Martinez: We were cagey in the first half
Everton boss Roberto Martinez felt his side were a little cagey in the first half and felt they had a bit of a hangover following defeat in the Merseyside Derby.
Everton eventually came out winners against Aston Villa after going a goal down and Martinez says his team showed a real test of character to come out and put on an outstanding performance in the second half.
“I think it was a challenging week,” Martinez told Sky Sports. “We were all very, very disappointed after Tuesday for the meaning of the result and the opposition we were playing.
“Remember, it was only our third defeat. We’re all very much happy with the way things are going, but were (left) disappointed.
“In our first-half performance (against Villa) we were very cagey wanting to win the game without being ourselves, without being freed.
“We hit the post and then Villa go at the other end and score and that’s a real test of character.
“That half-time moment defined our season. There is something very special about that dressing room and we showed everyone what it is in football terms, which was that second-half display.”
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I keep hearing the words drubbing,thrashing and catastrophe about Tuesdays loss.Usually from the media,but also from some fans. The scoreline would tend to agree and I suppose any loss to them is bad and a big differential is quite embarrassing. But like yesterday,we had a lot of the play and several good chances to even up the score.Maybe the deciding factor was that due to injuries we were not balanced and that threw the players off kilter. Now when we went behind,but had our core in place,we battled through and took the points,just a few days too late,unforunately.