Benitez’s original sin at Everton: The announced end of a manager considered ‘past’

Since last Sunday, Rafa Benitez has stopped training Everton. Leaves the team in 16th place, +6 from the relegation zone and a disturbing roadmap from mid-October to the last round: 5 points in the last 12 games.

original sin – If in Italy it is possible, almost naturally, to see coaches like Antonio Conte move from Juventus to Inter or Maurizio Sarri from Napoli to Juventus, it is still rare today in England to see Management, whose name is closely associated with the club, went on to lead a rival team. Of course, there were also exceptions in Albion ground, such as George Graham winning with Arsenal and a few years later leading Tottenham, but they are generally rare cases. The same goes for players: Manchester United will never sell a player to Liverpool and vice versa. Rafa Benitez has the “mistake” of being a Liverpool player: six unforgettable years, not to mention delivering the Champions League as a colt, the most epic in the tournament’s history. Fans never accepted him from the first moment and remained loyal to the streak, always noting that the presence of the Spaniard was not at all welcome.

Disaster results – Five wins, four draws and ten defeats. This is the balance sheet in the English Premier League. He was eliminated in the Carabao Cup from the third round, in a FA Cup win in overtime with Hull. From the eighth day onwards I sweet They only won one game and after Calvert Lewin was injured (3 goals in the first 3 matches) no offensive solution was found. From the eighth day to the fourteenth day, the team collected a point, and collected 4 goals in the derby Merseyside With Liverpool, he earned a 5 at Goodison Park from Watford. Against Norwich in the final round, the straw that broke the camel’s back. Before last Saturday I canary They scored “Jamal” 8 goals. At Carrow Road, Everton were already 2-0 down in the 18th minute. There the word ‘end’ was approved. In other seasons I sweet They would find themselves near the drop zone if not in the bottom three. The poor progress of Norwich as well as Newcastle and Burnley makes the situation less dramatic.

Relationship with the players – Not poetic. Digne’s farewell is the result of a relationship that never really took off with the French, but also the rest of the group can’t content himself with the methods of the Spaniard, now considered “old” and whose training methods are very boring and in any case out of date. Football that has evolved.

Management role – Major defects in the property and summoned management to build a team. Over the past five years, Everton has invested 600 million euros. In the past seven years, 19 players have been paid salaries of €25m and above. Not only did many of them justify the expense, they turned out to be real failures. With the important project of the new stadium, to be built in another part of the city and which will cost around 600 million euros, it is inevitable that the property has tightened the threads to strengthen the team this season. Of course, there has been more thought in the past years…

Timing and alternative Rafa Benitez’s exemption has already been written. If anything, what’s surprising about this whole story is when. Why in the middle of January, in full swing and with two contracts (Paterson and Mikolenko) approved by the coach himself? It’s an unanswered question in England. Now it’s time to find a replacement, he will be the seventh coach under Moshiri, the billionaire who took over the club in 2015. Four names are competing: club man Duncan Ferguson, who has already led the team; In 2019 after the dismissal of Marco Silva; Prodigal son Wayne Rooney, a young redemption seeker, Frank Lampard or the Brighton wizard Graham Potter. Good luck to whoever accepts.