EPL: Martinez praises Moyes

Roberto Martinez says his Everton side now
have the belief they can compete with the best
in the Premier League.
The Spaniard steered his side into the top four
on Saturday with a 1-0 win at Sunderland,
over-taking Arsenal in the race for the final
Champions League qualifying place.
However, Martinez - who has seen his side
win seven on the spin - told Goals on Sunday
Everton's development has been a gradual
process throughout the campaign, building on
the strong structures established at the club
by previous boss David Moyes - and now they
have the momentum to achieve a top four
finish.
"I've been very fortunate, walking into a
football club like Everton, with the history and
the heritage that we have at the club," he said.
"David Moyes, for 11 years, did a terrific job
and for a manager to walk into such a strong
structure and have everything in its
department has been a real help.
"We've got a really strong dressing room - the
senior figures have been phenomenal - and
then we've got 10 new players that adapted
quickly into the way of working at Everton. Its
clicked into place but it had to be a patient
approach and the support of the fans was vital,
especially in the first few weeks when it was a
big transition and change.
"When you look at the league, you have to
prepare for the first two thirds, to be as strong
as you can be in the final third. We are now
carrying momentum and seven straight wins
allows you to be very confident about
whatever games are in front of us."
Martinez picked out his side's 3-0 win at
home to Arsenal and 1-0 triumph at
Manchester United as key results in their
season.
He says those wins have boosted confidence
at the club.
"More than anything [beating Arsenal 3-0 at
Goodison] is about the psychological
element," he explained.
"When you play against the so-called top four,
being able to have that arrogance and belief
you can play eye-to-eye and get a good result
that is something we've been overcoming this
season.
"We went to Old Trafford and got our first win
there in 21 years. We've been growing, in
terms of the development of belief, which goes
in hand with the talent the squad has, which is
immense, and that's why I say the senior
figures have been special, open-minded and
looking forward to trying things in a different
way and giving direction to the young talent."
Everton's mission to finish in the top four is
not complete yet, though.
The Goodison Park outfit currently sit two
points clear of Arsenal but must come through
stiff tests at home to Manchester United and
Manchester City during their final five games
of the season.
Martinez is well aware Everton still have
plenty to do to qualify for Europe's elite club
competition but is excited by the challenges
ahead.
"We've got three games at home and at
Goodison our form has been very good but
we're going to be heavily tested.
"You look at it on paper and Arsenal have go
the best run-in, but the good thing about
football is nothing works as it should be on
paper!
"We're excited that at this stage of the season
we've got enough points to fight for that
position and will try to take advantage of our
home fixtures - that could be the difference of
achieving it or not."