Martinez on injuries ahead of Villa match

, 9 October, 36comments  |  Jump to most recent

It's still unclear how long Kevin Mirallas will be sidelined by his hamstring injury
In addition to confirming the prognosis of John Stones' ankle injury, Roberto Martinez has provided updates on the condition of a number of his players as he looks ahead to the visit of Aston Villa on Saturday week.

Stones faces at least 10 weeks out to recover from surgery, adding to a list of injured players that includes Kevin Mirallas, Arouna Kone, Ross Barkley, Seamus Coleman and James McCarthy.

"Kevin has got a typical sprinter's injury," Martinez said on evertonfc.com. "We expect him to be out for a few weeks as well but he doesn't need surgery, just the conservative treatment that we will apply."

He was similarly vague about the timing of the Coleman and McCarthy's availability. Both players have been ruled out of the Republic of Ireland's two Euro2016 qualifiers this month because of muscle injuries.

"James McCarthy picked up a knock against Liverpool and at the end of the game he was feeling a little bit of discomfort in that area," Martinez continued. He couldn't make the game in Russia and Old Trafford, and now it's making sure he is fully fit and recovered.

"I don't think James and Seamus will out for too long and I expect them to play some part in the next block of six games. We are going to assess them day by day."

Two players who will be available for the Villa game, though, are Bryan Oviedo and Sylvain Distin. Oviedo will not face any more time out following a small procedure to remove a screw from his mended leg and will be hoping to add to the minutes he has got so far this season.

Distin, meanwhile, will return from a break in his native France to vie for the spot alongside Phil Jagielka vacated by Stones.

"Sylvain needed a bit of a rest," his manager explained. "He has played a lot of football in pre-season and he is someone who we need to manage his amount of games and his input. He is fully fit, has trained really well and is ready to fight for a place in the team.

"Bryan should be available for Villa. He has reacted really well to the straightforward procedure to remove the screw. It's not situation where he needs to get fully fit because he is not going to lose any sort of match fitness. He's not going to be detrained."

Meanwhile, Martinez confirmed that he expects Barkley to return to full training on Monday before the young star is eased back into first-team action towards the end of the month.

Barkley has missed all of the season so far after injuring his knee on the eve of the campaign but his recovery has gone well.

On Monday we expect Ross, with the green light from the medical department, to join the group," Martinez said.

Now it's a matter of getting him match fitness and getting him up to speed. Ross has been working really, really well and I don't expect any setbacks. I expect Ross, from now on, to have a real clear path to get his match fitness back.

He'll be like a fresh, new player for us. From Monday I want him to be part of it and in probably a couple of weeks we should be able to see Ross in the squad.

Quotes sourced from EvertonFC.com



Reader Comments (36)

Note: the following content is not moderated or vetted by the site owners at the time of submission. Comments are the responsibility of the poster. Disclaimer


Richie P Jones
1 Posted 09/10/2014 at 17:01:58
Stones 10 weeks out?

Lady luck shines on us again!

James Stewart
2 Posted 09/10/2014 at 17:08:25
The Distin explanation sounds really odd. Something obviously not quite right with him.
Kelvin Thomas
3 Posted 09/10/2014 at 17:18:52
A combination of terrible individual mistakes and injuries to key players explains our very poor start to the season.

RM explained over the summer that our squad is big enough and good enough to compete in the Prem and in Europe. I agree.

The problem is that Oviedo, and Gibson are only now getting anywhere near match fitness while Kone is still miles off. Injuries to Coleman and Barkley have affected our play massively!

Mirallas a big blow, add McCarthy, Lukaku not 100% and now Stones it really has been a nightmare start to the season. It can only get better!

Anthony Hughes
4 Posted 09/10/2014 at 17:25:38
Sylvan needed abit of rest and had played a lot of football in pre-season??? We need to manage his games???

Yeah right, Roberto.

Linda Morrison
5 Posted 09/10/2014 at 17:29:50
I'll agree with you, Kelvin, if our players return from the Internationals unscathed!

