Seasons » 2015-16 » Everton News
Martinez plays up squad unity


Press reports earlier this week on The Telegraph and NBC Soccer websites suggested that some of the players had voiced their concerns at the Blues' approach to games following another home defeat last weekend.
Martinez has responded by saying that such speculation is to be expected "when you get disappointment or a frustrating result".
"I don’t think there should even be a concern about [player discontent]," he told the press today. “We are a very tight unit.
“Every player needs to do what they are very, very good at and that is the only tactic. You have to do things for the team and that is where, clearly, we need to be clear in what we do.
“But the only tactic in football that matters is giving everything you’ve got and play for the shirt and representing Everton in the best possible manner.
“When you get disappointment or a frustrating result, you are going to get that sort of speculation.
“What you need to look at is the way the team performs, the way the team starts and the talent they have to go and be brave and compete in every game we go in to."
Reader Comments (75)
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2 Posted 10/03/2016 at 18:56:10
The tone-deaf ramblings of a soon to be deposed leader. I feel our players have put forth great effort and some fine performances this season but these things are not the same as tactics. RM's tactics are what are costing us games, especially games we seemingly have locked up. If you wish to continue saying things that offer no substance or insight into how to right our severely listing ship, do yourself a favor and just stop talking.
3 Posted 10/03/2016 at 18:57:09
4 Posted 10/03/2016 at 18:57:53
eh?
Taxi
5 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:06:57
We have had some poor results this season, I can't recall one of them having anything to do with disunity.
6 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:12:22
None of us want to damage the club but supporting this fraudster is doing just that.
7 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:16:31
I'm sure the virus going on at Finch Farm this week will have also already provided sufficient new material with which to prepare this weeks excuses?!! And we go on and on and on ....
9 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:29:36
10 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:40:23
English may be his second language but the cliches and soundbites are becoming more and more hard to take, this despite me being in a great moment and keeping up my phenomenal support......
11 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:48:39
12 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:52:28
... and finishes? He's becoming a parody of himself. Getting sad.
13 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:52:58
14 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:56:55
15 Posted 10/03/2016 at 19:58:20
16 Posted 10/03/2016 at 20:03:06
17 Posted 10/03/2016 at 20:05:41
18 Posted 10/03/2016 at 20:11:48
19 Posted 10/03/2016 at 20:47:03
20 Posted 10/03/2016 at 20:48:38
21 Posted 10/03/2016 at 20:55:37
But along with that you need direction, you need a clear instruction of how to play in the way we want to play and do a lot of ground work on every possible area of the game to become good and has good has we possibly can be to get the best out of every individual so that has a collective, we get the right results on match days.
And I'm sorry Bobby lad, but the players aren't getting that from you right now and for the best part of nearly 2 seasons they haven't either!
22 Posted 10/03/2016 at 21:21:38
23 Posted 10/03/2016 at 21:27:46
24 Posted 10/03/2016 at 21:30:36
How many Kones I wonder before they are off again.
25 Posted 10/03/2016 at 21:37:10
Dude, please shut up.
26 Posted 10/03/2016 at 21:54:58
We haven't got a general who is able to give his fellow teamates a bollocking when they deserve one we need a Peter Reid / Roy Keane type character in this team someone with balls.
27 Posted 10/03/2016 at 22:03:52
28 Posted 10/03/2016 at 22:05:11
Get the investment in. Keep Rom, Geri, Ross and Stones. Play one defensive midfielder. Get a few more in. Give Bobby one more year and stay positive.
29 Posted 10/03/2016 at 22:09:25
30 Posted 10/03/2016 at 22:28:23
Time is up and someone who can improved us with regards defending as well as attacking needs to take up the reigns and make us great again.
31 Posted 10/03/2016 at 22:33:26
What about what they're not so good at? Like defending corners and set pieces, for starters. That would be a hell of a tactic!
32 Posted 10/03/2016 at 22:36:19
33 Posted 10/03/2016 at 23:06:11
These comments from Martinez, amongst others, are starting to sound like a death rattle. The signs of forthcoming change are there and this pattern has been repeated hundreds of times, by hundreds of managers at hundreds of clubs. I suspect he knows his time is up at the end of the season.
