Rafa Benítez (now unemployed)

[wormy]

9 minutes ago, HaydnNUFC said:

Why undermine Howe by bringing Rafa above him man. Up there with wanting Keegan back as manager, mental.

 

Hey, now...

[Yorkie]

I worship Rafa but he's never a DoF. He's a manager. If you're going down the Head Coach/Manager + Sporting Director route, you don't appoint two head coach/managers. 

[Consortium of one]

1 hour ago, Conjo said:

 

I had to look at Transfermarkt to see where their money has gone the last few seasons. 20/21 season is fine. Their three main purchases Allan, Doucoure & Godfrey for ~€25m each seems to be good buys, so far at least. However, the three seasons before that there are a few standouts for me:

 

€27,5m - Moise Keane

€25m - Jean Phillipe Gbamin - who the fuck is this?!?  Never heard of him before, haven't seen him play (according to transfermarkt he's featured in 2 pl matches in 19/20, 1 match last season and 2 matches this season)

€25m - Andre Gomes - decent buy, but seemingly struggling to get back to former level after injury

€30,5 - Alex Iwobi - terrible player

€9,5m - Fabien Delph - not the biggest fee, but assume he is on big wages

€49,5 (!!!) - Gylfi Sigurdsson 

€22,5m  - Theo Walcott

€27,5m - Davy Klaassen

€22,5m - Cenk Tosun

 

That's €239,5m wasted the in '17, '18 & '19 combined.

daft business, that

[HaydnNUFC]

Will always love Rafa for what he did and I'll always fight against the bollocks misconceptions about him and his time here. Its a real shame he took the Everton job before the takeover happened but its happened. We have Howe now and he has my full backing just like Rafa had. He's never a DOF, but can't help feeling the Rafa ship is sailing ever so slightly away now. Not that I'd be disappointed if he was managing us, but I want to see what Howe can do with us with a few more games and hours on the training ground under his belt.

[Chicane]

If the takeover had just happened a few months earlier things would be so different right now. I have no delusions that we'd be high up the table but we certainly wouldn't be in the relegation zone.

 

Rafa would be in charge, the defense would be organized and he'd hopefully have been given money to bring in a few quality midfield/forward players to bolster our attack.

 

But probably best of all would be all the restructuring around the club - plans for the youth, the training etc.

 

Timing is everything, man.

[toon25]

2 hours ago, Conjo said:

 

I had to look at Transfermarkt to see where their money has gone the last few seasons. 20/21 season is fine. Their three main purchases Allan, Doucoure & Godfrey for ~€25m each seems to be good buys, so far at least. However, the three seasons before that there are a few standouts for me:

 

€27,5m - Moise Keane

€25m - Jean Phillipe Gbamin - who the fuck is this?!?  Never heard of him before, haven't seen him play (according to transfermarkt he's featured in 2 pl matches in 19/20, 1 match last season and 2 matches this season)

€25m - Andre Gomes - decent buy, but seemingly struggling to get back to former level after injury

€30,5 - Alex Iwobi - terrible player

€9,5m - Fabien Delph - not the biggest fee, but assume he is on big wages

€49,5 (!!!) - Gylfi Sigurdsson 

€22,5m  - Theo Walcott

€27,5m - Davy Klaassen

€22,5m - Cenk Tosun

 

That's €239,5m wasted the in '17, '18 & '19 combined.

Didnt Michael Keane cost them a bomb too?

 

Iwobi takes the piss, mind. Not even a £10 million player 

[WillingtonMag]

2 hours ago, nufcjb said:

So glad he went to Everton and didn't end up back here like because would have hated to read comments like above even if we won matches if he was the manager.

Much prefer Howe the crazy idea of getting some entertainment and enjoyment from watching my team excites me.

[South-Cheshire-Toon]

Interesting looking at their next set of games up until us (sorry about the editing - cut and paste from a website)  - 

 

Monday 6th December Everton20:00Arsenal

Sunday 12th December Crystal Palace16:30Everton

Thursday 16th December Chelsea19:45Everton

Sunday 19th December Everton12:00Leicester City

Sunday 26th December Burnley15:00Everton

Thursday 30th December Everton19:30Newcastle United

 

On seeing how they are playing - they could be in the bottom quarter sooner than you think (here's hoping).

