Despite all the protests and the apparent strength of resistance to Rafa Benitez coming to Everton, he’s still the current favourite to get the job.
If the Spaniard does become Everton manager might he be interested in bringing a player to Goodison Park who has been strongly linked with the Toffees.
That player is Philippe Coutinho. The Barcelona forward is surplus to requirements at the Camp Nou and has been repeatedly linked with a move away this summer.
The Blues have been one of the clubs that have been suggested as a possible destination for Coutinho if he leaves Spain.
The Brazilian knows Merseyside well of course as an ex-Liverpool player and here comes the admittedly tenuous connection with Everton’s potential new boss.
Benitez didn’t manage Coutinho when he was at Anfield but the former Reds coach will be aware of Coutinho’s qualities, especially perhaps through his Spanish football connections.
There’s another factor in this too and that is the future of James Rodriguez. The Colombian forward was obviously only here because of the pulling power of his former mentor Carlo Ancelotti. Now the Italian has gone back to Madrid it seems very possible Rodriguez could well return there too.
If James goes – and were Benitez to take over given there past history that would seem even more probable – then would a Benitez-led Everton consider bringing in Coutinho to essentially replace the creativity the Colombian offers? One big problem is he’s currently injured so that might affect any potential move for him.
There’s another dimension too, which is Benitez’s past tactics. When he was at Liverpool he favoured a formation where he had a lone centre-forward in Fernando Torres and a group of attackers behind him to provide the support and service.
He would have a tailor-made centre-forward in Dominic Calvert-Lewin with the pace and power to be effective in that Torres-type role, providing he has the support he needs behind him and players who can create enough chances.
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There was a short time during the latter third of the 2018-19 season under Marco Silva when this tactic seemed to work. Silva played a similar system and eventually it clicked giving Toffees fans ultimately false hope (as so often) that the team might have turned the corner. They played some superb football scoring freely and looking solid at the back.
Then in the summer of 2019 Idrissa Gueye the midfield lynchpin left for PSG and Kurt Zouma returned to Chelsea after his loan spell.
Neither player was replaced as Jean-Philippe Gbamin, who came in for Gana was injured an hour or so into his Everton career and basically never returned, and the club didn’t get another defender like Zouma.
I often wonder of all that hadn’t happened would Silva have ultimately proved a success at Goodison Park? We will never know.
Benitez used two holding midfielders behind them (like Gana and Andre Gomes were) so could he consider using Coutinho as a wide or central player in the three behind Calvert-Lewin? It might be a consideration if he’s taking charge and looking to build the side he wants.
Well in the end all this is just a bit of highly speculative thinking on my part to wile away the time as we continue to be in the dark about who is eventually going to be unveiled as new Blues boss.