Saturday 27 September 2014 09:24, UK
Everton manager Roberto Martinez says his team's defensive struggles this season could be the result of complacency creeping in to their performances.
Only Manchester City and Chelsea enjoyed better defensive records than Everton in the Premier League last season, but Martinez's men have already conceded 13 goals - compared to 39 for the whole of 2013/14 - in just five games this campaign.
"That's been an area that we've been quite poor and it's something we need to improve," said Martinez, who has seen his side lose 6-3 to Chelsea and 3-2 to Crystal Palace.
"Sometimes you get situations where when you are so good as a team at something that you could take it for granted and then you get a little bit of misfortune in one or two actions early in the season and the ball ends up in the back of the net.
"All of a sudden it seems the confidence is not the same and you don't defend with the same intensity. You look at the experience we have in the team, we haven't made any major changes in those positions.
"Now what we want to do is make sure we have more focus, better concentration, better communication and just face that challenge of getting back the standards that we have as a team defensively.
"It's not something that we're aiming for, it's something that we have, and it's a big difference. But clearly conceding the amount of goals we've conceded is not something we want to accept.
"We'll always approach games to win games but it's important we don't become a team that concedes goals cheaply."
Everton goalkeeper Tim Howard has been one of the key reasons for his team's strong defensive record over the last few seasons, but the American - one of the stand-out performers at the World Cup this summer - has been below his best form so far.
"Any player that comes back from the World Cup, you need a little bit of an adaptation period," added Martinez.
"Tim is such an experienced footballer and is someone we know what level he can reach. When you get a performance that is a little bit below the standard, it surprises you more than anyone else.
"His performance against Wolfsburg was as good as I've seen Tim. Then he'll be the first one to admit the second goal against Crystal Palace is something we don't see in his repertoire.
"That's part of the game. Football is a game of errors and sometimes when you're defending the goal you're going to be punished.
"But Tim has been working really well, I see him with a real desire to be as good as he can be in every game and he's a massive influence on everyone at the club."
