Everton Manager Roberto Martinez Must Prove He Has a Plan B for Toffees
Roberto Martinez achieved instant success during his first season at Everton.
A record haul of Premier League points (72) and wins (21) almost elevated his new club into the Champions League for the first time since 2005.
Fast forward to the present day, though, and things are not quite as smooth for the Catalan manager.
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The Toffees are still in touch with the top six but lie in a disappointing 11th position. They are 10 points worse off than at this stage last season and have taken 11 points fewer from their corresponding fixtures.
What's worse is that the form on the field has barely warranted the 18 points they have.
Part of the reason for this sudden stagnation seems to be Martinez's lack of an alternative on-field method.
The Catalan's pass-heavy, possession approach won many plaudits during his first season at the club. He would encourage his centre-backs to build from the back, attempting to lure an opponent forward before overloading the space created in the final third.
At their best, Everton matched and beat the Premier League's best teams with this style, but this hasn't been the case of late.
This season, opponents have become familiar with what to expect from the Toffees, and—worryingly for Evertonians—appear to be far better at coping with it.
The Toffees' approach showed clear issues against an aggressive press last season, especially evident during two tough games with Mauricio Pochettino's Southampton.
Pochettino repeated these tactics during Tottenham Hotspur's recent win over Everton, and other teams—such as Swansea City, Hull City and Manchester City—have followed suit to great effect.
This causes Everton problems at the back, mainly due to Sylvain Distin and Phil Jagielka not being natural fits in a passing system. It also slows the team down, and links to the high number of individual errors committed.
Martinez's mantra is not just causing issues at the back, either.
Going forward, Everton have little balance between creating the best chance possible, or simply shooting from too far out.
| Goals per game | 1.6—6th in PL | 1.6—6th= |
| Shots per game | 14.8—6th | 13.1—11th |
| Chances per game | 10.9—6th | 9.7—11th |
| Dribbles per game | 12.6—1st | 11.4—4th |
| Crosses per game | 22—8th= | 16—19th= |
| % of shots inside the box | 57%—6th | 49%—18th= |
The Toffees currently average just the 11th most shots per game in the Premier League. All of last season's top seven are above them, and, quite simply, good teams shoot far more than the Toffees currently are, and from better areas.
This imbalance between the perfect chance and long shots sees the Toffees stuck playing slow, predictable, lateral passes in the final third. This is then regularly concluded by a player growing impatient and shooting from distance.
Currently, Everton are not recording anywhere near enough attempts from what would be considered danger zones, and a lot of this must be attributed to style, as well as the side's overall adventure.
From being eighth in average crosses per game last season (22), strangely, Martinez's side are now the Premier League's most infrequent crossers, averaging just 16 per game.
This seems to reflect a general reluctance to put the ball into dangerous areas without the guarantee of finding a man, and it's even more peculiar given that only West Ham have scored more headed goals than Everton (six) this season.
Whether this is a progression of Martinez's style, or simply his players not fulfilling his instructions, it's contributed to this dwindling creativity.
There are several factors behind Everton's troubles as a whole this season: there have been injuries, extra games in Europe have not helped domestic matters and some key players have been severely short of form.
That said, stylistically, the Toffees must improve to rise up the league. Martinez's side have become far too slow and predictable at both ends of the field and the Catalan must introduce an element of versatility into his chosen schemes.
His players must have a license to be more reactive and stray from this possession approach to ask different questions. Above all, they must find ways to cross and shoot more, play faster and find that missing dose of arrogance and ambition in the final third.
All managers need to show flexibility in their system. Currently, Martinez's devotion to his preferred style seems a large factor in the club's sluggish start.
Statistics via WhoScored.com and Squawka.com.
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