One could not have blamed Everton fans for being slightly worried about the future of their club at the start of the season following the departure of David Moyes.
The Toffees had earned their recent success on years of stability under the Scotsman who did wonders working under tight financial constraints and there was understandable fears within the Everton camp of whether the new man coming in to replace Moyes could replicate the success of the 51-year old.
Promising young manager Roberto Martinez was the handed the reins at Goodison Park and there were certainly doubters of the Spaniard initially. Although the 40-year old had a burgeoning reputation in England on the back of guiding Wigan Athletic to the FA Cup, it was yet to be seen whether he could cope with the pressure of managing a bigger club.
However, not only did Martinez give a good account of himself but he has surpassed all expectation, leaving the Everton faithful drooling with optimism to what their beloved club can gone on to achieve in the future.
While Martinez has certainly benefitted from inheriting Moyes’ strong foundations at the club, the Spaniard has taken the Blues to the next level. In terms of league position, Everton will probably finish in and around where they have usually done under the Moyes era, but the significant and most promising change at the club has been their style of play.
Martinez is an advocate of beautiful free-flowing football. His Wigan side, despite struggling in the lower reaches of the Premier League, never resorted to ‘route one football’ and arguably had one of the most attractive styles of play.
Everton were a hard working and efficient team under Moyes but the way Martinez has seamlessly integrated his free flowing style at the Goodison Park has been nothing short of sensational.
Usually a team with which plays attractive football is at times susceptible of being weak at the back and that was the biggest criticism directed at Martinez during his time at the DW Stadium.
As a result, people believed Martinez’s biggest challenge would be to balance the defensive aspect with the attacking side and it is defensively where the Spaniard has been clever in retaining the strong core set up by Moyes while at the same time seamlessly implementing his philosophy of attacking football.
With the current campaign done and dusted, and a fifth placed finish sealed, it has certainly been a very productive first season in charge for Martinez.
However, the real test will be next season. Martinez has a big summer ahead of him in transfer market and will now have to prove his real mettle by consolidating on the current campaign.
Martinez has brilliantly worked the loan system in acquiring Romelu Lukaku, Gerard Deulofeu and Gareth Barry but the trio may not be around next year and his purchases in the form of Arouna Kone, Antolin Alcaraz and Joel Robles have not enjoyed the most fruitful of campaigns.
The likes of Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal and Liverpool will all surely reinforce their side in the summer and Everton certainly cannot compete with these clubs on a financial level. As a result, the Spaniard will certainly have to be astute in the transfer market once again and spend wisely.
The prospect of the Europa Cup is something to look forward to as well for the Toffees but by the same token, the likes of Newcastle United and Swansea City in recent seasons have had their domestic campaign wrecked by the distraction of the demanding European nights and Everton will surely be looking to avoid such a fate.
There is certainly a lot to be optimistic about for the Everton supporters under a manager as good as Martinez but the next season will be a much bigger challenge for the brilliant Spaniard.
