Western Counties Soccer

The arrival of new manager Roberto Martinez has been followed by three consecutive draws in the Premier league for Everton. This is primarily because of the different tactics adopted by the former Wigan manager, who is a fan of passing football.

Former manager David Moyes, though, was more towards getting the results and it primarily involved playing direct football more often than not. This change in management has seen Everton struggle to score goals at the start of the season. Goalkeeper Tim Howard, who has been at the club for almost a decade, is staying confident.

He has said that the change in management has brought about a culture shock amongst players given that Martinez has not brought a lot of players in this transfer window. He has asked the fans to be patient with the new manager.

In many ways, Martinez' position is similar to the one being experienced by David Moyes at Manchester United. Moyes has to follow Sir Alex Ferguson, who has been immensely successful in the last two decades. Martinez has to follow Moyes, who has overachieved with Everton in the last decade despite being on a relatively low-budget.
Howard has also spoken about the importance of having Steven Naismith in the team.

“There is a cultural change needed and it doesn’t happen overnight. It has to kind of slowly build its way. The manager has come in and had to convince 20 players – now we have to convince 40,000 fans. But it is a good style, we have all bought into it and we have a strong belief. It will inevitably take time but we have the type of guys who can do it. He (Martinez) is encouraging us, when the ball turns over, to win it back and start from the front like Barcelona," said Howard.