Roberto Martínez
Roberto Martínez is one of the higher-profile managers who will be at the World Cup this year. The Spaniard spent a lot of his senior career at lower league Spanish and English teams where he won a Copa Del Rey, two Football league trophies, and a League 3 title. His managerial career, though, has not been without controversy. He began at Swansea City, winning a League one title in 2008 before leaving for Wigan Athletic. At Wigan Athletic he had a dismal win percentage of 29%, but he made history by making a historic run to win the FA Cup in 2013, beating out Manchester City 1-0 through a 91st-minute goal. After this, he moved to Everton, believing he was not the man to get Wigan promoted to the Premier League. At Everton, many had high hopes, but he won no major titles and saw many poor performances before being sacked in 2016 before the last game of the season with Everton sitting in 12th place in the table. While many thought Martínez’s managerial career had fallen off a cliff, he was surprisingly appointed to the head coaching job for Belgium, succeeding the unsuccessful Marc Wilmots. This appointment was extremely controversial because Belgium’s “golden generation” has never been able to achieve its full potential due to poor leadership, and Martínez’s track record did not indicate he would be a much better manager. However, Belgium was the first European team to qualify for the WC this year, having lost only once under Martinez’s leadership. Expectations of Belgium are extremely high, and since this may be the last World Cup with Belgium’s incredible team, fans will be hoping the team can finally perform.
Works Cited
O’Keeffe, Greg. “Roberto Martinez Story Part One: The Childhood That Fired Up The Fierce Competitor”. Liverpoolecho, 2013, https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/roberto-martinez-story-part-one-4922064. Accessed 23 Apr 2018.
“Roberto Martínez”. En.Wikipedia.Org, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Mart%C3%ADnez. Accessed 23 Apr 2018.
Smith, Peter. “Roberto Martinez Sacked: The Miserable Stats Behind Everton’s Season”. Sky Sports, 2016, http://www.skysports.com/football/news/15134/10278765/roberto-martinez-the-stats-everton-boss-wont-want-to-see. Accessed 23 Apr 2018.
