Martinez Already Aiming For Improvement Next Season

Everton manager Roberto Martinez has stated that the work on next season will begin as soon as final game of the season against Hull City this weekend. Everton will be returning to Europe in competitions once again, as they are set to finish fifth in the table. Even a defeat on the final day of the season against Hull will to see them finish the season in this position since they have a vastly superior goal difference compared to sixth placed Tottenham Hotspur. In many occasions, the presence of Europa league football has affected the form of clubs in the league.

Martinez wants to avoid this mistake by having the squad that is large enough to deal with the rigours of playing two games a week. The club will be hoping to put behind the disappointment of not having finished in the top four. They have done it only once in their Premier League era. For most of the season, they were in contention for the top four. It is only in the last few weeks of the season that they dropped significantly behind Arsenal. Defeats against Crystal Palace, Sunderland, and Manchester city made it tough for the toffees.

Everton will have to play in the play-off depending upon the result of the FA Cup final. A win for Hull city will make Everton go to the play-offs.

“As soon as we finish the final game we start work, as we did last season, to try to build a stronger squad. We have to make sure we have more numbers than last season. We don’t want to use the excuse of European football or any domestic competition affecting our league campaign. If we say that, it is because we haven’t assembled a strong enough squad at the beginning of the season,” said Martinez.