Rafa Benitez has been officially announced as Everton’s new manager and has signed on a three-year deal until 2024.
After weeks of rumours and weeks of searching Everton have finally found their new man and it is one of the most controversial appointments in Premier League history.
For the last week there has been banners hung outside Goodison Park being against the appointment, there has been a large majority of people on social media also against the appointment, but it has happened now with the Spaniard getting ready to prepare for pre-season.
Benitez has had his say about the madness that has occurred due to him being hired and in the official announcement he said: “I am delighted to be joining Everton. Throughout this process I have been greatly impressed by the ambition shown by the senior representatives at the club and their desire to bring success to this historic club.”
He is a model professional with vast amounts of experience so he will do his best to get on with the job at hand, which is to get Everton back into Europe and or win a piece of silverware.
The job that Carlo Ancelotti failed to do before he jumped ship back to Real Madrid.
Benitez is one of the most renowned names in football and is definitely the big name that Farhad Moshiri wanted to bring to the club.
Moshiri has said: “We are appointing Rafa because we believe he will bring success to our club and to Evertonians. To put it simply we need to be competing at the top-end of the league and to be winning trophies.”
Having started his management career way back in 1993 with Real Madrid B he has been in the game for a remarkable 28 years and has won a lot of major honours.
13 major honours to be exact which is a rich collection showing his managerial talents.
His most well known trophy is the Champions League win with Liverpool hence the resentment from a large majority of Everton’s fanbase.
Also whilst he was at Liverpool he did say that Everton were a ‘small club’ however such comments have been explained since by Benitez.
On Monday Night Football with Jamie Carragher he said: “I made a mistake when I said it was a small club.”
“What I wanted to say was they are a small team because in this game I remember they had one chance.”
It was a bitter comment made by Benitez at the time but it was a long time ago so the fact he said it and the fact he was in charge of Liverpool should not be too much of a problem realistically.
He also has had his say on the comment on the day he has been announced as the manager as he said: “Every single club I was there, I was fighting for them. If you analyse things in the context, what you are expecting from your manager is to fight for your club, and I will do that.
“I am here, I will fight for my club, I will try to win every single game, and it doesn’t matter who the opponents are, or the rivals. It is something you have to do, it is your nature, that you have to try to do your best.
“And why a lot of fans in a lot of these cities love me is because I was giving everything for them. If you analyse this in the context, then it is very clear I will do the same for Everton.”
Benitez is clearly looking forward to the new challenge at his new club regardless of the past.
“I believe this is a Club that is going places. I’m determined to play a big part in helping this great Club achieve its ambitions” he said.
Everton fans have also queried whether the Spaniard is up to the challenge due to his last couple of jobs.
His last job was in China with Dalian professional and it did not go as well as some may have thought however undoubtedly the pandemic played part in that.
Then the job before that was at Newcastle United which seen him bring them back up the Premier League and solidify them back in the top division on a tiny fraction of the budget that current Newcastle manager Steve Bruce has got.
So realistically he did a good job even if the style of football is slightly pragmatic.
But so was Ancelotti’s style of play whilst at Everton plus if he gets backed in the window Benitez is capable of exciting football even if it is defensive stability first.
The owners will have wanted Ancelotti to guide the club into the new era with the new stadium but now they have chosen Benitez to do that job.
It shall be interesting to see how he does, he will be given time even if the fans are so against it as Moshiri would not have hired him otherwise.
Pre-season needs to go well to get everyone on side, but there is undoubtedly potential for Benitez to do well at Everton, he has not won what he has won by being a average manager.