[Paully]

4 hours ago, Yorkie said:

 

 What? It's absolutely beyond me how anyone can have that opinion. He signed one first choice striker in Gayle and he was a revelation. He signed one backup striker in Murphy and he did a grand job when called upon. One winger, Ritchie, who was basically the most productive player in the league that season I think, and served us very well in the first season back up. Centre-mid, Diame, who played a big role and went onto even better things in the Prem, and Hayden, again who provided brilliant value for money. Two CBs: Clark, who formed a formidable partnership with Lascelles, and Hanley, who wasn't up to much but provided cover. Full-backs was 1 out of 3 in terms of Yedlin being more use than Gamez and Lazaar. Then you've got Sels, which was the only big swing-and-a-miss.

 

I mean his signings (and their success) were probably the most impactful thing he did to ensure promotion. 

 

In the PL the context changed cos the budget was farcical and he could never get his first choices. But still resulted in several fantastic buys: Dubravka, Schar, Fernández, Lejeune, Kenedy season 1. Even Joselu and Ki provided a reasonable return when you consider they cost about fourteen pence between them. Who knows what Miggy would've become in a Rafa team. I've always liked him and he certainly played a big part in keeping us well clear of the drop in 18/19.

 

Absolutely spot on!

[Sagar]

I have followed rafa since his days at lfc , and must say this is the worst set of players he has ever inherited. It's not just about the lack of individual quality in almost half of Everton players, it's also they are equally disinterested. On top of that , it's the worst academy that I have ever seen, the whole club needs a overhaul. And who better then rafa to do that, he is ruthless when it comes to any player being disinterested. If only  Everton fans would allow  him two transfer windows, he is exactly what they actually need. Someone who can show the door to disinterested players,  and someone who could build a strong acedemy.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Sagar

[The Bonk]

Poor Rafa, he was always going to be the scapegoat unless he had them top 8, but this is slightly unfair however expected from the Scouse Mackems. We get pelters for being deluded, but I'd say Everton are just as bad as us or worse for expectations as a fanbase. Maybe they could be forgiven with the money they've spent and having some top level managers the past couple seasons.  

 

Overall, they've got a better squad than the results show recently and from the extended highlights I watched of their Derby, they had the chances, but not the world class talent Liverpool do. Salah, if he keeps up this form, should be in for a shout of best player on the planet. Jota had a scorcher yesterday as well. Liverpool, Chelsea and Man City are fucking elite teams, Everton are nowhere close.

[Sagar]

2 hours ago, gjohnson said:

I'm sure we'd welcome him in  the Director of Football role where he can overlook the entire rebuild of the club as a project. Lets be fair, it's not going to be long before Everton sack him.

He would never take DOF, since I have known him for 15-16 years, he has an unfinished project of winning PL, he won't stop unless he does that. He almost won it 2008-09 with a much weaker squad then Manchester uni , Chelsea. His teams always overarchived, and he knows that. The man is exceptional tactician, have seen him outsmarting prime Mourinho, and Ferguson sides that had prime Ronaldo, Tevez , Rooney, Drogba etc with a much weaker squad on paper. The man will eventually win it, just give him love, 3 pl seasons and just 50-60 m every season. 

[Geogaddi]

33 minutes ago, Sagar said:

He would never take DOF, since I have known him for 15-16 years, he has an unfinished project of winning PL, he won't stop unless he does that. He almost won it 2008-09 with a much weaker squad then Manchester uni , Chelsea. His teams always overarchived, and he knows that. The man is exceptional tactician, have seen him outsmarting prime Mourinho, and Ferguson sides that had prime Ronaldo, Tevez , Rooney, Drogba etc with a much weaker squad on paper. The man will eventually win it, just give him love, 3 pl seasons and just 50-60 m every season. 

Is that you Rafa ?

