Martinez on Everton’s ‘daunting schedule’

As for Watford, they have had a squad overhaul adding 10 new faces in a bid to stave off relegation. If we are like that, we can not compete in this league, and after they scored, we had an incredible mountain to climb. Everton are a much better team than their record last term would suggest.

It’s league and cup kickoff weekend for a laundry list of Americans playing club ball in Europe, with Tim Howard aiming to keep both his and Everton’s ideal home records intact against Premier League opening day guests Watford.

Even the dogs that roam Walton probably know about the problems at Everton: concerns held over from last season, those not addressed over the summer with only two players being signed. “I am very happy to lead these players into the Premier League and it will be interesting to see what the response of the team is”.

It was Quique Sanchez Flores’ first match in charge of Watford.

Martinez’s men responded instantly though, with Romelu Lukaku supplying Kone after good hold-up play, and the Ivorian’s unerring finish from the angle of the area rescued a point for the men in blue.

“We don’t know how long he will be out for but it has been a real disaster”, Martinez said. A slightly less positive start for Everton in front of their home fans as it’s fair to say improvement is needed especially on their first-half performance. And while the back line is loaded with three England players, it looked shaky again. “Last season was challenging throughout because of the injury he picked up, which stopped him starting the season, but he always took responsibility and never shied away”. However, under Flores it is looking ever more likely that Watford will play with one striker, which means that a considerable amount of their prolificacy will be resigned to the bench.

But Ighalo has insisted his club will stay up.

Whatever your take on the tactical flaws which hinder this Everton side, there is no debating the spirit in the Goodison dressing room. Greater control and a more mature understanding of his role, which he’ll learn alongside the likes of Barry and McCarthy, will see the 22-year-old start to deliver more than just thrills and spills in midfield.