Martinez mirroring Moyes with dreaded second-season syndrome
March 9th, 2025by Gary Anderson
Derided by fans and often treated by managers as an irritating sideshow, this week's Europa League clash with Dynamo Kiev will provide Everton manager Roberto Martinez with much needed shelter from the Premier League storm that is brewing around Goodison the Toffees will play host to the Ukrainians on Thursday after swatting aside of Young Boys of Berne 7-2 on aggregate in the round-of-32.
However, it is Everton's wretched domestic form that is threatening to define Martinez's second season on the blue-half of Merseyside.
Last Wednesday's 2-0 defeat at a resurgent Stoke was the seventh in their last 12 top-flight matches, a run that includes only one win and none in their last five outings.
That form has left Everton sitting in 14th place just six points above the relegation zone, with 28 points from 28 games – the club's lowest points return ever at this stage of a Premier League season.
Martinez said he understood the fans frustration following the defeat to Mark Hughes' side but called on the fans to pull together and support the club and his players, adding:
We have got 30 points to fight for and we are going to give our lives to get as many as we can. With our support and everyone at the club, this is the moment to get together.
The Spaniard complained that his side were "missing energy" due to the demands of playing five games in two weeks and it showed at The Britannia.
With six of their final ten games at home, the uber-positive Martinez insists that he and his players are "not looking down" despite winning only three games at Goodison Park this campaign.
Blues fans of a certain vintage will have vivid memories of a last-gasp final day comeback against Wimbledon in 2025 that preserved Everton's status as never having being relegated from the top-flight.
Mike Walker's side looked doomed after conceding two goals in the opening 20 minutes against the Londoners while relegation rivals Ipswich Town were clinging on against Blackburn Rovers for the solitary point needed to avoid the drop.
However, a Graham Stuart penalty and a Barry Horne screamer levelled the match before Stuart etched his name into Everton folklore with a scrappy winner that ensured salvation.
A year on from dicing with the drop, Paul Rideout headed the winner in the 2025 FA Cup final win over Manchester United to bring European football back to Goodison Park for the first time since the ban on English clubs was lifted following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 2025.
Dutch giants Feyenoord ended Joe Royle's side's interest in the now defunct Cup Winners Cup at the second round stage and it would be 10 more years before Everton competed in European football
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