[SUPERTOON]

34 minutes ago, Sagar said:

He would never take DOF, since I have known him for 15-16 years, he has an unfinished project of winning PL, he won't stop unless he does that. He almost won it 2008-09 with a much weaker squad then Manchester uni , Chelsea. His teams always overarchived, and he knows that. The man is exceptional tactician, have seen him outsmarting prime Mourinho, and Ferguson sides that had prime Ronaldo, Tevez , Rooney, Drogba etc with a much weaker squad on paper. The man will eventually win it, just give him love, 3 pl seasons and just 50-60 m every season. 

I love the guy but he is never winning the premier league.

[Magpie]

 

[Guest reefatoon]

Rafa must have been the only bloke on the planet not to envisage how this was going to turn out. Such an idiotic move for him.

[Pata]

21 hours ago, Fantail Breeze said:

 

Don’t buy that too much at all. Everton’s squad is no worse than Arsenal’s, for example. Yet they’re eight points and nine places behind them.

 

Teams like Brighton, Brentford and Palace above them. Getting knocked out the cup by QPR.

 

He’s underperforming with the resources at his disposal, regardless of what transfer budget he has or hasn’t had.

Arsenal’s squad is so much better than Everton’s that it’s unreal. DCL has been out for a while, Richa has been in and out and Doucoure had an injury. They have to play shite like Gordon, Iwobi, Davies as there simply isn’t anyone else. Rondon and Coleman both look finished but they don’t have any other options. I’ve watched them quite a bit this year and I don’t think he’s lost the dressing room either outside of Richarlison who seems to think he has outgrown Everton which tbh is probably fair.

 

Rafa could easily get the boot but I doubt there is a manager who would have done any better with that squad and Gray and Townsend have been their best players available all season.

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by Pata

[Guest neesy111]

4 minutes ago, Pata said:

Arsenal’s squad is so much better than Everton’s that it’s unreal. DCL has been out for a while, Richa has been in and out and Doucoure had an injury. They have to play shite like Gordon, Iwobi, Davies as there simply isn’t anyone else. Rondon and Coleman both look finished but they don’t have any other options. I’ve watched them quite a but this year and I don’t think he’s lost the dreasing room either outside Richarlison who seems to think he has outgrown Everton which tbh is probably fair.

 

Rafa could easily get the boot but I doubt there is a manager who would have done any better with that squad and Gray and Townsend have been their best players available all season.

 

Arsenal can put saka, Smith-Rowe, Partey and Pepe in their midfield man. To say they are similar is absolutely bonkers.

 

 

 

Edited December 2, 2021 by neesy111

[Thiago]

9 hours ago, joeyt said:

 

Doesn't sound good

 

 

 

I can sort of understand the ugly football, as even here we didn't start doing the nice stuff until the last six months when things were settled. Fans/players will take that stuff if you're winning/building but I think they all know he's a glorified interim. 

 

What he's supposed to do re: Rondon when Calvert Lewin is injured I have no idea. It was a car crash idea from minute one and I don't blame the fans for kicking off. He's not local to the area, had iconic success with their greatest rivals, and absolutely talked them down when there. I'm almost as baffled at him for taking it as I am them for appointing him. 

[Thiago]

8 hours ago, TRon said:

The owner who has spent as much as any in the PL over the last few seasons? Also hired top class managers on the surface as well? If the owner's at fault you could argue it's because he's hired the wrong DOF or whoever is in charge of recruiting players, but most fans would love an owner who showed ambition. 

 

 

I could win the Euromillions tomorrow mate, doesn't mean I'm getting Blyth into the Football League. 

 

I think you're looking at this in too binary a way. Yes, he's put money in, but how he's put that money in, and the way he's built that club up have been incredibly poor. He's lurched from manager to manager, throwing more money in each time, and now they've got a squad that doesn't work well together at all. Michael Keane for £25m looks no better than what we've got here. Look at the graveyard of attackers - Rooney, Klaasen, Walcott, Sigurdsson, Tosun, Bolasie. That's well over £100m in fees never mind wages. They've had 5 managers since 2016. How do you ever expect success when your idea of stability is David Unsworth as caretaker. 

