Martinez shows Moshiri his good side
IT is three years and four days since a three-goal blitz in four minutes left Evertonians looking at Roberto Martinez and wondering about the future.
March 9, 2013 was the day Wigan came to Goodison Park in an FA Cup quarter-final and took the home side to pieces, killing them with lightning counter-attacks en route to a stunning victory in the final against Manchester City. Bill Kenwright, Everton’s chairman who was at Wembley, knew his search to replace Manchester United-bound David Moyes was over.
Fast forward to the present and another FA Cup quarter-final. Once again, Evertonians were looking at Martinez and wondering about the future, only this time the underlying tone was nowhere as positive. This has been a campaign to test the patience of Goodison regulars. Everton have a squad that should be mixing it around the top four but have been plagued by inconsistency, not least last Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat by West Ham, after they had led 2-0.
It would be wrong to suggest this was a make-or-break game for Martinez — Kenwright, who remains chairman following the 49.9 per cent investment of Farhad Moshiri, has only sacked one manager in 17 years — but this was arguably the biggest game of his reign.
Moshiri, the Iranian billionaire, was in the directors’ box for the first time and he would have been intrigued to see what the future held for Everton. If the answer Martinez conjured can be repeated consistently, his investment will reap dividends.
Everton were terrific here, Martinez banishing the notion that his teams cannot play pragmatic football. Blue shirts swarmed all over those in white, tackling and clattering anything that moved.
They pressed and chased and pestered Chelsea to distraction. What a difference a week makes.