My plan was always to revisit the Rafa Benitez Everton appointment this month.

Back in early July, I wrote a blog stating I didn’t think the shock decision to give the former Liverpool boss the hot-seat at Goodison would work out well.

Obviously Rafa’s previous stint at Anfield was going to be a major stumbling block, especially as he’d often treat The Toffees with disdain during that time in his career.

But there were quite a few other issues that I made in that blog post that I felt would work against him at the blue half of Merseyside. These issues seem to be coming home to roost.

After Liverpool, Rafa has struggled to really make an impact at any other club he’s been at. He never got the job done at Napoli and while loved at Newcastle United, he didn’t bowl anyone over with his team’s performances or results. The least said about his time at Chelsea and Inter Milan the better.

The Spaniard’s tactics can often be a bit too conservative and that doesn’t wash in the Liverpool area.

Interestingly in my previous article I said if Benitez were to struggle at Everton then the Liverpool support would probably fall back in love with their old gaffer. Seeing the Reds support singing Rafa’s name as his team were losing 4-1 at home (BBC Match Report) to Liverpool would not have gone unnoticed by the passionate yet frustrated home crowd.

The fans have gone beyond their manager and started pointing fingers at the club’s hierarchy, which usually means the end for any endangered gaffer in a dugout.

That derby loss now means The Toffees have now gone eight games without a win and they’ve dropped to sixteenth in the Premier League table, only five points separate them from the relegation zone.

The team started the season off well but as is the case with suspect appointments when things hit the fan then they really hit the fan!

The board have come out and backed Rafa Benitez with the dreaded vote of confidence:

“In the meantime, the owner and board of directors will continue to provide our manager, Rafa Benitez, with their full support.”

Via AP News

Everton have spent big in recent transfer windows, expect for the last one. In that time, they haven’t competed well enough and consistently enough in the league.

Financial fair play could now become an issue too. Both Jordan Pickford (Eurosport) and Dominic Calvert Lewin (Evening Standard) are being linked with moves to London. The clubs reckless and somewhat scattergun approach in the transfer market has already cost Marcel Brands his job as the club’s Director of Football (Source – The Guardian).

If Everton are looking to reshape their infrastructure, then it I don’t think the fans will be happy with Rafa Benitez overseeing that project.

It could be better for the club’s owners to give club legend Duncan Ferguson the reigns until the end of the season and see if the Scotsman can turn things around again. He’d at least get the fans back onside in the short term.

Posted on December 6th, 2021 by scott
Filed under: Article