Source: Daily_Mail
Chelsea should be wary of fearless Roberto Martinez and his buoyant Wigan side
Wig wham: Roberto Martinez is a cool customer as Wigan boss[LNB]Roberto Martinez always ends his column in Wigan's match programme with the same phrase. Sin miedo. It is Spanish for 'no fear'. His players will take that message on to the pitch at Stamford Bridge tomorrow when they try to deny Chelsea the win that would clinch the Barclays Premier League title.[LNB] For Martinez, however, the words mean much more. They are also aimed at the people who thought his plan to implement a passing game when he arrived from Swansea last summer was a one-way ticket to relegation. The same people who thought he was wasting his time thinking Wigan could beat a team like Chelsea.[LNB] 'At Swansea, I signed off with another line,' says Martinez. 'A Por Todas, which means "we need to go for it - we can't waste any time". Here it's completely different. From the beginning they told me I was crazy trying to play good football at a club like Wigan. That we needed to survive and beat the teams around us. Forget about the top eight, it's just damage limitation against them. We needed to change that mentality. 'The message is quite clear. No fear. We're going to be brave, come out and enjoy our football.'[LNB] On the wall behind him in the canteen at Wigan's training ground is a print of his players celebrating a goal in their 3-1 win over Chelsea in September. John Terry looks utterly dejected, Wigan ecstatic, next to the words: "Overcoming adversity is a path that never ends".[LNB] It is a reminder that Wigan have already beaten tomorrow's opponents this season, not to mention Liverpool and Arsenal as well.[LNB] Before Martinez took over, they had never won against any of the Big Four.[LNB] The 36-year-old has managed it three times in seven months and if that doesn't give Manchester United hope that the title race is still alive, nothing will. Not surprisingly, Wigan are talking about launching a Sin Miedo brand of clothing.[LNB] 'Before this season it was 34 games without beating one of the big clubs,' says Martinez. 'With those stats, it would have been too much of an ask to go to Stamford Bridge and get a result. Now it's a different situation. I can see a real belief in the squad.[LNB] Focused: Wigan Athletic manager Roberto Martinez on the touchline at West Ham[LNB] 'When I hear people saying Wigan have nothing to play for - that it's going to be straightforward for Chelsea - obviously those people don't know football. This is one of the biggest occasions we're going to be involved in. It doesn't come any bigger than having a say in the title in the best league in the world.'[LNB] Martinez is proud of his achievements at Wigan. He inherited a team that had lost key players in Antonio Valencia, Wilson Palacios, Emile Heskey and Lee Cattermole, and kept Wigan in the Premier League. He did it with a single-minded attitude and an insatiable appetite for work.[LNB] When Wigan played at West Ham a fortnight ago, Martinez spent hour upon hour analysing every one of his opponents' home games this season.[LNB] After they suffered a crushing 9-1 defeat at Tottenham in November, he began to pore over the evidence on the coach journey home and watched a DVD of the game 10 times.[LNB] 'It was eight times in a row, then I watched it twice after that,' says Martinez, who will spend this summer in Johannesburg covering the World Cup for ESPN. 'I tried to see it through every player's eyes because there were many issues at that moment.[LNB] 'It was difficult to sleep that night. In football you need solutions. Once you find them, then you can sleep.[LNB] 'Looking back, we have been able to beat Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal because we've been through that experience. It was the difference for us staying in the Premier League, I've no doubt about that.[LNB] Heady times: Titus Bramble scores for Wigan in the 3-1 victory against Chelsea[LNB] 'We've had real lows and disappointments but the style we play our football has never been in doubt. Never.' So what does Martinez's wife Beth (they met while he was playing for Motherwell and got married in Swansea last summer) think about her workaholic husband?[LNB] 'She thinks I'm crazy,' says Martinez. 'When I'm finished with work I watch football to relax. I love to see other teams' problems on a football pitch. 'It's fantastic to switch off watching the eastern European leagues, Croatia or Ukraine. South American football, too. They play in a very different way to us, with a real freedom and enjoyment on the ball. I just relax watching that. Not many people follow these leagues, but they're fascinating to me.'[LNB] Wigan owner Dave Whelan promised he would not sack his young manager even if they were relegated. He rewarded the team for staying up with a holiday to Barbados, although Martinez and his players have decided to delay it until an international break next season. Whelan has enjoyed a close relationship with Martinez since signing the Spaniard in the mid-1990s as one of Wigan's 'Three Amigos' alongside Jesus Seba and Isidro Diaz, helping the club begin their climb from the bottom tier of English football.[LNB] He admires the high standards the manager sets for himself and his players. It is a work ethic Martinez inherited from his father, also called Roberto. Having moved all over Spain during his playing career, Martinez Snr limited himself to managing lower league teams within a 20-mile radius of the family home in Balaguer, Catalonia, so his wife could open a shoe shop.[LNB] A young Roberto would shadow his father at training sessions and trials and afterwards talk tactics.