Former Everton winger, Kevin Mirallas has recently expressed his disappointment at how his International career with Belgium ended and put a lot of the blame on his broken relationship with manager, Roberto Martinez.
Mirallas joined Everton in the summer prior to the 2012/13 Premier League season under then-manager, David Moyes.
In his first season, he scored 6 goals in 23 games before Moyes’ exit to Manchester United. His replacement would be the Spaniard, Roberto Martinez who had just won the FA Cup and got relegated in the same season with Wigan Athletic.
Martinez’s first season on Merseyside was nothing short of a sensation, helping the club to a 5th-place finish, only narrowly missing out on Champions League football to Arsenal. Mirallas would also have his most productive season in an Everton shirt, scoring 8 goals and grabbing an additional 8 assists.
The season after would not be as productive for Martinez and his side, but the Belgian winger would still bag 7 goals and an assist.
Overall, Mirallas had his best seasons at Everton during Martinez’s tenure, but according to the 35-year-old, they did not have a very good relationship. When the Belgian national team appointed Martinez, the winger felt that was the end of his international career.
In an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws, Mirallas stated:
“I remember well the day we heard he was going to be the new national coach”
“Just before a practice match with Everton against Man United, Lukaku came to tell me that Martínez had been appointed. I said: ‘Romelu, for me it will soon be over in the national team with him as coach.’”
“Martínez was not honest with me. Initially, he couldn’t help but select me because I was doing well at my club. But I knew he would not keep calling me up.” [via Sport Witness]
Mirallas made 60 appearances for the Red Devils and scored an impressive 10 goals in that time, making his debut as a teenager in 2007 whilst at Lille.
He was one of the most important players for Roberto Martinez in his impressive 1st season at Everton. A lot of Evertonians have very fond memories of that 2013/14 season squad and to hear that some players were not too content with the manager during the period, is quite disappointing.
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