Rodgers & Martinez Taking Merseyside into A New Era

When Bill Kenwright announced to the media that Roberto Martinez had promised him that he would reach the Champions League with Everton, people were taken aback. By turning Martinez’s private promise into a public proclamation, the Blues’ chairman had placed one hell of weight on the shoulders of his new manager. Mass sniggering and derision followed on the internet and in the media. Safe to say that not many believed the ex-Wigan boss was capable of taking Everton into the top four of the Premier League. Conventional wisdom suggested that matching David Moyes’ recent achievements of keeping Everton in the top six or seven would be a major success for the Spaniard in his inaugural season at the club. Champions League? You’re havin’ a laugh, indeed.

If the majority of football followers last summer were dismissive of Everton’s hopes of dining at Europe’s top table – and they were – then one can only imagine the guffaws in the Anfield press room and beyond had Brendan Rodgers’ claimed that his Liverpool side would put up a sustained fight for the 2013/14 Premier League crown. Yet here we are, 34 games into the season and both Merseyside clubs are on course for destinations that seemed well out of reach just eight months ago. In April 2014, no one is laughing at Roberto Martinez or Brendan Rodgers.

It is important to note that it wasn’t always this way. Many openly questioned whether Martinez and Rodgers were even fit to take over Merseyside’s two giant clubs, let alone lead them to success. When stepping into their new roles, both men were young and had suffered major setbacks in their burgeoning careers: Martinez had just been relegated with Wigan Athletic when he pitched up at Goodison Park to replace David Moyes. Rodgers had previously been sacked by Reading and had only one year of managerial experience in the Premier League under his belt when he took up the Anfield reins from the iconic Kenny Dalglish. Large amounts of scepticism surrounded both men going into this season.

Why the distrust?

Well, first of all, neither man is exactly shy of speaking. Undeniably, they both love a quote and give the impression that they would happily chat for hours on end about their footballing ‘philosophies’. Some perceive this as arrogance. Martinez’s regular appearances on television screens as a pundit and Rodgers’ (unwanted) starring role in the cringe inducing documentary ‘Being: Liverpool’ are perhaps sources for some of the doubts that followed both men into this season. ‘Sure, he talks a good game, but what has he really achieved?’ is a charge that has previously been aimed at both men many times over.

The two men share many similar traits. Their mutual footballing ideologies are undoubtedly not the norm when it comes to the traditional British perception of football management. Talk of tiki-taka, possession statistics or flipping of the midfield triangle causes many eyes to glaze over instantly in this land. The majority much prefer their ‘old school’ managers who shout and berate from the touchline and emphasise hard work, passion and determination. Merseyside’s current commanders in chief are clearly cut from a different cloth than men such as Harry Redknapp, David Moyes, Tim Sherwood and Roy Hodgson.

Two banks of four and reactive football are not clearly not attractive propositions for Roberto or Brendan. Both men adore and largely adhere to the Barcelona/Spanish proactive way of playing. Martinez is a Catalan himself, while Rodgers has spent a great deal of time learning his craft on Spanish shores. As evidenced by their respective stints at Swansea City, they seek and demand attacking, progressive football. Under their rule, the small Welsh club went from being a League One outfit to a firmly established Premier League side that is recognised as a team with a distinct and neutral friendly identity.

Aside from their love of attacking football, another shared trait that has come to the fore recently is their development of talented youngsters. There is an eagerness in Britain to turn any gifted teenager into the next great world superstar as soon possible. Too often have promising careers stalled or even been ruined by over the top expectations and coaches who have been willing to overuse youngsters to their physical detriment.

Martinez and Rodgers again take a different approach. In Raheem Sterling and Ross Barkley, Liverpool and Everton posses within their ranks two of the most gifted English talents since Wayne Rooney burst on to the scene back in 2002.

It would have been easy for the managers of these clubs to simply throw those two teenagers into their respective teams on a weekly basis, but thankfully, neither has been overplayed or burned out. Instead they have been allowed to progress organically, improving on the training pitches of Melwood and Finch Farm. When their form has dipped, their managers have taken them out of the firing line and shepherded them away from the public gaze. Their subsequent improvement as footballers has been incredible to witness.

In the last six months alone, Sterling has been completely transformed as a player. He’s gone from being perceived as an archetypal, quick winger – in the mould of an Aaron Lennon – who couldn’t make the Liverpool first team into a player of such poise, maturity and intelligence that he is now capable of dominating a match against Manchester City from the central, ‘number 10’ position. His movement and appreciation of space is astounding for one so young. Rodgers’ coaching and guidance has undoubtedly been instrumental in this progression.

