Could Capital One Cup be the key to silverware for Everton?

Everton boss Roberto Martinez will be hoping his side progress into the fourth round of the league cup with a victory at Fulham this evening

Everton remain the only unbeaten team in the Premier League after five games.

The Toffees made a slow start to the season drawing their first three games, but have now gained consecutive victories over Chelsea and West Ham.

The Toffees face another London side Fulham in the third round of the Capital One Cup this evening.

Roberto Martinez’s side travels to Craven Cottage in good spirits, after those consecutive wins. The Spaniard will be very keen for his side to progress, with the Capital One Cup a very winnable trophy.

Dismissed

Former-Toffees boss David Moyes dismissed the league cup and often played weakened teams, which resulted in a lack of progression in the competition, mostly against lower league opposition.

Considering Everton’s trophy draught in recent years Moyes really should have taken the competition more seriously. The Toffees have not won silverware since 1995, the longest run in the history of the club without collecting a trophy.

Small squad

At times Moyes was restricted by the lack of players at his disposal. Everton have in recent years only had small squads, which means that there was not much chance of squad rotation in the cup competitions.

Everton’s current squad though is arguably the strongest the club have had in many years. There is now competition for places in most positions. Gareth Barry, James McCarthy and Romelu Lukaku, who all arrived on deadline day, could prove to be shrewd signings by Martinez.

The Spaniard’s influence is starting to take effect on the team and he does have relative strength in-depth in his squad.

Complacent

I just hope that Martinez does not get complacent and field a weakened side against Fulham. Moyes tried this, albeit with a slightly weaker squad and was punished for his complacency. This could be a big opportunity for Everton to claim silverware this season.

Moyes never took the competition seriously and suffered by never winning silverware with the Toffees, it was one of the blemishes on Moyes’ time at Goodison Park.

The new man at the helm Martinez has stated that he will give players their opportunity to impress in this evenings clash. The former-Wigan boss fielded a weakened side in the last round, as the Toffees needed extra-time to defeat League One Stevenage 2-1 to progress.

Tonight’s clash will be a far tougher one though, so Martinez is likely to take nothing for granted with his team selection. He is likely to pick a stronger team than the one that took to the field in the second round.

Cup

Last season Wigan had mixed fortunes under the affable Martinez. The Latics won the FA Cup, but were relegated from the Premier League. The Spaniard won silverware after six years in management.

The FA Cup win, especially the Latics 3-0 victory over the Toffees at Goodison Park in the quarter-finals must have played a big part in Martinez being named as Moyes’ replacement in the Everton dugout.

Highly-rated

Despite Wigan’s relegation Roberto Martinez was still highly-rated when was appointed Everton boss. The Spaniard had a specific idea of how football should be play. He is a big fan of possession football.

His appointment was met by many doubters, precisely because Wigan had been relegated last season and involved in a number of relegation scraps in recent seasons.

However, Martinez’s football ideals are starting to shine through in his teams’ play and the Toffees remain unbeaten this season. With every positive result Martinez achieves Everton fans are reassured that the Spaniard is the right man for the job.

Aims

When he arrived at the club Martinez stated the he was aiming to guide Everton into the Champions League in the near future. Although that aim might be a bit of a tall order for his first season in charge of the club, a trophy may not be.

There are still doubters out there that think Martinez is not the right manager for Everton. Winning a trophy this season would help convince some of those doubters. After all he cannot win any fewer trophies than his predecessor did in his time on Merseyside.

Could the Capital One Cup be the key to silverware for Everton?