Martin on the West Ham performance…
“It was the attitude, commitment, desire and passion that we haven’t seen a lot of. The players sticking together, being resilient in a lot of moments and time to apply a lot of the things we’ve spoken about, being more expressive with the ball and being brave, which is something they’ve not been as accustomed to. There’s still a long way to go and a lot for us to build on. For the players, not having a win in 9 months is difficult for anyone, but I wanted to make sure we could get off on the right foot, which we did. Three points will give confidence and belief.”
Martin on returning to Everton…
“I spent a lot of time there, I have a lot of respect for the club. The club, the staff the people there, they gave me the opportunity when I was younger. Being at Goodison Park, I’ve been a part of the Women’s team when we’ve played there before, but to go back there will be really nice, to see some familiar faces and there are some players still there from when I was there. Everton are a wonderful team, we know it’s going to be a real big tough game for us. We’ve got to make sure we stick to it. I’ve got every faith and confidence in the group to do that.”
Martin on Brian Sorensen…
“I’ve got a lot of time for Brian. Me and Brian are good friends, we get on really well. When you look at last season, the injuries they had, they suffered a bit but now he’s been really backed. They’ve now got a really solid team, they’re competitive, they contest possession and he’s really high demanding off the ball. We’re the same, we have familiar ideas of the game. It’s going to be a real tough game, but both teams will leave everything on the pitch, definitely.”
Martin on the importance of the clean sheet last weekend…
“[It’s] Really important. The confidence and belief in the team to get the win after nine months is something that is precious to the group. It will definitely instil belief, to show even when we’re not on our day, in certain phases, we can still grind out a win.
The most rewarding thing for me was the way we defended the box, bodies in front of the ball, late tackles, big blocks, interceptions, good clearances… We had a “never say die” attitude in front of goal. That’s the most pleasing thing.”
Martin on Kit Graham…
“For Kit, it’s a really big moment for her, her family and everyone surrounding her. To be out for so long, have such a torrid time with injury, but then to come back in, perform really well, come into a game where it was transitional and put a big shift in to get us over the line. We know the quality Kit has and the quality she can bring to the group. We need to make sure that moving forward we keep integrating her slowly, keep building her confidence because that’s important with a player who’s been out for so long. When we get to the place where Kit has a lot of self-belief, we’ll see a completely different player.”
Martin on the development of his squad so far…
“We can’t change it in six weeks, definitely not. It takes time, there’s so many areas we’ve got to refine. We’ve taken steps in the short term, in terms of the belief to want the ball and handle the ball. We’re big around player development and there’s a lot of growth from these individuals, with the right coaching that we’re going to provide the players, the right opportunity on the pitch, the right support from review and reflecting…the players will take the steps. There’s lots of steps. It takes more than six weeks - it’s going to take months and months. I want to make sure we keep doing that.”
Martin on the impressive start from Toko Koga…
“[It’s] really important. In Toko, you can see a really mature performance for a 19-year-old; someone who is calm, composed, but her game intelligence is really high. There’s never going to be a ceiling on what she can achieve. She has a wonderful player, wonderful person, she has gone above and beyond in her understanding. She has taken really well to the environment and the culture. She’ll continue to add parts to her game, her physicality and intelligence will knit together nicely. I’m hoping for a big performance from her on the weekend.”
Martin on Araya Dennis after her first WSL start…
“Araya deserved the opportunity. She trained well and she’s been doing that throughout pre-season. The training performances are big for me, there’s 90mins that everyone lives for but there’s 10 hours of training that probably everyone dismisses because they just want to start the game. Her performance was good, she had a lot of solid opportunities, the moments she had one-v-one, and some movement off the ball. With Araya, it’s more confidence building and maturity. Just maturing her in certain situations tactically, trying to give her the experience that she needs, to be able to take the right steps. Araya can achieve big things in my opinion and I think she’s got the environment to do it now.”