Roberto Martinez refused to criticise Everton
Roberto Martinez refused to criticise Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard for the club’s poor defensive record this season.
Everton have been struggling to climb up the table due to a large number of goals being conceded. The club are only better than the likes of Norwich, Newcastle, and Sunderland when it comes to the number of goals conceded. This makes them susceptible to losses in a number of occasions. The club has managed just one win in the last five league games. This has forced Martinez to consider suggestions of replacing Howard until the goalkeeper recovers form.
The manager, though, claims that the poor defensive record is not down to the goalkeeper alone. He believes that the entire defensive unit has to take a share of the blame. Even though Everton possess one of the finest central defenders around in the form of John Stones, the club has been struggling to keep clean sheets. The form has especially been poor at Goodison Park where the club has now lost back-to-back games against Leicester and Stoke City. Home form has to be priority number one if the club is to challenge for a European place. Without this, Everton may struggle to even finish in the top half of the table.
"Every player's position is always under scrutiny; I think we are what we are because of the competition for places that we have.But, in the same manner, I don't think it's a situation down to one individual. It would be very stupid from us just to think the solution is to blame someone. Tim Howard had an incredible moment against Newcastle, he had a great save in a key moment of the game. Clearly defensively we haven't been good enough of late at home and I don't think it's down to one player,” said Martinez.