34 Posted 10/03/2016 at 23:19:21
35 Posted 10/03/2016 at 23:21:22
With every interview comes the opportunity to hold his hands up and admit he's made mistakes.
With every opportunity missed he hammers another nail into his GP coffin.
He either doesn't realise he's making mistakes or he's way too proud to admit them. Either way he's not changing anytime soon.
Even Moyes sometimes admitted he made mistakes! It's an arrogance which will continue to alienate fans and eventually players!
36 Posted 10/03/2016 at 23:39:20
"Clearly we need to be clear". Yes, Bobby, we need to be clear how to defend a two-goal advantage with twenty minutes to go for starters?!! How can a manager assemble such a high calibre squad and make them play so inconsistently and be totally clueless at defending crosses?? We are in the top 3 for scoring goals but have lost seven games at home???
I am still positive about EFC for the future but it doesn't half age you with RM in charge?! I wouldn't be surprised if there are some disgruntled players in the ranks, I would be having seen some of his substitutions of recent months.
Ah well... I am going to keep taking the pills and hope RM can turn this season around, if he can't then he should seriously start looking at a new career path. Maybe auditioning for Britain's Got Talent would be wise as he has definitely got the moves like Jagger or should I say Jadon Derulo? It would be a phenomenal, incredible moment. COYB NSNO
37 Posted 10/03/2016 at 23:47:20
Dick (24) - what is this Mirallas bandwagon and where can I jump on it?
Would love you to clarify what it is but in the absence of certainty I'll point out that playing with Kone has been like 10 men for some time. Give me Mirallas any day of the week.
38 Posted 11/03/2016 at 00:10:55
When is this nightmare going to end?
39 Posted 11/03/2016 at 00:23:12
Once again I am baffled by what comes out of his mouth. Can somebody please tell him to stop talking nonsense and own up to some mistakes he has made.
COYB!
40 Posted 11/03/2016 at 00:29:20
On these pages leading up to the WH game there was a growing crescendo of calls for Mirallas to be included in the team. The calls were various and widespread and typical bandwagon stuff.
After his yellow card for a blatant dive quickly followed by his second yellow/Red for a reckless tackle I very much doubt if that bandwagon is open for members.
42 Posted 11/03/2016 at 00:34:19
He came live on TV and told the world that the only difference on the day was set pieces.
I watched the whole game on sky, with replays etc, and his words totally blew my mind.
Since that day I can't stomach listening to him, reading the above shite he has spouted goes a long way to justifying my not watching or listening to anything he has to say.
How much more can we take.
44 Posted 11/03/2016 at 01:52:33
And you don't need to look at the results and league table.
OOOOOOOMG!
45 Posted 11/03/2016 at 04:28:48
46 Posted 11/03/2016 at 05:31:40
If he could swallow his pride and get a proper defensive coach in, I think we would do the business. He won't though, so he can do one.
47 Posted 11/03/2016 at 06:23:46
As my wise old man used to say, "Son, if you've got nothing to say, don't say anything at all."
49 Posted 11/03/2016 at 06:46:59
Not content with destroying weekend after weekend, I then hear, or read, some of the most deluded and self-congratulatory rhetoric he regularly spouts in his so-called press conferences, where, in true politician style, he manages to evade direct questions by coming out with sentence after sentence of meaningless drivel, further challenging my by now enfeebled brain in an attempt to retain my grip on reality.
There was a time I could watch the game, sometimes just the highlights on MotD, then basically go through the week until the next game... maybe just with the odd chat about football or Everton with friends, until the next game came around.
Now, however, almost every day, I find myself worrying about the future of my great club, and that of so many others.
When Martinez speaks of character or unity, I think back to Wembley, 1966, where I, as a young lad of 13, saw an Everton team display real character and unity in coming from 2-0 down to defeat Sheffield Wednesday 3-2. What a day, what a feeling! And let's be fair, Wednesday didn't 'do an Everton' and throw away a two-goal lead by poor defending or lack of backbone. They were beaten by a team that, on the day, wore them down in a great game of football so much so, they were given a city tour in an open top bus, even as losers, as we became only the second team in history to win the cup after being two behind. Only Sir Stanley Matthews' Blackpool had done it before us.
