Blues land in Qatar

Everton manager Roberto Martinez and his squad have landed in Doha, Qatar for a mid-season training camp. The Toffees, having crashed out of the FA Cup, don't play again until the 31st of January against Crystal Palace. Martinez is looking to take advantage of the time off to try to salvage a season that has disappointed fans' and pundits' expectations alike.

The goal of the trip is to work on tactics and establish a core spirit, which has been lacking, as opposed to a 2013/14 team that finished fifth in the Premier League and qualified for European football. Martinez told Evertontv what he wanted from the trip to Qatar:

"We have had highlights and good performances and we need to get back to reproducing the potential of the squad in the second half of the season. Spending 24 hours a day together, away from England, is going to help us reinforce that."

The Everton boss also emphasized getting key members of the first team back to full fitness:

"Sometimes when you have injured players they are a little bit away from the dynamics of the group and I think it's going to be important to get everybody close and make sure we are reinforcing what we are and looking forward to coming back really strong."

Current injury list members include: Sylvain Distin, Darron Gibson, Tim Howard, James McCarthy, Leon Osman, and Steven Pienaar.

Finally, Martinez thinks that the training trip will offer a much-needed change of scenery and a chance to get the team ready for a difficult second half of the season:

"It's a perfect period to work on all these aspects and, from a psychological point of view, it gets us ready for the game against Crystal Palace and what is left in the second half of the campaign."

What do you think about the team trip to Qatar? Do you think it will help turn Everton around?