Former Everton Manager Roberto Martinez had a successful first campaign taking over the Toffees in 2013-14. He proved then that he could handle the step up from Wigan Athletic with aplomb. He certainly had a better year than his predecessor, David Moyes, had during his one year reign of terror at Manchester United. However, Everton tumbled down the standings this past season, and Roberto Martinez got sacked.
While he’s in between jobs, Martinez will now serve as a studio analyst for television during the UEFA European Championships with ESPN.
Martinez debuted on ESPN during the 2010 FIFA World Cup. UEFA EURO 2016 will be his fourth top-tier event for the company. As the ESPN release reads:
Bob Ley leads a team of English-language studio hosts that includes Mike Tirico — his last assignment for ESPN before joining NBC Sports, as well as UK-based sports presenters Steve Bower and Alison Bender.
English-language studio analysts include former German National Team captain Michael Ballack, former Scottish National Team defender Craig Burley, former U.S. Men’s National Team goalkeeper and Soccer Hall of Famer Kasey Keller, 1998 FIFA World Cup champion and former French National Team defender Frank Leboeuf, former Everton FC manager and FA Cup-winning coach Roberto Martinez, former Argentina National Team player Santiago Solari, and 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup champion and former U.S. Women’s National Team striker Abby Wambach.
ESPN’s lead soccer analyst Taylor Twellman and former England National Team player Steve McManaman, who will call matches with Ian Darke, will also appear in-studio. ESPN match commentators for EURO 2016.
More on Bender, UK-based football presenter and reporter, with more than 15 years of experience covering the English Premier League; here at this link. For more on former England National Team player and Liverpool legend Steve McManaman, and his broadcast role at the Euros go here.
Roberto Martinez did a fine job previewing, recapping and analyzing the World Cup matches in 2014, and I very much enjoyed the work he did.
Martinez’s goalkeeper when he was Everton, Tim Howard, is also in the TV game: he called a few Premier League fixtures for NBC Sports these past couple seasons.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye edition.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram