Three mountains Martinez has to climb
Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
Roberto Martinez is having a successful first campaign at the helm of Everton Football Club, there are no two-ways about it. Martinez made the rather significant jump from Wigan to the Liverpool-based side when long-time headmaster David Moyes replaced Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United. Martinez had never managed a big club and despite his talents and relative youthful nature, Martinez has stepped into the role flawlessly. Under Martinez, Everton have not slipped when it comes to their expected placing and point hauls – currently under the Spanish gaffer, Everton are averaging 1.77 points per match and in the previous season under Moyes, they averaged 1.65 – Martinez has come in and kept the ship quite stable, which is what a first year manager needs to accomplish at the minimum. Martinez has also brought attacking flair and a belief in his side that they can go out and attack the bigger clubs, which is something that was rarely seen under Moyes. He has also put faith in players like Ross Barkley, who has been brilliant under the Spaniard but did not have the confidence of his former Scottish boss.
Keeping the Toffees stable must be seen as a good first campaign at Goodison Park, but moving forward beyond this season, can Martinez hope to build on the stability he has provided the club? If he is to do so, there are three major mountains that the man from Catalonia will have to traverse if he hopes to raise Everton to the next tier of English football.
Player Recruitment
Martinez is very well known for his knowledge of smaller markets, especially clubs in Spain – that suited him well when he was at the helm of both Swansea City and Wigan Athletic, but will that be enough to help Everton climb tiers? Most likely not. Martinez is going to have to dip into larger markets in the attempt to draw higher profile players if the club is going to try to match the ambitions of bigger clubs ahead of them. The loan acquisition of Gerard Deulofeu proved quite positive and bringing in James McCarthy and Aiden McGeady gave the squad some solid depth without breaking the bank, but signings like these will not help in the long run if Everton are to hope to finish any higher than 6th in the years to come. There is plenty of talent to be had in Germany, Holland and even in Belgium, especially in the latter two where the players are not slapped with gigantic expected transfer fees, but the downside is that the bigger clubs ahead of Everton know these markets as well. Can Martinez hope to bring in top quality players head of the likes of Chelsea, City, Arsenal, Liverpool, United and even Spurs? Money usually speaks volumes these days but as everyone should know and Everton cannot financially compete with the head of the class, which leads us to the second mountain…
Financial Restrictions
For all the stability that first Moyes and now Martinez are providing Everton in regards to their standing in the table every season, the simple fact is that Everton are not making nearly enough money. They have a huge following and are one of the most storied English clubs certainly, but realistically that is not nearly sufficient. To make enough money required to be able to recruit better crops of talent more routinely, Martinez must find a way to start qualifying for Continental competitions either by winning the FA or Carling Cup or by placing in the top five. With the reemergence of city rivals Liverpool and Spurs firmly rooted in the top six lately, Everton finishing in the top five seems a distant stretch unless Martinez has powers of this world, which means he must target domestic cup success in order to get the Toffees playing European football. Footballers these days always want to be tested on the biggest stage and getting Everton consistently into the Europa League will be a good way to build that aspect of their club so that they are able to bring in better players. If Everton are not able to provide the chance to play in Continental competitions, not only will it effect the club financially and their ability to bring in better players, but it will cause them to lose their best players for either financial reasons or because players want to play at an even higher level. That leads us to the third mountain…
Player Retention
Everton currently have plenty of talented players on their books – the likes of Leighton Baines, Phil Jagielka, Seamus Coleman, Kevin Mirallas and Ross Barkley are crucial pieces to the puzzle. The problem is that all these players can easily ply their trade at some of the countries top clubs and it may not be before long that they leave Goodison Park for greener pastures. Rumors have been circulating that City are considering a swoop for starlet Barkley, who has been a revelation this season under Martinez. Given his tender age and his potential, nothing short of 20-25m at minimum would be entertained by the Toffees – money that they will be hard pressed to turn down. Leighton Baines has long been tipped on a move away from Goodison Park, despite routinely declaring his loyalty and commitment to the club, the chance to play at a higher level could eventually entice England’s best left back (at least for right now) to bigger clubs. As for Coleman, he too has improved each season for the past few and is now one of the most well rounded right backs in the Premiership. His penchant for getting forward, and doing it well, has put him on the radar of a few of the big clubs and with Bacary Sagna most likely leaving Arsenal at seasons end, the Gunners could come calling. The point here is, the combination of large sums of money received plus the potential to play in Continental competitions will make it very hard for Everton to hold on to players unless they themselves start to qualify for these competitions each season – which in two fold well help them keep their players, plus make large sums of additional money .
There is no questioning Martinez and his managerial pedigree – he so far has proved his doubters wrong and returned the faith shown by Everton chairman Bill Kenwright. Despite his talents as a manager, like any other headmaster, there are bound to be certain circumstances that will prove too much for him. Martinez must prioritize targets for Everton if he hopes to build on his successful first season and the stability that the outgoing Moyes left him, which he retained under his stewardship currently. This summer will be his first trying time, but if he can hold on to his top players then perhaps his Everton side can place higher in the following campaign and reach a European competition – truthfully, their future as a club trying to move forward will rely on them becoming upstarts, rather than a stable prop for the bigger boys.