Surely Coleman and McCarthy should be back by the end of the month?

Anthony Hughes
6 Posted 09/10/2014 at 17:30:29
Got to disagree. Kelvin, the results and performances so far seem to indicate that our squad doesn't have sufficient quality players to come in and perform to a required standard.
Jon Withey
7 Posted 09/10/2014 at 17:54:58
So its the Man Utd squad again but with the added bonus of a shaken Distin. To be honest, all I want is 3 points. Howard can score from a clearance for all it matters. We don't have the quality to compete at a high level right now.
Ian McDowell
8 Posted 09/10/2014 at 17:58:07
Gonna be a tough game v Villa. They are really good on the break and their away record is far better than home. Expect them to sit deep and use the pace of Weimann and Agbonlahor on the break. I'm getting pretty worried about this season.
Jay Harris
9 Posted 09/10/2014 at 18:01:57
Worry not, Ian. There will be a real determination to put it right against Villa so I can only see 3 points.

However, this is Everton and if they fail to get 3 points I think it will shape our season (badly).

John Daley
10 Posted 09/10/2014 at 18:10:37
Comments I've seen on other threads up to now seem to be criticising Martinez for continuing to be positive in the face of further bad news. Saying Stones should have 'a perfect recovery' for example is cited as 'bizarre' in the circumstances.

I don't see how the manager refusing to succumb to self pity, or resorting to using a lengthy injury list as a ready made excuse to roll over and write the season off already, is a sign of weakness or delusion.

How would people rather he react in public? It would be more pleasing or palatable if he takes on a pessimistic persona instead?

...........

'Before I start this press conference I just need to warn all Evertonians that they may want to sit down first and have an empty carrier bag handy--for taking deep breaths into or wrapping over their own head. Either option would be perfectly understandable right now.

I myself have a loaded gun...here...a little snub nose strapped to my ankle...and, I must say, the catastrophic news about John Stones has seen it pressed against my cranium and contemplating ending not only the season but my entire existence.

John is injured ladies and gentleman. HE'S INJURED!! Another one to add to the list. Another setback that sees us facing insurmountable odds. Seriously, why do we even bother?

If I were a stronger man, I might put it aside and attempt to struggle on, make the best of what remains and show sufficient resolve in an attempt to steady the ship and stay the course.

Alas, I've come to realise that attitude is incredibly annoying and winds some people right up, so what I want to say instead..and I would ask all Evertonians to say it along with me....is 'FUCK MY LIFE!'.

There. That's better. Now we all know where we stand.

I'll see you all at Goodison for the Villa game. Well, those who can stomach it because, I warn you now, we don't stand a chance. May as well forfeit the game and fuck off to an afternoon session at the Bingo instead.More chance of witnessing a win that way.

[Sigh, followed by a rueful shake of the head]

Players I thought I could rely on have suddenly turned to humanoid shit creatures with shit for brains, shiny shit bodies and solidified shit boots.
Others have seen themselves struck down, their shitty bodies cracked and crumbled like that dry white kind of dog shit you used to see curdling on the curb as a kid.

Christ. I can't even say to you 'just hold out until January and pray for reinforcements' because, if the first few months of the season are anything to go by, the entire football club will have been colonised by big intergalactic bug creatures, like those bastards in Starship Troopers, by then.

So, the wisest course of action open to me is, obviously, to opine our misfortune at every opportunity and warn all Evertonians to 'Be afraid. Be very afraid'...because, basically, a bloody big arsed bluebottle called 'bad luck' has leapt into our teleportation pod and the teams cock and balls have fallen off and are currently being kept in a cockle jar in the bathroom cabinet.

There's no way we can fuck Villa or anyone else over ever again. Ever. We are cockless. Sans schlong. We have no weapon whatsoever. We're the Everton Eunuch's.

Fuck our lives'.

............

The old cliche of 'it never rains but it pours' certainly seems apt at the moment, but I can't see what other choice the manager has but to put his faith in those players left standing and hope they repay him by rediscovering some form.

