It was a defining week and a chance for Everton to show how good they can be, according to manager Roberto Martinez.
Two matches in less than 72 hours ended with a 4-0 humiliation at Liverpool and a heartbreaking FA Cup semifinal exit against Manchester United. An opportunity to claw back some dignity and end the season on a high at Wembley summoned a mostly lacklustre performance. In this week of high stakes and possible season-defining moments, the best Martinez and his players could muster was a belated 30-minute revival inspired by a penalty miss from Romelu Lukaku.
With these losses snuffing out the final flicker of hope in a season running on fumes for months, the question on many fans' lips is how and why Martinez remains in charge for the visit of Bournemouth on Saturday. Everton begin the match level on points with their promoted opponents, knowing results elsewhere could drop the Blues as low as 16th place.
The FA Cup was the sole salvation for a team on the brink of second successive bottom half finishes. Everton are winless in seven league games; they have not gone eight games without a win since December 1999 under Walter Smith. This season at Goodison Park has already set a new low for fewest home points, with new unwanted records for most defeats and fewest wins still possible in the two remaining home games.
Yet despite the backdrop set to create a discernibly toxic atmosphere on Saturday, Martinez insists he is still the man to take Everton forward. The problem for the beleaguered boss, though, is that his words off the pitch now grate in the same manner as absent results on it.
Twice in the space of a week, either side of the semifinal defeat, the blame for recent results (seven matches without a win) fell on how FA Cup quarterfinal success against Chelsea affected the team.
"I am very aware the success in the quarterfinal affected our results," said Martinez. The line reappeared prior to this match: "I feel we've been affected by being in the quarterfinal of the FA Cup."
Martinez's belief he can overcome two dismal domestic campaigns and continue to lead this team is somewhat undermined by the apparent implication that the team he has assembled is not equipped to deal with the pressures of a quarterfinal. Everton cannot expect to return to the top with a team lacking the mental and practical ability required at the business end of competitions.
As pressure mounts and scrutiny intensifies, the under-pressure Everton boss claims this is part of the job, but believes he should be judged on three seasons, not the past two or three months. However, while Martinez views a three-season analysis as favourable to his cause, reflection on his entire tenure merely highlights how far the team has fallen across that period, from a record points tally and European football to two disappointing campaigns punctuated by progress in cup competitions. An inability to manage on multiple fronts remains at the forefront of criticism.
Martinez has assembled an, at times, thrilling and vibrant squad of players, but those traits have rarely surfaced since the turn of the year. Sustained failure to generate league results cancels out any kudos earned for developing young prospects and adding exciting players to the squad. While other teams work relentlessly in matches and seem able to run for days, too many Everton players look spent around the hour mark.
An increasing air of desperation is replacing the relentless positivity. This is a manager beginning to crack while searching for the flimsiest ray of light to stave off the seemingly inevitable. Supporters have seen through the hollow words and patience eroded some time ago.
Contradiction is the unsightly product of Martinez's attempts to justify his position. Previously priding himself on the club's strong financial position and no longer needing to sell players having spent close to £50 million on three strikers alone, the adopted stance has bizarrely shifted to having had to "sell players" and "manage assets".
As the mist prepares to descend once more over Goodison, with a plane calling for Martinez's dismissal set to fly over the stadium prior to kick off, the club are now as much to blame for this situation as the manager and the players. While growing numbers want the manager to walk through the exit door, the board leaving him high and dry to face widespread protests benefits nobody.
This entire situation has become embarrassing and unnecessary. Martinez's defence of his Everton tenure has as many holes as the defensive unit he oversees on the pitch. But the club hierarchy should never have let it reach this stage.