From Swansea to Merseyside: The tale of two managers
Roberto Martinez and Brenden Rodgers
Less than a week after Brendan Rodgers celebrated his first year at Liverpool, Roberto Martinez was signed by Everton to become the club’s next manager. Both managers, however, do have their commonalities. Rodgers managed Swansea the season before which Liverpool hired him. And Martinez was the man who began Swansea’s triumphant journey towards the Premier League.
It comes as no surprise to many that these two managers have tremendously risen from their jobs at a once-mediocre Welsh club and are about to embark on one of the most storied rivalries in British football. Ladies and Gentleman, it is time for the city of Liverpool to witness Roberto Martinez of Everton versus Brendan Rodgers of Liverpool. For that, let us look at three key domains that could prove decisive in the outcome of the “Battle of Merseyside”.
Study 1: Days at Swansea City.
To see what we have in store, let us look back at their spells at Swansea City. Martinez took over reigns at Swansea when the club was in the League 1 division. Having narrowly missed out on the playoffs for the Championship in his first year, Martinez ensured the team’s progress by winning League 1 and amassing a Welsh record 92 points in the next season. Following the run, the Spaniard also succeeded in holding onto key players who proved vital in the Swans’s promotion. The following season was Roberto Martinez’s last at Swansea as the team finished 8th in the Championship, narrowly missing out on a playoff run to the Premier League. That summer, offers from the top flight arrived and Martinez departed for the midlands of Wigan Athletic. After a year under Paolo Sousa, Swansea took to approaching then-unemployed manager, Brendan Rodgers. With the attractive, bustling global style of football still looming around Swansea, Rodgers inspired the Welsh Club to a third place finish in the Championship, thereby qualifying for the playoffs which Martinez barely missed out on. He then took the Swans one step further by winning the playoffs and securing promotion into the Barclays Premier League for the first time. More importantly, he transformed rejects from the top flight European Clubs - Fabio Borini, Scott Sinclair and Alan Tate - into star-studded marketable assets. A year later, Swansea finished high above the relegation zone of the English Premier League, continued to display the continental form of “tika-taka” football and beat eventual champions Manchester City, all under one man – Brendan Rodgers. While it is given that Rodgers took over and safeguarded Swansea City’s ascendance into the Premier League, it was Martinez who began the glorious spell that had them destined for England’s top flight a few years ago.
Study 2: Contrasting transfer policies.
Liverpool and Everton have dissimilar transfer strategies. Over the years, the blue side of Merseyside has hardly rivaled the Reds when it comes to splurging the cash in the transfer market. And that is something that could work to the strength of Roberto Martinez. At Swansea, he made best use of an influx of inexpensive Spanish and Italian players to strengthen his squad, and at Wigan, he poached on securing loan deals for talents from top European clubs who he successfully convinced to stay. For Martinez, Everton will be the biggest test of his managerial career. Roberto Martinez has to come to terms with the fact that Everton aren’t the biggest spenders in the transfer market either. His first task is to get the likes of Maroune Fellaini, Phil Jagielka, Steven Pienaar, Leon Osman and Nikita Jelavic to stay at Goodison Park, after which he can pursue talents that he exquisitely got the best out of in Wigan and Swansea. Given a boost by the sale of a player from Everton to another top English club, Martinez might have 15-25 million pounds to spend in the summer transfer market – one of Everton’s highest in recent years.
For Brendan Rodgers, it a totally different ball game that sees the Northern Irishman sign players from clubs all over the world with no worries over the transfer kitty. In his first season itself, Rodgers splashed nearly 50 million pounds signing a whole host of players from Nuri Sahin to Phillipe Coutinho. This season won’t be much different as Fenway group, the owners of Liverpool, will back Rodgers in the transfer market. However, Rodgers has got to get one thing clear. Despite the red side of Merseyside bragging the rights to being winners in the transfer market, the Toffees have emerged victors in terms of overall Premiership results in the past two seasons, both of which saw Liverpool finish one place below Everton. And Martinez will do everything to keep that going even if he gets only one-fifth the transfer kitty handed to Brendan Rodgers.