Reports this morning seem to indicate that Everton are no longer considering Rafa Benitez for the manager’s job after this prospect received an overwhelmingly negative respose from fans.
Benitez emerged as the new favourite last week as Everton appeared to be unsure about Nuno Espirito Santo, who was the previous favourite for the job!
The idea of the former Liverpool boss taking the reigns at Goodison Park was met with huge resistance from most Blues supporters.
In some ways this is a question of going with your head or your heart. Taking a totally dispassionate and objective look at it, the Spaniard has a very good CV overall and has won a lot of major trophies although he’s not done so since 2015.
While his football at say Newcastle was certainly not the most entertaining – although that might be in part due to the players he had at his disposal there – his later Reds sides did produce some good attacking stuff when he had players of the calibre of Steven Gerrard, Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres.
Benitez is also an excellent tactician and I think he would certainly get the Toffees playing in a clear and consistent way, even if it wasn’t the best product to watch.
In a way what he represents is a sort of poor man’s Carlo Ancelotti. A relatively big name with still a little bit of pulling power in European football who could perhaps persuade a few good players to sign and would hopefully give the team a solid foundation.
Taken together this is why Farhad Moshiri is so keen on him because he thinks he can still get it right in the next few years with his ‘Hollywood manager’ strategy.
So Benitez is a decent bet if you want a proven winner with lots of experience who could get the team playing more consistently and probably bring results in the short-term. Again though nothing is certain obviously and his record in his most recent job in China was poor.
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Then of course then comes your heart and the negatives with his history on the wrong side of Stanley Park. To be honest I’m personally not that bothered about what he said ten or fifteen years ago, but this it seems to be the deciding factor for most Evertonians.
The real question for me is would the Blues be getting the Benitez who won so much silverware across Europe a decade and more ago, or the manager who’s recent tactics and football philosophy seem increasingly outdated, much like Jose Mourinho’s, or even Ancelotti’s?
Furthermore as we’ve said before on this site what do Everton really want from this appointment?
Do they want a short-term fix to get a competitive team in place for the stadium move, a la Benitez? Or is it better to have a younger coach perhaps not as successful and experienced but with the promise of a long-term stay and the desire to build a real identity at the club, like Christophe Galtier or Graham Potter?
As we continue waiting for a decision this question is still a long way from being answered.