Everton midfielder Leon Osman has admitted that he and his teammates had doubts over manager Roberto Martinez when he took charge at the club last summer.
The Spaniard enjoyed a solid debut season at Goodison Park as he guided the Toffees to a fifth-place finish in the Premier League table.
However, Osman has revealed that the players were unsure of Martinez's tactics and footballing philosophy when he arrived on Merseyside.
"At first we thought we were too expansive and opening up left us vulnerable to being done on the counter-attack, but we quickly learned how to deal with that and it has been positive," he told the club's official website.
"It is a style of play that is possession-based and a player like me is going to prefer being on the ball than having to chase after it.
"We all embraced it from the start. We are a good bunch of lads, an open bunch that are not set in our ways by any means. We were very open to what the manager wanted to do."
Osman scored three goals in 43 appearances for Everton during the last campaign.
Jack Prescott