If Martinez does start to lose his ever present positivity then that's when the problems will really become insurmountable. If the manager were to stop believing that results, performances and personnel will improve, then he may as well pack his bags there and then because...why bother?

Frank Crewe
11 Posted 09/10/2014 at 18:07:05
"A typical sprinter's injury" When was the last time anyone heard of Usain Bolt picking up a hamstring injury? Mirallas along with Coleman are picking up these injuries because they weren't fit when the season started —due entirely to our anaemic pre-season.
John Daley
12 Posted 09/10/2014 at 18:15:29
"Hamstring injuries are common in sports characterized by maximal sprinting, kicking and sudden accelerations. Studies have shown that hamstring strains account for about 29% of injuries among sprinters, 16–23% of injuries in Australian Rules football and 12– 16% of all injuries in soccer."

http://www.excelsiorgroup.co.uk/blog/preventing-hamstring-injuries-do-you-need-do-another-warm

Mike Corcoran
13 Posted 09/10/2014 at 18:44:48
John. Voice of sanity and mirth on what is becoming a very bipolar TWebber public.

Thanks

Michael Winstanley
14 Posted 09/10/2014 at 18:59:33
John. That's pretty much how I felt when Baines missed that pen.
Gary Carter
15 Posted 09/10/2014 at 23:23:09
Kelvin Thomas @ 3
RM explained over the summer that our squad is big enough and good enough to compete in the Prem and in Europe. I agree.

No he didn’t!!!!! He said we needed 6-8 new players, then he dropped it to 4-6 then he said about 4 and we had plenty of youngsters to bring in.

He has signed 3 players, 2 of which were already in our squad from last season, and "blooded" one youngster!! He is full of shit or doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing, personally I actually think both !

And Distin played a lot of games pre-season!!!! Is he for real!!! Everton didn’t play many games pre-season and certainly none of any note when you compare it to our rivals!

Every time this cretin opens his mouth, he makes more of a fool of himself and shows how totally out of his depth he is. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry!!

Gary Carter
16 Posted 09/10/2014 at 23:31:13
John @ 10

I think there is quite a difference to being optimistic and being in total denial at how much you have fucked up in such an extraordinary way. If just reminds me of his interviews when at Wigan when he would arrogantly proclaim that they would continue to play football "his way". Well that worked out well for them, didn’t it!

And a win at Villa... well, call me a pessimist, but conceding an average of 2.3 goals a game would make a win unlikely.

Andy Crooks
17 Posted 10/10/2014 at 00:10:20
John Daley, more good stuff.
Abhishek Saha
18 Posted 10/10/2014 at 07:42:14
I can't understand why RM said "Distin is ready to fight for a place in the team" (alongside Jags). Distin should be the automatice choice (over Alcaraz) given that John Stones is injured or even otherwise as well.

Jim Bennings
19 Posted 10/10/2014 at 10:50:52
The season is being completely ruined with injuries.

What's the best we can hope for over the next month?

Fingers crossed for at least two or three good wins from Villa, Burnley, Swansea and Sunderland plus making certain of qualification in the Europa League... and let's throw in some much-needed good performances.

I don't know about anybody else here but I really want us to get past this Europa League group, and have a good little run or at least get a tie like Inter Milan or a Champions League drop-out after Christmas. It could possibly be our last European adventure for some time and I fully intend on enjoying it.

Eddie Dunn
20 Posted 10/10/2014 at 18:11:57
John, I was in the shed with the barrel of my over-and under in my mouth, when I read your post, and you saved my life. Well-in mate bring on the Villa!
John Zapa
21 Posted 10/10/2014 at 20:01:21
The Villa game is the make or break for the season. A win can reignite hopes of a top 10 finish, a loss and it’s a dog fight to the bitter end.
Andy Bulmer
22 Posted 11/10/2014 at 01:07:40
John Daley couldn’t have put it better. The team has been goosed with bad luck, bad refereeing decisions and most importantly, bad injuries all season. Shit happens but it’s just our luck that it’s all happened at the same time.

