Another game
without a win at Goodison saw Roberto Martinez’s side leave the field to a
chorus of boo’s as they continued their bad run of form with a 0-0 draw at home
to Tony Pulis’ West Brom side. The draw makes it just one win in thirteen for
the Toffees and sees them lying in 12th place only 4 points clear of
the relegation zone.
Roberto
Martinez’s side have been struggling all season having won only five games this
campaign and collecting just 23 points from the first twenty two games, a huge
regression from last season where they finished 5th narrowly missing
out on the top4 to Arsenal.
Last nights
draw brought it to three home games without a win since they overcame QPR. Not only
have they struggled at home, their way form has been terrible, they have lost
their last five games on the road and Martinez may be starting to feel the
pressure of the recent run.
Why Everton
have performed so badly this season is a question that many people have been
asking and it’s not that much of a mystery. Everton have been playing in the
Europa League this season and as we have seen in the past with the likes of
Spurs and Newcastle, the Europa League commitments take a lot out of the
players and with Everton having a relatively small squad they’ve struggled to
cope with the amount of games. Everton were impressive in their group in the
Europa League finishing top in a group that included both Wolfsburg and Lille,
due to this success they will have to continue to cope with a large amount of
games when the knockout stages begin in February.
Their
European exploits may excuse their poor form to a certain extent but it does
not explain all of the bad performances the Everton faithful have had to endure
this campaign. In Martinez’s first season Everton built themselves on a strong
back four conceding only 39 goals in the entire season. Compare that to this
season in which they have conceded 34 goals after twenty two games. Their
defensive displays have been somewhat reminiscent of Martinez’s relegation
troubled Wigan team.
Not only has
their defence struggled this season, up front main striker Lukaku has also
failed to reach the heights of last season scoring just 6 goals thus far but he
still has time to recapture his form and make it to the 15 Premier League goals
he scored last season. The £28 million price tag may be a burden for the big
Belgian but some of the blame for the lack of goals must be given to the rest
of the team who have not been creating enough chances for the striker.
The delivery
into the box last night by Baines, Coleman, Barry and some of the other
midfielders was terrible, the amount of times they failed to beat the first man
was shocking and must be of concern for Martinez.
Fluent,
attractive, attacking football were words associated with Everton last season
but this season they have not implemented their style to any real effect. The
urgency and quick passing that made them such a threat last season has been
lost and been replaced by a laboured passing style that offers no real threat
to a well drilled defence like the West Brom back four they came up against
last night. The injuries to key players James McCarthy, Leon Osman and Steven
Pienaar have been detrimental and have played a big part in their poor form.
As if things
weren’t bad enough for Martinez, last nights Mirallas penalty incident shed new
light on the possibility there is unrest within the camp. Mirallas appeared to
take the penalty from designated penalty taker Leighton Baines and subsequently
missed. The decision by Mirallas to disregard team orders maybe suggests a lack
of control over the team by Roberto Martinez. Another problem in an ever
growing list for the Spaniard.
Everton’s
next outing is a trip to Selhurst Park followed by the visit of Liverpool in
the second Merseyside derby of the season, failure to win at least one of those
games could see the end of Martinez’s reign as Everton manager.
photo credit: illarterate via photopin cc
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