Rafael Benitez has not yet returned to management since leaving Everton at the start of this year.
Carlo Ancelotti left the Toffees to return to Real Madrid in the summer of 2021. His exit saw the Merseyside club look for a new manager and appoint the Spaniard as his successor.
Benitez helped Everton win four league games in the first six matches of the 2021/22 season, but the English club went on to win only one win in the next 13 matches, which saw them show him the exit door.
The Premier League side were 15th in the table and six points above the relegation zone when the former Liverpool manager left. He has given multiple interviews since then but has not talked about his time at Everton in detail.
Monday’s edition of Corriere dello Sport have published an interview with the 62-year-old, where he was asked if it was a ‘mistake’ to sack him during the winter 2022 market; a question the manager tactfully dodged.
“An ambitious project was proposed to me, in a city where I live happily with my family. I was confident and optimistic. Perhaps the excessively brilliant start of the championship deluded the environment a bit,” Benitez said.
“With me the team has always been with a margin of at least six points from the relegation zone and with two fewer games played. When I left, five reinforcements arrived, and luckily Everton was saved. And today, with the additional nine signings this summer, the team is totally different from the one I coached.”
