Why Has It All Gone Wrong for Roberto Martinez at Everton This Season?
Roberto Martinez's second season at Everton has started in stark contrast to his first.
At this time last year, the Toffees were well on their way to a record Premier League season in terms of points (72), wins (21) and successive wins (seven).
While there is no ruling out a sudden upturn of form, seven games in, Everton look far away from matching that success. They currently have just one win in seven, are no longer in the Capital One Cup and have struggled to find any sustained fluency on the field.
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"Seeing Tim Howard and the Everton defence looking fed up and shaking their heads has been a feature of this season. Getting pretty tiresome.
— Ell Bretland (@EllBretland) October 2, 2014"
Sitting one place above the relegation zone, Saturday's clash with Aston Villa will already be viewed as a must-win game among supporters.
Everton's struggles seem to emanate from the summer. A peculiarly curtailed schedule of just five pre-season friendlies resulted in few players reaching full fitness or finding enough form.
The results during that period were the club's worst since 1979, as Everton were unable to win and conceded 10 goals in the five friendlies played. Those poor standards appear to have set the tone.
Defensive fragility over the summer then lingered on into the season. The Toffees twice surrendered late leads against Leicester City and Arsenal before capitulating 6-3 against Chelsea thanks to some comically bad defending.
Everton's defensive record (16 goals conceded) is currently the worst in the division, but more worrying than that is the procession of shots coming in at Tim Howard's goal.
Only six Premier League teams have conceded more shots than the Toffees' 98, which is hardly a return for a side targeting Champions League football. The likes of Liverpool and Arsenal, for example, have already conceded 30 fewer shots.
Limiting chances hasn't just been a problem in England, either.
Despite leading their group, Everton have already conceded 48 shots in just two Europa League games. Remarkably, that's at least six more shots than any of the other 47 teams in the competition.
Quite clearly, a lack of confidence and cohesion off the ball has been a major reason for the Toffees' failings thus far. Individuals have certainly been at fault on numerous occasions, but as a team, Everton have defended poorly—to put it mildly.
Elsewhere, the form of several players has been a concern. Aside from Steven Naismith, few can say they have maintained high standards through every game.
Howard, Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin and Romelu Lukaku are among those who have been particularly disappointing.
Most of the above comes down to Everton's squad and management, but there are other factors that have also contributed.
Injuries have undeniably played a part: Ross Barkley is yet to kick a ball this season, while Seamus Coleman, John Stones, James McCarthy, Kevin Mirallas and Steven Pienaar have all missed action.
Lukaku, Distin and Samuel Eto'o have also carried knocks while Arouna Kone and Bryan Oviedo are still short of regaining full fitness following lengthy injury.
It's fair to say Everton's schedule hasn't been the kindest, either, with four of the seven games against members of last season's top seven.
Juggling the Europa League has also appeared troublesome, with Everton losing both Premier League games that have followed a European clash.
Finally, as calamitous as some of the defensive work has been, there has been an element of misfortune in some of the results.
The Toffees currently lead the league in defensive errors (10), with five leading directly to a goal—just one short of last season's overall tally.
As many different theories and excuses as there clearly are, Everton must put this poor start behind them as quickly as possible. They now face a more favourable run of fixtures and must use this sequence to find form and push themselves back up the table.
Statistics via WhoScored.com and Squawka.com.
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