Champions League remains the target for Everton and Roberto Martínez
|
Version 0 of 1. Optimism was not all that increased around Everton when Romelu Lukaku returned to Goodison Park last month. With one £28m signing comes greater pressure and hopefully an end to those patronising critiques of a plucky unit punching above its weight. Roberto Martínez does not shirk from the expectancy, he embraces it. This, after all, was his plan. Everton’s manager could point out that it was a transfer budget swelled by players he sold last season, as much as the new broadcasting deal that will help the club reduce their debt, that funded Lukaku’s permanent arrival from Chelsea. He could highlight that it is only one major deal for a player who was on loan at Everton last season and that different financial worlds continue to orbit the upper reaches of the Premier League but that would run contrary to the message Martínez has conveyed at Goodison. The aim is the same as it was on day one for the Catalan: the Champions League. Everton recorded their highest points total of the Premier League era under their new manager last season but 72 points proved insufficient for Champions League qualification. Martínez believes a top-four finish will be more difficult to achieve this time, has to contend with the extra workload of a Europa League campaign and knows there will be fewer allowances made should he suffer second-season syndrome. There is no complaint. “I hope there is more expectancy because that is what we want,” he says. “It would be very easy for me to say that it’s not fair to expect us to carry on the level we set last season but that is the expectancy for us, which is why it was very important for us to have continuity in the transfer window. The fresh faces [Mohamed Besic and Christian Atsu] have brought something different and given us real strength in terms of facing different competitions. The target has to be that playing in the Europa League does not mean that we lower our standards in the domestic league. “Yes, we carry big expectations but in the same respect the younger players are a year older and I think the squad is stronger and the team is stronger than it was last season due to the experiences we’ve had. It’s not going to be easy and I know our fans have expectations, albeit realistic ones, and I believe we are capable of carrying on where we left off last season.” Lukaku may not start a season of heightened expectation at Leicester City on Saturday as he and Kevin Mirallas were given extended breaks following Belgium’s run to the World Cup quarter-finals. The influential Seamus Coleman is also doubtful with a hamstring injury. Everton did not win in pre-season and Martínez does not expect his World Cup contingent to be fully fit for several weeks, though has no concerns over friendly results. “I tried many things this pre-season and I got a lot of information,” he says. “Sometimes you go into games in pre-season, score early and you don’t get a lot out of it. Every game this pre-season, for one reason or another, we’ve been able to gather a lot of information. The scorelines obviously weren’t really positive but we weren’t really playing for scorelines otherwise we wouldn’t have tried the things that we did.” Everton’s points tally last season would have secured a top-four finish in eight of the previous 10 Premier League campaigns but, while believing the margins will be finer, Martínez is adamant his team can challenge again. He adds: “I always felt that anything between 70 and 73 points would secure fourth place and it proved that wasn’t the case because there were five Champions League-standard teams in the league and normally you get four. That is what the points reflected. This season it is going to be even harder. Just look at the teams capable of getting points and I think every year the top four is going to be a harder target to achieve. “The Europa League is going to give our season a different look. It is going to be more demanding, a lot of games if you look at September.” Everton have five matches in 15 days from the 13th to 27th. “That gives you a little example of what we are facing and that is going to push everyone to the maximum. “But the aim of getting in the Champions League is always there. That is what we have to do as Everton. We have to look at what we are as a football club and the dream that drives us on is the Champions League. That hasn’t changed and will not change.” |