Think of it another way. Get through the Euro group and into the latter stages and all our players that we miss now, our most creative players, will be fit and raring to go for a full-on tilt at a trophy come the New Year! Barkley, Coleman and Mirallas firing on all cylinders with Lukaku in the middle in Europe is something that no team will want to come up against.

Look on the bright side people, things could be worse, we could have Ricky Fucking Lambert sat on our bench!

Trevor Lynes
23 Posted 11/10/2014 at 10:02:05
The thing wrong as far as I am concerned is the lack of squad depth and that we really did need those 6 to 8 players mentioned by Roberto. We had men injured before we started the season and we played three of our big rivals before the end of September. It has really exposed the shallowness of the squad as we have not been able to adequately cover for injuries to key players.

I have maintained that the strength of any squad is illustrated by who is sitting on the bench and ours does not measure up to our competitors. We did not add to our previous seasons squad. We just replaced players that left. Two of our signings were already with us on loan so they did not add the numbers required.

Now we have a long list of injuries and every international break is watched with dismay in case yet another player picks up a knock. Coleman went off with a slight concussion but now it seems he picked up some other injury. McCarthy is another and Pienaar looks like he is hobbling.

Hibbert is back in defence along with Jags, Baines and possibly a returning Distin or Alcaraz. Barry will probably be partnered by Besic in defensive midfield. Hopefully Oviedo will get a run in place of Pienaar alongside Naismith and McGeady or Atsu, with Rom up front.

Lets hope that Kone and Barkley make the bench alongside Osman and Eto’o as it is about time we had something to cheer us all up.

Steve Orchard
24 Posted 12/10/2014 at 00:20:03
Hear, hear, Jim. Let’s give this Europa League the best effort we can. It’s been a while since we were in it – let's make Thursday nights a permanent fixture!

It would be nice to get through with a game to spare and play Browning and a couple others so we can have a good look at ’em.

Anto Byrne
25 Posted 13/10/2014 at 07:06:55
I read that he was carrying a knock and that the pre-season fitness left them short of where they should have been. Groin injuries slow you down a bit and at 37 he needs to stay healthy. Great player to have on the bench, let's not forget that.
Will Firstbrook
26 Posted 14/10/2014 at 16:17:15
Nobody is accusing Roberto of not having faith in the squad, as has been characterized above. What makes me cringe of late, is his enthusiastic desire to put a polish on even the rancid of turds! Very much like what his counterpart Brenda does every week (equally cringe-worthy but on many other levels). In the more recent interviews, Roberto comes across as if he's taken a long toke before getting in front of the camera... (though, based on the team's current form and bad luck, who could blame him!)

Of course it's a manager's job to publicly support his players, no matter how bad things may get. However, as I believe he is equally culpable for much that is not working right at the moment (IMO), I almost find it patronizing when he gets out in front of the camera, farting rainbows and bubble gum.

I admire his faith and confidence and I truly hope it all comes together and we get through this bad spell soon. In the meantime, I would prefer he just rolled up his sleeves and got to work sorting it out.

Patrick Murphy
27 Posted 14/10/2014 at 16:51:41
What's happened to the Brown Shoes, Bobby? Have you kept the same ones as last season or have you thrown them out? It might be the single biggest reason for our ill-fortune this season... or else we should have kept the 'new' badge which was quite lucky for us in its brief time.
Phil Walling
28 Posted 14/10/2014 at 16:57:45
It's no good screaming for re-inforcements if the guys we get in are no better than most of Bobby's signings to date. It ain't just a numbers game – we've got about 30 kids registered to play apart from the main squad – it's about QUALITY.

Let's face it, there's an awful lot of dross around the club at present and each new signing seems more crap than the one before! Seems he ought to be looking to change his scouts as well...

