Martinez: Pulis a man of many talents

Everton manager Roberto Martinez believes the traits of the teams shaped by Tony Pulis do not necessarily mean his West Brom counterpart is a one-dimensional coach.

The core value of Pulis, newly installed at The Hawthorns, is to make his sides difficult to beat.

He developed a reputation for a physical, direct style with Stoke but it was successful in keeping them in the Barclays Premier League and, when he took over Crystal Palace – in a seemingly impossible position – last season, he tweaked his approach to ensure their survival.

Martinez does not expect the Welshman to alter his approach significantly but said it was wrong to pigeonhole him as a certain type of manager.

“Tony has terrific experience and has been successful in many different environments already,” he said ahead of their meeting at Goodison Park on Monday.

“I have always admired what Tony has achieved in his career.

“I remember when he was at Gillingham and the biggest strength he had as a manager was he always found a way to get a competitive team with the players he had.

“What he achieved last season with Palace didn’t go unnoticed and what he achieved in the long term at Stoke was quite exceptional.

“We saw a way of playing at Stoke which evolved over the years they were in the Premier League and then at Palace he used a specific way of playing, using the quality of the wide players there, and I am sure at West Brom he will do a similar thing.

“I am sure he has been very flexible over the years and depending on the players he works with he is going to find a new formula.

“He will create a team who know how to compete on the day against whoever they play.”

Martinez, whose side go into Monday’s meeting just a point ahead of the visitors, admits while it is not his style there is nothing wrong with basing a philosophy on sound foundations.

There is a certain irony in the Spaniard’s view as Everton’s defence is arguably the area in need of most attention as they have conceded 34 times, having let in just 39 on their way to fifth place last season.

“I think his experience will be very valuable for West Brom and they will have a strong second half of the season,” he added.

“He is a manager who knows how to make a team defensively really strong and he builds sides who are difficult to play against.

“I expect exactly the same with West Brom. He will bring a lot of stability and know-how of how to get wins.

“They have good footballers, an outstanding goalscorer up front and everywhere you look at a Tony Pulis team you will get a good structure which is well balanced.

“I think Tony has been working with the group now for maybe 10 days and you could see signs of the way he wants the team to play which made a big difference against Hull.

“They started (his reign) in the best possible way getting a very important home win and we expect a very tough game.”