Is Benitez about to be appointed to Everton post!
While the stories go on and on that Everton are still talking with candidates over who is going take the manager’s job, it’s now looking more likely it will be another of those candidates: Rafa Benitez.
We’ve looked at the previous favourite Nuno Espirito Santo and how his side might operate if he were to be Everton boss.
But now the Echo claim this is almost a done deal while Sky Sports (not the most reliable source) say he’s been offered the job. Well we’ve heard a lot similar to that before in this past week or so.
It’s all getting beyond surreal so now let’s focus on the rights or wrongs of Benitez taking over at Goodison Park and whether this is the right decision if the Spaniard was to take the reigns.
There are of course a lot of aspects to this possible appointment. Many Toffees fans would be adamantly opposed on any grounds to the prospect of a man who once called the Blues a ‘small club’ being installed at Everton. That’s totally understandable and I would share that instinct.
But Benitez does have a good CV overall with eleven major trophies won although he hasn’t won anything of note since 2015, although that’s actually not that long ago and being Newcastle manager for much of the time since then, doesn’t help. Mind you let’s face it would managing the Toffees be likely to improve that record!
He seen as a clever tactican who was good at successfully setting up his teams to win specific matches and this is why he is so good at winning cup competitions. But his sides, particularly when he was on Tyneside, were often very defensive and negative.
However, it’s true to say he hardly had a wealth of attacking talent at St James Park and when he had quality going forward as he did at Anfield in his latter seasons there, his teams played some excellent football.
While at Liverpool he won the Champions League and FA Cup and then added the Europa League as Chelsea manager. And that time at Chelsea could be a key reason why Farhad Moshiri (and this looks very much his appointment again) is prepared to offer him the job.
He had almost as bad a relationship with the west London Blues as he did with Everton after several controversial matches and quotes about them when he was Liverpool boss and the two clubs were major rivals, especially in European competition.
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When he replaced the latest coach to be sacked as manager at Stamford Bridge, Roberto Di Matteo, who had won the club’s first Champions League and an FA Cup, he was hardly a popular choice.
But he fronted it out with notable nonchalance and of course ultimately delivered another trophy and a Champions League place at the end of the season. And for me this is the ultimate question.
If Benitez gets the job and if he can front out the hostility and put in place a solid foundation and make the team competitive and consistent and maybe even win a pot or two, then it won’t matter what his history is surely? But those are big, big ifs.
And there is also a sense for me that he might be a bit like his former counterpart at Chelsea, Jose Mourinho. His time was fifteen years ago or so with his tactics and mentality looking increasingly outmoded as the emphasis is very much on more high-energy pressing football today. Can Benitez adapt his approach?
At any rate choosing him would be a massive, high-stakes gamble by Moshiri and one he will have a tough time selling to the fan base. But I feel he wanted another high-profile type manager after Ancelotti and the Spaniard is the next best thing. Well if these new reports have any foundation, it’s one he might well be prepared to take, regardless of the flack.
If it comes off it may prove a great decision but if it fails it could be disasterous, not just for the team’s prospects but for the owners’ relationship with Evertonians, which could be irreversibly damaged. And where would that leave the club with a new stadium move looming?