Les Fitzpatrick
29 Posted 14/10/2014 at 16:59:50
As I keep telling you all, we are sleepwalking to relegation. Martinez is out of his depth in the Premier League. All my worst fears are coming to pass.

I quite like the man... however, I like Everton being in the Premier League better. If we start lingering in the bottom 4 or 5 of the league, I would not have faith in him getting us out of the shit, come squeaky-bum time.

Michael Kenrick
32 Posted 15/10/2014 at 16:15:26
Here's a fuller version of the Distin quote from last week, which I'm finding hard to swallow along with yesterday's arrant nonsense about Lukaku:

"Sylvain needed a bit of a rest, obviously he played a lot of football, in the preseason too. He is someone I needed to manage his amount of games, and his input. He is fully fit, has trained really well and is now making sure we see him fighting for his place in the team.

"With the amount of games that we have, and the amount of competitions we have, we wanted to make sure we treat the individuals with different needs, making sure that everyone gets refreshed and regenerated throughout the season so everyone can play a big part every time they are on the pitch.

"In Sylvain's case in the last couple of weeks, he needed to refresh and work on certain aspects and now he is back and ready to fight for his place on the team."

We most definitely need a win on Saturday to give us the best reason possible for glossing over Roberto's increasingly annoying utterances!

Frank Crewe
33 Posted 15/10/2014 at 16:29:15
Needed a rest my arse. If Stones was fit Distin would be "resting" until his contract ended. As it is if it comes down to him or "weak bones" Alcaraz I'd go with Distin.

What with the saga of Lukaku's toe and Atsu's head it's beginning to sound more like Jackanory everyday.

Steve Pugh
34 Posted 15/10/2014 at 16:36:00
Actually the Distin comments make perfect sense. Is it not true that many people on here had commented on his loss of pace this season. So he needed to take time out and adjust his training to get that burst of speed back.

If you get sprinters to do lots of stamina work and long distance stuff they lose pace, and interestingly it also results in an increase of hamstring injuries.

Michael Kenrick
35 Posted 16/10/2014 at 15:31:14
The latest word from Martinez now says he had a dead leg!

"You will always get rumours but the reality was that he picked up a knock after the Swansea game and obviously at that period I considered it was right for him to have a bit of break and rejuvenate," said Marti­nez. "Sometimes he is such a professional he works too hard. He is someone who is not just happy with what he does with the team, he has his individual programmes and he works too much.

"I felt that he needed a bit of a break but now he has come back refreshed and ready to fight for his place. He could have played the last game against Manchester United and maybe Krasnodar, but the little knock that he had stopped him from being available for Liverpool and from that point on it was just making sure he could recover. Sylvain is training well and is fully refreshed and is ready to fight for his place."

Brian Harrison
36 Posted 16/10/2014 at 15:43:58
The season has barely started and yet RM is talking about players needing a rest. Add into the equation that we have already had two weekends of Internationals which Distin wasn't involved in and RM is worried about players needing a rest.

Patrick Murphy
37 Posted 16/10/2014 at 16:18:45
Regardless of the way Roberto spouts about the injuries – and I admit that mostly it is just flannel – but in the past many Everton players would have ensured that they were available for duty regardless of their true fitness. This is not a good thing in and of itself but my worry is that players are getting used to being unavailable for selection for longer periods than may be necessary and that is definitely not a good thing.

Sam Hoare
38 Posted 16/10/2014 at 16:56:25
The Distin/Jags partnership has looked ropey as hell this season. Think I'd almost prefer to start with Alcaraz. Or maybe give Browning a shot?

I would like to see Besic and McCarthy, if fit, start in midfield. I thought this was quite a good article as to why...

http://www.therussianlinesman.com/blog/compelling-introduction-muhamed-besic-played-way-Evertons-first-choice-xi/


Add Your Comments

In order to post a comment, you need to be logged in as a registered user of the site.

» Log in now

Or Sign up as a ToffeeWeb Member — it's free, takes just a few minutes and will allow you to post your comments on articles and Talking Points submissions across the site.


About these ads

© ToffeeWeb