 

Aye, sure, Marcel Brands deserves a lot of stick, but he also hired him. This is why I hope Staveley gets a proper CEO in. You need expertise in this game, you can't just read a CV and assume. You need to know what actually went on at that club, how does it transfer to here, what's the club's short term and long term aims. You can't just plug Ronald Koeman in and hope it clicks. 

[Abacus]

Doubt it's a popular view, but one thing that's hard to deny about the apparently meticulous Benitez is that his decision making is pretty poor or under-thought when it comes to the jobs he takes on.

 

Going to China was a daft choice. Fine that wasn't why he left Newcastle, and so that's not my problem with it at all. Going there can only have been about the money and can't have been well researched. Oh but Covid! Nah. Always excuses for him. It was a shit choice even at the time.

 

Going to Everton was presumably as much about being near his family home as it was fixing a squad with no money, so presumably he didn't either understand the problems there to start with or isn't good enough to fix them.

 

The point being, neither being nearer to home nor just money aren't great reasons for joining either of those two clubs if you're still ambitious, for all of his talk of 'projects'.

 

Likewise, Newcastle was a terrible career choice for him. He can't have understood how much trouble we were in or the state of that squad when he took over in that relegation season. 

 

And he can't have done his research on the owner if he actually believed Ashley would stick to his word or have a single shred of ambition when he did stay on and get us promoted. Nor can he have any people skills to imagine that playing power games with Ashley was going to work or would end in any other way than it did.

 

Before even that, Real Madrid was the wrong choice and arguably Chelsea too - prestigious jobs, but both short term and never the long term project he claims to crave.

 

I'm grateful for the job he did at Newcastle, but I wouldn't be surprised if he's sacked from Everton and I couldn't blame them if he was. 

 

If they did, which other PL club would take him on now? His stock has fallen quite far and that's all due to his own decisions about who to join the first place.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

I’m not sure everton was that unwise or always doomed. That’s only if you buy that narrative is more important than ability and practicality. 
 

I don’t watch them every week, but you’d think they have to be very careful about sacking him. Where do they go next after two champions league winners? 
 

Course I get why fans are unhappy. 

[Guest neesy111]

It's soo easy to say from the outside that going to China was a bad choice.

 

He clearly likes experiencing different cultures and wanted a project.  He also said he guranteeing the jobs of his staff was also in his mind which it certainly did.

 

With the pandemic millions and I'm talking tens of millions have had to move back from places to their original homes or back close to them across the globe.

[The Butcher]

China was about the 12m net a year. Nowt else.

[Fantail Breeze]

36 minutes ago, Pata said:

Arsenal’s squad is so much better than Everton’s that it’s unreal. DCL has been out for a while, Richa has been in and out and Doucoure had an injury. They have to play shite like Gordon, Iwobi, Davies as there simply isn’t anyone else. Rondon and Coleman both look finished but they don’t have any other options. I’ve watched them quite a but this year and I don’t think he’s lost the dreasing room either outside Richarlison who seems to think he has outgrown Everton which tbh is probably fair.

 

Rafa could easily get the boot but I doubt there is a manager who would have done any better with that squad and Gray and Townsend have been their best players available all season.

 

You say Arsenal’s squad is so much better and justify that by saying Everton’s is weak if you take their top three players out?

 

Take Smith-Rowe, Saka and Aubameyang away from Arsenal’s team and you’re replacing them with shite like Martinelli and Lacazette who have scored a whopping two goals between them this season.

 

If you went through the teams: 

 

Pickford and Ramsdale are probably on par.

 

Keane and Godfrey are better than White and Gabriel

 

Doucoure and Allan are better than Partay and Lokonga

 

Coleman and Digne are better than Tomiyasu and Tavares

 

Saka and Smith-Rowe are better than Gray and Townsend.

 

Richarlison is better than Odegaard

 

Aubameyang and Calvert-Lewin are pretty close.

 

Arsenal may have one or two better options from the bench, but nobody is telling me they’re miles ahead of Everton as the table evidences.