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Martinez: All I want is a team that the fans can be extremely extremely proud of.
Spain’s Roberto Martinez took over Everton FC when previous coach Davie Moyes left for Manchester United, following the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Previously manager of Wigan Athletic, a mere 18 miles away in England’s northwest, he guided the Latics to the double edged sword of relegation from the EPL and winning the FA Cup, the greatest moment in the club’s history.
Martinez’s opinions on the game are well sought.
He appeared on American screens as a studio analyst for ESPN during the 2010 FIFA World Cup, EURO 2012 and the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. He has also been a regular guest on Sky Sports’ Spanish football program Revista de la Liga in England.
So he returns to familiar territory in the USA where his Evertonians prepare to meet Juventus in a pre-season tournament.
We spoke to him at San Francisco State’s Cox Staium where the Merseyside club were training ahead of Wednesday’s match.
Prost Amerika: Welcome back to the USA. Does it feel good to be back here?
Roberto Martinez: It does yeah. It seems a familiar space now. The hospitality has been fantastic and we have been able to enjoy our first session.
Prost Amerika: And of course you now have some friends here at ESPN where you work as an analyst?
Roberto Martinez: Yes. Yes. It’s a big family. The ESPN family has been a real good experience over the last two major events. Then the Confederations Cup, so I really really enjoyed that time. I look forward to how they are all getting on and how they are doing.
Prost Amerika: To Everton and your new challenge, you’ve seen the players all together now. What is your initial view of your new squad, first reactions to the players you have?
Roberto Martinez: Well the reaction is that obviously we have a very strong group of players; a very strong core of senior players that have been at Everton for a long long time. They know what it means to play for this football cub and that really helps to set the direction in the dressing room and that’s been very pleasing. On the other side of it, we’ve been working extremely hard. Their approach to that work has been phenomenal and now is the time we fine tune, and start to get ready for the start of the season in a couple of weeks.
Prost Amerika: Everton is a very old and traditional club, perhaps very different from the one you left. Have you found that it has a unique club culture?
Roberto Martinez: It has of course. You’re talking about 125 years of history. That’s something that you can feel it. You see it in the fans, the passion that we’ve got in those fans is the reason that our football club has this strong meaning in every game that we go into.That gives a real good sense of, as you say, a history of that comes along with it. I’m really excited about the new challenge. All I want is a team that the fans can be extremely extremely proud of.
Prost Amerika: On the subject of the fans, have you managed to come to terms with the local accent yet?
Roberto Martinez: Yes, well. I’ve been in the UK long enough now and I’ve been living in the north-west for a long time so. 18 years is a long time to get used to it.
Prost Amerika: Of the players you have seen so far, has anyone surprised you or caught your eye?
Roberto Martinez: You need to remember that I knew the players really really well. When you work as (geographically) close as I was doing with another team, you get to know their qualities obviously. The human side of the players is what really surprised me. They are people that have incredible human values and that really helps towards a new project. That’s been the most impressive side to see. Of the real (playing) quality they have I was well aware, but the human qualities they have make them special ambassadors for Everton.
Prost Amerika: A final question about your host country’s football. How do you see the World Cup Hexagonal group panning out?
Roberto Martinez: There’s a real source of talent. I always see the CONCACAF teams as a group of teams that can bring real individual talent, and we’ve seen that many times with players coming across to Europe, performing really well and having great careers. Obviously also there’s the USA winning the Gold Cup and developing a very strong say into going to the World Cup in Brazil which I think is going to be one of the best World Cups that we will have seen in the modern game.
