The Spaniard has never managed a club where there is pressure to win trophies and secure a Champions League place but he has the qualities to overcome his lack of experience
At a superficial level it is easy to see why a manager like Roberto Martínez would appeal to Liverpool's American owners. Unlike the suspicious, tetchy manager they have just sacked, Martínez is young, good-looking and smiles a lot, plays brilliantly to the camera and can put a positive spin on anything from Antolín Alcaraz spitting at an opponent to Wigan Athletic losing eight matches on the trot.
Wigan's incredible recovery in the last couple of months has alerted many people to the abilities of their manager, and the Fenway Sports Group cannot fail to have noticed that three of the points vital to the Latics' survival were gained at Anfield, but losing eight matches in succession would not normally recommend a managerial candidate to Liverpool, and nor would flirting with relegation for most of the season then pulling out of the nose dive in admittedly impressive style.
Most clubs other than Wigan would have parted company with Martínez at an early point in the January transfer window, when he had supervised a mere three wins in 19 games, just one of them at home. The fact that he was retained to see the job through at the DW Stadium is a testament to the trust and patience of Dave Whelan, Wigan's owner, as well as the enormous self-belief Martínez himself brings to his work, but Wigan are not exactly typical of Premier League clubs. The last quarter of the season may have been be a good advertisement for Martínez's potential, but the first three-quarters at any other club would have denied him the opportunity even to be mentioned as a possible successor to Kenny Dalglish.
It goes without saying that Liverpool would not put up with eight-match losing runs either, probably not even half that many defeats in a row, and that leads naturally to another problem Martínez might face. If there are significant numbers among the Anfield support who believe Dalglish was harshly treated or should have had longer, and there are, then the most reliable way for the club to silence any doubters would be to bring in someone with an impeccable and up to date winning pedigree. José Mourinho may be out of reach, but Pep Guardiola would fit the bill handsomely.
No one could argue with that, not even Dalglish's most loyal allies. But if you go for someone who has never won a title before, someone with no experience of taking a team into Europe, of making big money signings or dealing with the very top tier of footballers, you are asking for trouble if things do not immediately go well. Roy Hodgson was quickly made to realise he had come to Liverpool from a small club, and that Anfield wanted no part of what was perceived as his small club mentality. Yet Wigan are much smaller than Fulham and, far from taking his unfashionable outfit all the way to a Europa League final, as Hodgson did two years ago, all Martínez has actually managed is to lead his side out of the bottom three for the second season in a row, this time a little earlier than the last.
While no one could deny that Wigan made a great escape this season, not that much of their football has been great, and the total of 62 goals conceded was nine goals higher than Aston Villa's. Liverpool will like the way a Martínez team tries to play, and from that point of view he makes a good fit with Anfield tradition, but he will need to become more pragmatic at the top level or find himself a decent defence coach. Martínez famously turned down Villa this time last year, a decision just about vindicated by Wigan finishing one place above them in the league table, but a manager cannot afford to be so cavalier about an offer from Liverpool. Turn down Liverpool, and you would be unlikely to escape the stigma for the rest of your career.
This may not be the ideal time to take the Liverpool job, what with too much money having already been spent and a dangerous amount of affection still adhering to Dalglish, but were it an ideal time a manager with Martínez's cv would be lucky to get in the frame. In making public their interest Liverpool appear to be indicating their willingness to take a risk on a personable young man with most of his career still ahead of him. Should the offer be made concrete Martínez will have little choice but to accept and take a risk of his own, even if he has private reservations or would have preferred another season or so at Wigan. The same applies to Brendan Rodgers, the Swansea manager, who has also been sounded out.
But the very top jobs do not come around very often and Martínez has not only proved he is not the type to shy away from a challenge, he has gone a long way to demonstrating there is substance to his personal belief that any challenge can be surmounted. He will not get a bigger challenge than the one currently waving at him from Merseyside, and as long as Liverpool can learn to be patient he may even be an inspired choice.
He has more Premier League experience than Rodgers, and if, as it appears, Liverpool are willing to gamble on a manager from the lower end of the table rather than one who has won titles and medals, they surely cannot expect an instant return. It would be unfair to appoint either Martínez or Rodgers and demand Champions League qualification next season, though both men, given the time that was denied Dalglish, could not only get there eventually but do so in style. Read More
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