz (Distin), Robles, Gibson as our back up now. Whilst he has been able to spend more, he has had to spend it on a wider scale building up a squad.
Some of them would have either been regulars under Moyes or are new into the club. The squad was so imbalanced in that you either played or you didnt; it wasnt a 20 man squad as it is now under Martinez. Your first eleven played and you would be lucky if you got a game after that.
Martinez has had to grow the squad and has infintely improved it quality wise as well as depth.
You cant argue that McCarthy, Lukaku, Besic, Barry and the young lads who have come on under Martinez in Barkley and Stones haven't improved the squad. Its immeasurably better in my opinion.
Imagine who would have been playing now if we had the injury crisis we have had this year under Moyes.
The argument Martinez was left a great squad is completely flawed in my opinion and as you can see now, it needs ripping up completely as the great squad he was left was in fact an aging, imbalanced, inexperienced SQUAD with only a core of experienced players playing regularly and even then, they were jack of all trades, masters of none.
I for one disagree completely.
I think the squad he was left was aging and unbalanced with players either having loads of game time or none. Its below for reference as of the end of the season 2012/13 with the players age at the time of departure also included.
J. Mucha 30
T. Howard 33
T. Hibbert 31 L. Baines 29 J. Heitinga 29 P. Jagielka 30
B. Oviedo 22 S. Distin 35 S. Coleman 24 J. Stones 18 S. Duffy 20
T. Browning 18
D. Gibson 26 T. Hitzlsperger 30 P. Neville 35 R. Barkley 19 L. Osman 31
S. Pienaar 30 M. Fellaini 25 Francisco Junior 20 M. Kennedy 18
N. Jelavić 27 K. Mirallas 25 S. Naismith 26 M. Gueye 22 A. Vellios 21
V. Anichebe 24
1 -Aging
If you look at the squad above, 11 out of 28 are 27 or over. Of these eleven, all of them bar Jan Mucha were regulars in the premiership.
2 - Unbalanced
Looking at the squad, there is a severe lack of depth in any positions as well as quality up top or in midfield. Moyes built his game on not conceding goals and that was where the quality lay. Martinez has had to change the whole attitude and sypnosis of the team from not losing to trying to win. This isnt a quick fix.
Look at that forward line up and midfield; there is zero depth. Out of the 15 names, only Jelavic, Gibson and Pienaar played their natural position. Other regulars i.e. Mirallas, Naismith, Neville, Osman, Fellaini - they all played where they had to. Jack of all trades, masters of none.
Look at the others in the squad; the young lads. Just how many appearances did the likes of Stones, Duffy, Vellios, Gueye, Kennedy, Browning all play under Moyes? 10 max I imagine in total.
Martinez has had to replace these in the squad with better quality; I name the likes now of Oviedo, Garbutt, Etoo, Osman, Kone, Pienaar, Alcaraz (Distin), Robles, Gibson as our back up now. Whilst he has been able to spend more, he has had to spend it on a wider scale building up a squad.
Some of them would have either been regulars under Moyes or are new into the club. The squad was so imbalanced in that you either played or you didnt; it wasnt a 20 man squad as it is now under Martinez. Your first eleven played and you would be lucky if you got a game after that.
Martinez has had to grow the squad and has infintely improved it quality wise as well as depth.
You cant argue that McCarthy, Lukaku, Besic, Barry and the young lads who have come on under Martinez in Barkley and Stones haven't improved the squad. Its immeasurably better in my opinion.
Imagine who would have been playing now if we had the injury crisis we have had this year under Moyes.
The argument Martinez was left a great squad is completely flawed in my opinion and as you can see now, it needs ripping up completely as the great squad he was left was in fact an aging, imbalanced, inexperienced SQUAD with only a core of experienced players playing regularly and even then, they were jack of all trades, masters of none.
