Looking up once again

In mid-week I wrote an article about learning the lessons from victory and how repeating the same things we did in the Newcastle match will serve us well for the rest of the season. Another clean sheet and another three goals gives confidence that the 2nd half of the season can be a lot better than the first. Due to how poorly other teams have done around us, European football next season is still a very real possibility.

Easy victories are what this side is capable of, but no-one seemed comfortable that it would be easy win until very late on. The amount of leads we’ve lost this season and poor game management has made every Everton fan nervous regardless of how far in front we are. Hopefully the last two results will start to ease that tension and allay any of that anxiety that has been so prevalent at Goodison Park this season.

It may be a coincidence, but you will find it hard to find an Evertonian that thinks Joel Robles’ introduction hasn’t been a factor in our defensive solidarity. Three consecutive clean sheets shows at maybe Everton have turned a corner this season. Martinez is stubborn but he has shown a willingness to budge on a few things since his time at the club with one of the main areas being our long passes. If the situation calls for it the team isn’t afraid to try and find Lukaku with a long ball which is something Martinez didn’t allow when first at the club. Hopefully the same change of heart has helped our defensive structure and game management. You can’t leave seven or eight players up the field and you especially can’t do it when your leading. In the last few matches we’ve seen McCarthy and Barry retain their defensive positions without taking anything away from our attacking threat.

Football is a fickle business and a week ago people were calling for Martinez’ head, and some still are. With how the last 18 months have gone it was hard to argue against it and there are still a lot of questions to be answered. The last two matches have shown what Martinez’ sides can do, and it’s beautiful to watch. Whether this will continue remains to be seen but it gives Martinez a stay of execution from the fans. I remain on the fence about the issue and have been perching there for about 13 months now, I feel the end of the season is the appropriate time to look at the situation. We won’t be near relegation and any prospective new manager probably wont leave his post until the summer, hopefully by the summer we’ll be in Europe and happy once again,

We are looking up at the table once more and looking at ‘winnable’ fixtures but it’s never that easy when it comes to Everton. Back-to-back wins at Goodison would be huge for confidence and would stop any unrest from the fans. West Brom feels like a huge fixture now in the context of our season as anything but a win would leave the club very frustrated again, For now we can be happy once more with another weekend not ruined.