Rafa tells his Toffees to get switched on
RAFA Benitez says his Everton players have to be smarter and “stop wasting time” sussing out their opponents.
The Toffees have a habit of going behind in games and went 2-0 down to Wolves on Monday night. They were much improved after those two early goals but couldn’t turn the game around.
That made it three defeats on the spin to raise pressure on Benitez who is already becoming a target for the boo-boys.
The Spaniard is fed up of his players taking ages to suss out their opponents — by which time they are often behind in matches.
Benitez said of the Molineux defeat: “Obviously when you lose games you have to be disappointed.
“Then the way we lost in the first half, we didn’t do well. The second half was much better, it’s something we have to change.
“We were too worried about making mistakes and then in the second half we showed the character that we have and it was a big difference.
Chances
“It’s something we have to learn the future and not waste half an hour doing.
“The players realized that they were not doing well and they knew we had to change something.
“Sometimes you expect the manager to change something, but it’s the players that are on the pitch so we have to show what we can do.
“In the second half we deserved maybe at least a couple of goals, and even in the first half playing badly we had two clear chances.”
Everton are still missing Dominic Calvert-Lewin while Richarlison is not at his sharpest.
Despite the recent defeats, Benitez is happy with the way the season has started.
He said: “We have to remember where we started, when you change things and then you miss some players.
“There are things we are trying to improve, and we did it in the beginning, but now with players out we are pushing players that maybe are still not at the right level.
“Once we have all the players available we will be much better.
“With more players available you can make more substitutions, you can change the shape of the team
“I can see the team improving in a lot of things, but until now I can see we need to get some confidence and the only way is to try to play the same way we did in the second half against Wolves.”