[LNB] 'None of them were professional teams,' says Martinez, 'but his standards and the way he managed, it could have been Barcelona. He's just such a special figure in that respect with huge standards. It wasn't just an influence on me, it was a way to live. Football is his life, his passion. When we had a good result the whole week was happy and when we had a bad result the whole week was miserable. That's the way it should be in football.[LNB] 'It doesn't matter what league you're in or what club you manage, the standards should be exactly the same as managing the biggest club in the world.'[LNB] When Roberto Jnr was offered the chance to join Zaragoza at the age of 16, he made the first of two deals with his parents.[LNB] 'Zaragoza was two hours away but my dad said going there was the worst thing I could do. He said I would think I was a player, start drinking and smoking and leave my studies.[LNB] 'I told him, "I'll never drink, I'll never smoke and I'll finish my degree in physiotherapy". So that was our deal, if you like. That's why I've never tasted alcohol. When I arrived at Wigan in 1995 and went out with the boys they would try to force us to drink. I said no. My get-out clause was a promise that I wouldn't drink until my wedding, which was last summer.[LNB] 'My best man and everyone were waiting and said I had promised them all my life I was going to drink, so I had to have a glass of champagne. It was awful. I don't need drink to celebrate. I can be happy with a coffee or an orange juice.[LNB] 'I've never smoked either. My dad always said that to be a footballer I had to look after my body and there were things I had to give up that people my age were not prepared to. The physiotherapy degree helped me to know my own body as well.[LNB] 'When I arrived in 1995, lifestyle was the least of the worries among the boys, but now it's changing. It's our job to tell the players what's right and wrong. With youngsters you have to be strict, it's black or white, no grey areas.[LNB] 'When you're a professional and you've played 300 games, it's very difficult to change your lifestyle. I give responsibility to the players. If a player thinks he has to do certain things to perform, I accept that. But the moment he crosses the line he lets himself and the club down.'[LNB] Martinez's second deal with his parents on moving to England and joining Wigan was that he would study a post-graduate course - marketing and business in Manchester - and learn English.[LNB] His mother, Amor, also made sure her son was never short of footwear. Martinez is known for walking the touchline in his trademark brown shoes. On this occasion, however, they are black.[LNB] 'I always wear brown shoes for games,' says the Wigan boss. 'It's not superstition. I was born on Friday 13th so I always felt that superstition and me didn't go together.[LNB] 'But if football's involved, it's brown shoes. I would say it's my uniform. Other days it's different depending on what I'm doing or wearing. I might wear brown during the week but not the matchday shoes.[LNB] 'I've got two pairs per season. Half a season for each. Then I throw them out, although I gave the last two to a charity auction.'[LNB] Martinez experienced final-day drama twice as a player. In 1997, Wigan won the Third Division title on the last day of the season from Fulham. Six years later, he helped Swansea save their Football League status by beating Hull.[LNB] 'That's the worst relegation in professional football because the whole club changes,' he says. 'The status, a lot of people are made redundant. That day we had to win.[LNB] 'This one is completely different. It's got a much higher profile, the whole football world will be watching, but we've got nothing to lose.[LNB] 'In a way nobody expects Wigan to get anything at Stamford Bridge. When it's down to you to win a game to win the title, it's clear the opposition have a secondary role.[LNB] 'You can understand why people have written us off. I don't see it as disrespectful to Wigan. Obviously Manchester United think they're going to get three points against Stoke as well.[LNB] 'We're quite happy to allow people to think we're not going to perform or have a say in the game. I think we'll be able to surprise many people.'[LNB] Heskey's late goal at Stamford Bridge two years ago gave Wigan an unexpected draw against Chelsea and handed United the advantage in the title race. Martinez believes history could repeat itself. When we beat Chelsea earlier in the season it wasn't an accident,' he says. 'Until then, we had that mental block and felt we just couldn't get over the line against the Big Four. That day, all of a sudden there was that football arrogance you need.[LNB] 'That's what we'll to do this time. Try to be ourselves, enjoy the occasion and play in the manner we have this season. We need to be attack-minded and make sure we can score a goal and that allows us to be stronger defensively.[LNB] 'But it would be crazy and, from a football point of view, very stupid to go there and try to do something we haven't done all season.[LNB] 'We've got absolutely nothing to lose and that's probably the best position you can be in. If we do that we've got as good as chance as anyone to cause an upset.[LNB] 'You have to remember that Chelsea are in fantastic form and are three points away from winning the title. But we need to make sure we have no fear whatsoever. Sin miedo.' [LNB] Steve Gohouri signs new Wigan deal and vows to beat Didier Drogba 11-months after beating malariaTime to play like champions! Carlo implores Chelsea to clinch the crownPremier League prize money up to £800k per place but Manchester United and Chelsea dwarf the rest with £50m cash jackpot[LNB] [LNB]