That, Roberto is what character and unity are all about not just turning up as individuals and doing what you're good at each week.
You call that tactics? You call that a game plan? I call it naïve stupidity, but like many others I will continue in my vicious circle of masochistic self-harm by continuing to support the team I love in the hope that, while I'm still alive and before my heart condition kills me, you are got rid of before you totally destroy the team I've loved all my life.
There, I've confessed... now, please can Mr Moshiri, Bill Kenwright, anybody in authority, rid us of this charlatan before watching Everton requires a public health warning, as SUPPORTING EVERTON CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH!
50 Posted 11/03/2016 at 06:58:38
While I respect the fact that he's put together a very talented squad of players, they are nowhere near being a team. I can't ever see it happening with Roberto in charge.
51 Posted 11/03/2016 at 07:06:09
How transparently stupid is this see through idiot.
52 Posted 11/03/2016 at 07:16:51
53 Posted 11/03/2016 at 07:30:23
Manager... coach... I think what he wants to be more than anything else is a great leader. Anyone who has ever studied leadership theory will see it in his actions and words. He's a brave man, following a pathway that he believes in. I can respect that, but he lacks humility and the ability to drive results, which is where I lose respect for him.
54 Posted 11/03/2016 at 07:31:02
I burst out laughing at that one. Absolute nonsense.
Every answer he gives is designed so that nobody can even remember the question.
55 Posted 11/03/2016 at 07:35:58
Distin, Baines, Osman (book), Garbutt, just a few off the top of my head who've questioned RMs methods... I'm sure a hell of a lot more has been said behind closed doors too.
Lose tomorrow and surely it's finally adios.
56 Posted 11/03/2016 at 07:59:51
Just get out on that pitch at 5:30 pm tomorrow in front of the nation and for once make us proud.
I hate to admit it, but at least Klopp has that lot playing with more passion again for the shirt and working hard in front of their own fans; how I wish I saw an Everton team that was not endlessly dogged by the same old hard luck stories or glorious failures.
Tomorrow is the time to end the talk we don't want more hard luck stories, more blame on something else. Just get out there and WIN..
57 Posted 11/03/2016 at 08:01:33
58 Posted 11/03/2016 at 08:39:05
He can't even manage his own situation, by getting himself a better defensive coach, or he can't manage to see the one he has is not good enough.
Fraud alert.
59 Posted 11/03/2016 at 08:51:07
What you also have to be concerned about is what you are as a ' tight unit', dishing up to your fans. like you say, everything is hunky dory 'at mill'.
The players aren't revolting. In fact, the only thing revolting is our season under your stewardship... we are breaking records!
For example, this season, throwing away leads... not to mention being beaten by WHU, Swansea, WBA teams that haven't beaten us since I wore my last pair of Beattle Boots!
60 Posted 11/03/2016 at 10:33:20
It's all rather simple, really, isn't it.
61 Posted 11/03/2016 at 10:37:56
62 Posted 11/03/2016 at 11:05:04
By the way, anyone remember a record released in 1966 when we won the cup and the shower won the league in 65-66, called Roaring and Scoring and The Toast of Merseyside?
Now that was a classic better team songs (though not sung by the players).
63 Posted 11/03/2016 at 11:22:59
A good point!
Martinez and Phil Jagielka both made not so subtle pokes of blame on Lukaku for the penalty miss in the aftermath of the West Ham match.
I wish they'd all just shut up and prove their worth to the shirt.
64 Posted 11/03/2016 at 11:42:05
"Listen, lads, the tactic for today, is just go out and do what you are all good at." Job done. Phenomonal! You don't hear any of the really top managers coming out with that nonsense. Did SAF ever utter such crap? In fact, you don't even hear the poorer type managers talk like our wee Bobbie does.