Many managers would have simply seen a pacey wide player and implored him to use his speed out on the flanks. Instead, Rodgers has moulded Sterling into a more rounded player, ever conscious of the game that is going on around him and capable of influencing it in a variety of ways rather than relying solely on his impressive turn of foot. As a result, the kid with off the field problems who wasn’t in the Liverpool team six months ago should now be starting for his country in Brazil in a few weeks time.

Across Stanley Park, Barkley has this season gone from being a reserve at Everton to one of the most sought after young players in Europe. He still lacks some consistency but Martinez is keen to look past the flaws that exist in the Scouser’s game and instead harness the positive attributes that his prodigious young attacker possesses.

Everton’s previous manager, David Moyes, appeared to be cautious of giving Barkley significant game time, probably because the player is a little erratic and wasn’t exactly in keeping with the hard working, defensive and ultra organised Everton team that the Scot had created. Plenty of Evertonians bemoaned Moyes’ reluctance to give Barkley his chance and we can now see why. Under a manager that encourages his players to express themselves on the ball and try things in the final third, Barkley has grown immensely and will surely go to the World Cup this summer with England. His improvement only looks set to continue under the tutelage of Martinez.

Plenty of other examples of youth development are apparent in both Merseyside squads. Jon Flanagan, John Stones, Gerard Deulofeu, James McCarthy, Jordan Henderson, Seamus Coleman, Daniel Sturridge, Romelu Lukaku and Philippe Coutinho have all shone brightly this term. Martinez and Rodgers are proving that British teams and British players can play with the same amount of poise and technique as their foreign counterparts, even at a young age. More importantly, they are also proving that the can be successful while doing so.

Tactically, Martinez and Rodgers have impressed immensely this season. Rodgers has deviated from the initial style that he tried to impose on his Liverpool side and made the Reds a more robust, direct team in the process. They still value possession, but the way that they now press the ball when their opponents have it and launch counter attacks with great intensity is a sight to behold. Many bemoaned the fact that the Northern Irishman tried to make Liverpool play just like Swansea in his early days at the club, but he has since demonstrated that pragmatism is another string to his bow. Liverpool have used a multitude of formations this term to great effect. From 4-3-3 to 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 diamond, Rodgers’ side have a system for nearly every challenge that they face, often switching between these variations in game. It has worked a treat, as has the crucial repositioning of captain Steven Gerrard as a deep lying play-maker.

While Rodgers has adjusted his in game set ups regularly, Martinez has stuck more closely to his preferred style. Everton play out from the back. Their centre halves regularly split while their own deep play-maker Gareth Barry drops into defence. Their impressive fullbacks are more akin to auxiliary wingers. Many doubted whether players like Sylvain Distin, Phil Jagielka and Steven Naismith would be able to adapt to Martinez’s way of football, but adapt they have. Everton’s recent dismantling of Arsenal at Goodison Park showed off the inventive side of Martinez, also. His deployment of Naismith as a central striker and Romelu Lukaku as a wide forward took Arsene Wenger by surprise and the Gunners’ manager never managed to solve the problem presented to him. Everton ran out comprehensive 3-0 winners. Wenger was once seen as a tactical pioneer in England, but on that day he was made to look like a dinosaur by the young Spaniard.

In the recent past, Evertonian successes had been built upon solidity and defensive organisation. Now, Martinez takes his men into battle against the very best sides in the country believing, as his players do, that they can outplay their opponents. Bus parking and aspiring to 6th place in the Premier League table is no longer on the menu at Goodison. Everton are taking on the big boys at their own game and succeeding. They are infinitely more pleasing on the eye than they were just 12 months ago and by the season’s end they will have accrued their largest points total in Premier League history. The front foot, adventurous football that Roberto Martinez has put his faith in is paying dividends. He is taking Everton to new heights.

Merseyside once again possesses two of the very best football teams in the country. It is also lucky to have a pair of managers that represent the future of football with their progressive ideas and acute tactical knowledge. Whether Liverpool clinch their 19th league title over the coming weeks or Everton can pip Arsenal to fourth position, Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez have already succeeded beyond the realms of what most thought possible.

As well as improving Liverpool’s two great teams exponentially on the pitch, both men seem to be completely in tune with what their clubs and their adopted city stand for and represent. At the 25th Hillsborough memorial service at Anfield, the pair delivered poignant and heartfelt messages that drew universal acclaim. Their speeches demonstrated that they understood the city in which they now work and the mentality of it’s people. Rodgers spoke of the inspiration he took from the families of those lost in the tragedy while Martinez bemoaned the treatment of those people by the establishment. Applause rang out for the speeches.

Brendan Rodgers and Roberto Martinez are remarkable football managers. More importantly, they are also good men. Everton Football Club are lucky to have Roberto Martinez. Liverpool Football Club are lucky to have Brendan Rodgers.

The city is lucky to have them both.