Over the festive period and the early weeks of 2013 Martinez has stuck to his guns with the tried and tested 3-4-3 formation and the players who adopted it so well toward the tail end of last season. He has stuck to this strategy despite a record of one win in thirteen league games, a record that has seen us sink into a position within the bottom three, and in danger of being cut off.
Only Aston Villa and Reading are one win away from us in the league and the latter of those are our opponents this weekend.
It is widely renowned that teams often start to gain results after their relegation has been mathematically confirmed and their start to express their football without the heavy pressures of a relegation fight.
This is much the same for our FA Cup football over the recent weeks as fringe players have truly been allowed to express themselves and stake claims for a first team spot. Notable performers have been numerous.
Callum McManaman, Joel Robles and Roman Golobart are three most notable names from the weekend’s victory over Huddersfield. In particular the direct running and attacking intent from McManaman could be described as just what our league performances have been lacking.
It is therefore understandable why Martinez was so keen for his team to take the warm weather break to Tenerife this last week. There are accusations that the visit is a reward for poor performance, but there is also the counter argument that a few days away from the usual routine could allow the players to refresh themselves, both mentally and physically, ahead of twelve very important league games.
A point not lost on James McArthur who couldn’t have emphasised enough in his post match television interview that it is the bread and butter of the league that matters most, not the dreams of Wembley.
Our trips away in recent years add further weight to this argument, in particular the way the team performed following last year’s trip to Oman.
In a similar way to the FA Cup, the trip to Tenerife will hopefully act to remove the pressures of week-to-week football in the relegation battle of the Premier League.
Whilst it is disappointing we have been able to develop and push away from the bottom three, it is now important that we focus on earning enough points to stay in the league.
A trip to Wembley is not going to keep us in the Premier League, but if we can learn to adopt for league games the freedom that we have attacked the cup competition with, we should have no issues with survival again.