All you ToffeeWebbers know your football. (Well, most of you do... there are still a few who thinks that Martinez needs more time, and who still think that Howard is a top goalkeeper...) But most of us know that our manager is now becoming an embarrassment. We all know that opposing managers have found him out (they started to, in the final third of his first season). We all know that he has no Plan B. Never did. We all know that he never selected his best team, for a number of matches. He played favourites, regardless.
We all know that he has no game management. FFS... Even at the level that I played, when we managed to go two goals up, with about 15 minutes left, we then were instructed to revert to two banks of five. Our TACTICS were to play out the game 5-5-0. Win the game. We were not told to just carry on doing what we were good at. We did not go gung ho. That was game management. That was common sense. Why can Martinez not do that? When every supporter in the country would do that.
We all know that Martinez talks nonsense. But please note, everybody, that it is never his fault. Not once can I remember him saying that he got his tactics wrong. Although I suppose that you cannot get tactics wrong, if you don't actually have any tactics... can you?
How many games is it that, we have now thrown away this season from a winning position? I can only remember one, under David Moyes. And that was with a reserve keeper (who was not very good) playing. As a matter of interest, I cannot remember in recent years, any other team, actually throwing away as many matches... Only Everton... Only Martinez. It has to stop.
Win or lose tomorrow... Martinez Out.
Pros and Cons. He has (I admit) done a few good things. But TBH most managers manage to do some good. But there are far too many cons and they outweigh the pros. And he is not learning or rectifying mistakes; he has to go.
Give Everton a proper chance to compete in this new upcoming exciting era of the Premier League. Let Martinez go manage Motherwell. Give my Scottish cousins a good laugh.
65 Posted 11/03/2016 at 11:45:33
A win tomorrow is a step nearer the cup, and a loss is a step nearer the end of RM, so either way it can only get better.
66 Posted 11/03/2016 at 13:09:08
Everton have over the years lost many matches from being only one goal up. The cup final against Chelsea, and a rubbish performance against Bolton Wanderers spring to mind.
But we (until this season) have not thrown away many two-goal leads. Not many teams have. As stated... that type of suicide, clueless football has to stop. NOW....
67 Posted 11/03/2016 at 14:01:53
I'm not happy with Roberto but at least he seems to have a (flawed) plan. Moyes didn't have any long-term plan for improvement. I'm certainly not hankering after those days... knowing full well we'd never win a thing.
68 Posted 11/03/2016 at 14:09:22
I've not read anything re the Villa players rebelling. They seem to have accepted their fate and I'm sure half the squad are already looking to move in the summer.
71 Posted 11/03/2016 at 16:41:46
"Everton at Wembley two goals down,
Trebilcock & Temple brought the cup to the Town."
Great times.
72 Posted 11/03/2016 at 17:13:15
73 Posted 11/03/2016 at 17:34:27
I recall it was Bumper the spring rabbit who advised Bambi similarly, however , the emphasis was put as: "If you can't say something positive, don't say it at all".
Problem is Bobby cannot stop spouting inane positivity, I think he must have been bitten by Bumper as kid and he can't shut up.
74 Posted 11/03/2016 at 17:35:13
75 Posted 11/03/2016 at 17:46:31
76 Posted 11/03/2016 at 21:32:02
77 Posted 11/03/2016 at 21:54:56
I've decided, because it's healthier, to stop worrying anyway and allow Mr Moshiri to make the decisions. After all, he's not Bill Kenwright and he might be as good as his word about winning and all that old-fashioned sort of thing.
I'm going to drift along to Goodison in a haze of optimism tomorrow and if we lose then I can hope that Mr Moshiri will make it all come right eventually.
I feel better already.
78 Posted 11/03/2016 at 22:21:07
79 Posted 12/03/2016 at 02:22:47
80 Posted 12/03/2016 at 08:24:12
RM's comments aside, what alarms me the most is that Everton still aren't really a club that has a lot of media attention compared with the Sky Darlings. With Everton, where there's smoke there is usually fire.
82 Posted 13/03/2016 at 07:29:41
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1 Posted 10/03/2016 at 18:54:52
Bobby, do the decent thing. I can give you a taxi number if you want.