Everton have had three managers since Carlo Ancelotti left the Premier League side for Real Madrid in the summer of 2021.
Rafael Benitez was appointed as the Italian’s successor but his time at Goodison Park was cut short in January 2022. He hasn’t yet returned to management since leaving the Toffees.
AS had a detailed chat with the ex-Liverpool manager, where he opened up about his time at Everton.
The 62-year-old has refused the offers he has received from Europe and across the world. When asked why it’s hard for him to decide his next club, he detailed reasons for taking the Everton job.
“It is more difficult for me to choose the team that I want. I have coached large teams in Italy, in Spain, in England… And that limits you. I don’t have many big teams left because you’re not going to go to a direct rival that you’ve already been to,” he said.
“The strange thing was Everton and I went because I was here in the city. But after Liverpool, United doesn’t call you. You have to go to teams that are in the background or in other leagues. It is more difficult for me than for a youngster to find a team, because it has to offer me features that allow me to improve. I don’t like going to a team to be in the middle of the table without being able to do anything else.”
Benitez was at Anfield between 2004 and 2010, and won the Champions League in his first season with the Reds. The Spanish newspaper quizzed him whether he was ‘wrong’ to say yes to Everton due to his connection with Liverpool.
Responding to that, Benitez explained: “Decisions are analysed in context. Many people didn’t understand that, being what I was at Liverpool, I signed for Everton and other people did, because many years had passed.”
“I have many Everton friends who told me: ‘Come, you’re going to make us grow’. I knew what that club needed. What I couldn’t expect is that more than €500m had been spent in recent years on reinforcements and when I arrived, suddenly, only €1.7m was spent.”
“I got the China of we don’t have money, they said yes, yes… but there wasn’t. We had to sell in January to try to rebuild the team to match the two full-back positions and I was fired at that time. We weren’t winning, it’s true, but we had injuries, which affected us a lot in the middle.”
“And when you think you could rebuild the team and recover players, they don’t let you continue. At that time, we were 6 points from relegation with two games less. After us, €140m were spent and they went into decline twice and there they are.”
After successfully avoiding a drop to the Championship last season, Everton are in another relegation battle this season. Benitez is of the belief the Toffees wouldn’t have been in this situation if he was given time and backed well in the transfer market.
When further pressed why Everton didn’t give him ‘those €140m’, Benitez stressed: “It’s not understood. I tell you, with complete certainty, that with that money we would have obtained better results, because we were clear about what Everton needed. But when we managed to stop the injuries, when we had taken the pulse of the club… we had to leave.”
“We took out homegrown players like Gordon, who have sold for €45m, we cleaned up what wasn’t right and we strengthened the structure.
“What is not logical is that they throw you 6 points from relegation and with two games less, having spent only €1.7m, and that this is worse than having spent €140m to end up going down.”
“But since I came from Liverpool… well, it’s easier to question someone who comes from Liverpool than not the next ones. We blame this one who comes from Liverpool, but the reality is that the club’s trajectory is what it is. They have not won for many years, many things had to be changed and we went and started to do it. But they didn’t let us.”
