Roberto Martinez Must Act to Address Fundamental Flaws if Everton are to Progress

Indeed it is Matt, better late than never.

I think Martinez is gradually getting the team to play as he wants but it may need another season to iron out these frailties.

At Wigan, he didn't have this luxury because he was forced to sell his best players each year and had to make do with what he had left. It was a miracle they stayed up as long as they did.

Now at Everton, it's much a similar situation as at Swansea, the mentality is slowly shifting but I'm not convinced Martinez has what it takes. It may need a more astute manager who has a similar idea on how to play the game to take us to that next level. The only issue being that kind of manager is difficult to acquire for a club of our modern-day and financial stature.

As far as substitutes are concerned its very subjective who knows what might have happened had Martinez made more changes! If indeed some player is tiring I agree its best to replace them, unless the manager knows more than we do.

Martinez emphasis is on attacking hence our 29 goals (could easily have been many more) which makes us the 3rd highest scorers. When it comes to conceding goals from open play I think its logical that if you push more players forward in an attempt to score, you are leaving yourself more open to the counter attack especially.

I prefer his philosophy of how football should be played, but I think that its really a trade off between scoring more and conceding more as against attacking less and conceding less.

Best of luck to the lads in trying to sort something out until then I will continue to sit there and sweat and palpitate until the torture is over.

The refs seem to have one set of rules for 'the money boys' and one for everyone else, strange isn't it.

What's clear is that Everton need more practice, experience, and tenacity when marking their men. Howard coming out for a ball does not absolve the defenders from doing their jobs. Even if Howard were a super aggressive goalkeeper, they should never anticipate him getting to the ball.

That being said, yes, the organization at the back needs to be better and the boys have to want it more, but I think it's fair to say both parties are at fault.

It also goes the other way. An overly aggressive goalkeeper can try to come for balls he has no chance to get, taking out his own defenders and leaving no-one to guard the goal.

We all know that Howard is too cautious when it comes to this kind of thing but him starting to come for every ball certainly isn't the answer. We just need to come out for the obvious ones. The defenders still need to do their jobs regardless.

As for Tim Howard, he has been a great servant to the club in his time, but his time to step down has come. He is now in the twilight of his career after all.

It would be nice if Tim could realise this, and make a positive voluntary step towards retirement.

If he can't or won't then RM must make the decision for him, but how often does Martinez go against his favoured few?

He then jumped ship for a job which, in my view, he was not up to. This squad is capable of better and could be wasted under this coach.

I agree with your views. He should have been dropped by now. Martinez won't do that, though.

In fact, watching the goal that Whitehawk have just scored from a looping cross, will surely give him nightmares. But hopefully Robles will get the nod for the FA Cup ties.

Mind you, the current score is 1-1 and the way that Vassels turned and shot will give Leighton Baines nightmares – doomed I tell you... we're doomed. :)

Which brings me to Ross. Can someone with a better tactical understanding than me please explain what the manager wants him to do? He's great when he collects a pass, beats a couple and lays the ball off, but his more forward position is frequently occupied by Kone and when we lose possession it's clear he can't track back, tackle or close down which exposes us to counter-attacks. So play him at 10 or play Kone off Rom, but not both at the same time. Give Mirallas a run on the left, or use Cleverley as a foil for Baines.

Ah bugger ..... what do I know?

"I don't believe that Martinez has achieved enough to warrant the arrogance he displays. Nor do I think that keeping Wigan up was a miracle. With Pulis or Allardyce as coach, I believe Wigan would have survived. Martinez did not have the flexibility or pragmatism to do what was necessary. Some of his performances as coach in their relegation season were staggering in their arrogance and ineptitude."

That's a bit strong, Andy, don't you think!

In what way is he being arrogant? He's doing what he believes is right for the football club, just because you happen to disagree doesn't make him arrogant.

"Then you say some of his performances in their relegation season were staggering in their arrogance and ineptitude"!

Sounds more like an headline out of the Sun newspaper, I think it's a fair bet that, if Wigan had not gone on their FA Cup winning exploits that year, they would have stayed in the Premier League.

I know he's shy of tackling and can be a defensive liability but in my view we have to take some chances at the moment to boost us. He played in a strange position on Saturday and got lost but I would try him with Macca when he's fit and I'm afraid I'd drop Barry. I'd rely on Cleverley to protect the left back.

If that doesn't work then Ross himself should be rested and Besic, assuming he's fit, has to get a run.

For me, the obvious solution behind Lukaku is Mirallas but RM won't have it.

I remember the Altrincham game. The thing that stands out is I'm pretty sure it is the only time I can remember a home game happening at the same time as a Liverpool home game.

It certainly hasn't happened since but not sure if it happened before.

Every round in 1971 saw Everton and Liverpool drawn at home and I'm pretty sure they were played simultaneously.

Everton defeated Arsenal 2-0 at Goodison in front of 34,000 while a gate of 37,000 saw Liverpool beat non-league Altrincham 4-1 at Anfield. The two teams were then drawn together in the fourth round with Everton winning 2-1.

When the two teams were subsequently drawn together at home, matches were played on different days on police instructions."

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/feb/13/the-knowledge-two-clubs-same-city

Another interesting piece from the Echo shows that all 3 Merseyside clubs played at the same time When cup draws gave the Blues, the Reds and Rovers home ties on the same day, they just got on with it.

And in 1972, on February 5th, a record 126,186 fans attended matches in the six-mile radius that encompasses Anfield, Goodison and Prenton Park.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/other-sport/amateur-sport/liverpol-fc-Everton-fc-tranmere-3009046

Can't remember much about the game, I was only five, but do remember being hooked on both Everton and football ever since. Also remember at least twice since that game, where both teams played at home on the Saturday.

Back to the fundamental flaws, and these will never be addressed until we have a no-nonsense centre-half, and a keeper who wants to dominate his domain.

I don't remember that Arsenal game in '81 but I do remember the 4th round tie like it was yesterday. Good old Avi Cohen (one of only five Jewish players to play in a derby, it's an old 'un but a good 'un).

Same year in the 6th round in the corner of the Enclosure when Rats got sent off for head butting Hutchinson. Happy days.

Plan A is often not bad, and our game in open play is also decent this season.

But so far he doesn't seem to believe in drilling defence or attack on set-pieces. In hindsight, his lack of game-changing substitutions feels like we've missed a number of opportunities for a couple of extra points.

I always think back to Solskjaer and Sheringham at Man Utd who Ferguson used to bring on to turn games on their head – like a last roll of the dice – but it used to work a lot.

Commanding keeper and centre half, plus someone with guile and goals in midfield would see us challenge for top four.

I think budget, Martinez's caution and his apparent unwillingness to manage strong characters are holding us back here. Unless there's some slow rebuilding plan going on.......