Roberto Martinez admits Everton’s defence was ‘very poor’ during his last season.
Martinez was sacked near the end of 2015/16 as his Blues tenure ended with semi-final exits in both the FA and League Cups as well as a mid-table finish.
The Spaniard, 40, is now in charge of the Belgium national side but has reflected on the acrimonious end to his four-year spell in the Goodison Park hot seat.
But he is under no illusions that the 55 goals that Everton conceded in that final Premier League campaign was exceptionally below par.
“I look at Everton as the full three seasons, not the last six months,” he told the Daily Mail.
“We got 72 points in the first season, we were the last English team to be knocked out of Europe in my second and made two semi-finals in the domestic cups in my third.
“We were defensively very poor in my last season. There were a lot of defensive duties we didn’t execute properly. I don’t deny we conceded too many goals.
“But when I arrived at Everton we had the same budget as Aston Villa and Fulham – they both went down.”
The ex-Wigan manager also spoke about Tom Davies, who became one of Everton’s breakout stars last season under his successor Ronald Koeman.
He added: “I’m proud of Tom Davies and his breakthrough this season. We gave him his debut.
“As a manager, you know you won’t personally feel the most benefit when taking chances on young players, but we have a responsibility.”