The rise and rise of Roberto Martinez

Swansea City from that initial gamble, then took another to appoint Brendan Rodgers, currently the Liverpool manager and subsequently Michael Laudrup who have all been advocates of attacking football. The true reflection of his work can be seen now more than ever now that Swansea City are safely a Premier League team and as a club building on as their current achievements in Europe and last season’s Carling Cup success prove.

It has often been said that professional football constitutes of mercenaries who are just making to make a quick buck, but some of the recent managers in the Premier League era have proved that wrong and you don’t have to look further than Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger.

Martinez may not be in that league but his work with clubs has been of the visionary kind and David Whelan, the Wigan Chairman will attest to that, for Martinez encouraged improving of training facilities and youth academies rather than blowing up money in the transfer market. Martinez was aware of the financial restrictions when he took charge at Wigan and thus he concentrated more of footballing education at youth level would ultimately lead to long-term benefits.

Given the way Everton have played this season, there are sceptics who accuse Martinez of being an inconsistent manager but that should not alter the salient fact: Roberto Matinez might not be the only reason for the shift in power, but he has been the overriding reason for the change in style and play of Everton.

Like a mason assessing his materials before choosing the kind od structure he would like to build, Maritnez has chosen to build on the foundations laid down by his predecessor David Moyes and bring in players which would add more to the squad rather than dismantle it. Obviously one of the reasons, is evident from a solid back four at his disposal, which frankly he didn’t possess at Wigan Athletic which led to a success rate of only 25% for four seasons.

Bill Kenwright stated that “Roberto’s first words were: ‘I’ll get you in the Champions League”. It may seem like a great sales-pitch to land the job, but Martinez is like that, like the last season around even when Wigan were at their worst he still didn’t believe that Wigan would ever be relegated instead he was surprised.

It’s too early to judge whether or not Everton can qualify for the Champions League but given their current form and the way they are pushing the top four, it is a good bet that they will be nearer to the top rather than away from it. Inconsistency has also been a hallmark of Martinez’s fledgling managerial career, it will be interesting how he manages that slump while he is charge with Everton.

Coaches often talk about leaving legacies but often they end up looking for safety and hence that leads to the mindless spending, rather than development, a player or two strengthens a squad. Martinez has never acted like a kid in a candy store in the transfer market, whether or not Everton will provide him that platform to create a legacy is what matters the most at this point of time.

Every manager at some point of time will face a spate of results which will challenge his beliefs, Martinez as of now has been clear in his beliefs, but it will be Everton who will have to believe him in when the chips are down.