NEVER AGAIN
Everton fans will give boss a Raf ride after this tame surrender... and Benitez admits: We must change... and show character
EVERTON
Davies 3 Richarlison 63 WATFORD
13, 80, 86 78
BY DAVID MADDOCK
RAFA BENITEZ knew it was coming, knew the doubts would start as soon as the winning stopped.
And how they started. Throughout a terse second half there was real impatience from the Everton fanbase, a frustration that transmitted its nervous energy into their team.
Then the booing started. First when Benitez replaced popular local boy Anthony Gordon with Richarlison and then when Watford goals arrived in an avalanche.
Long before the final whistle they departed, angry, frustrated, disillusioned by what they saw, and unforgiving about a debilitating injury list.
It is a key moment in the new manager’s tenure. He knows there is no honeymoon period, even if Carlo Ancelotti was afforded one when his team displayed similar flakiness.
Asked what his message to the angry fans was, Benitez replied with conviction. “I am really disappointed because we have a very good connection with the fans,” he said.
“From the beginning of the season they were really supporting the team, were behind every single player, and we were doing well. Now we have made some mistakes and you can understand the frustration of the fans, but we have to make sure we change these things and keep the fans on board because they are really important for us.
“And we have to ensure we show the same commitment we have shown in every game, but more character, more personality when we have to manage difficult situations.”
It is that lack of character, a fragile mentality, that has been Everton’s undoing under successive managers. Here it crystalised in a madcap 13 minutes when a late Watford tidal wave produced four unanswered goals.
Josh King was the architect, bullying the timid home defence and helping himself to a spectacular hat-trick.
Tom Davies gave Everton an early lead that King quickly cancelled out before Richarlison restored the lead just after the hour. Then came the late, late madness, with Juraj Kucka levelling, King scoring twice in six minutes, and Emmanuel Dennis finishing it off.
It was King’s first goal in 24 appearances, 11 of which came for Everton on loan last season, and his first Premier League goal since he scored against the Blues at Goodison in July 2020.
Oh how Benitez could have done with King.
In the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin for at least another five weeks, his attack looks toothless, with Salomon Rondon’s lack of fitness clear.
Richarlison’s return will help, as his fine 63rd-minute finish proved, but it is Everton’s mentality that is in question.
Asked if it is an issue, the Goodison manager (above) bluntly replied: “Yes, like I say we have to show character and personality to manage any bad situations and any mistakes, and we didn’t do that.
“We made a mistake to concede, and afterwards we made more mistakes in a row, so it is something you have to improve.
“The players have to be aware they need to work harder and pay more attention to these details. We were ahead but so many mistakes gave them hope. That’s the time that we have to do much better.”