Rafa will live by the sword at Goodison
BIG NAMES FACE AXE AS NEW BOSS HUNTS A QUICK TROPHY
THERE are no pretences, no illusions. Rafa Benitez is far too experienced and pragmatic for that. His job at Everton is to deliver success – and quickly.
Asked if there had been any promises of patience to plot a route towards the trophies that could win over the fans, his answer was succinct.
“To be fair, in modern football that’s quite difficult to get,” he said.
In all the talks during what was a prolonged, even tortuous recruitment process there was no mention of fan unrest because of his successful spell as manager of rivals Liverpool.
Owner Farhad Moshiri and his chief sponsor Alisher Usmanov emphasised only the need for silverware.
For Benitez, the answer was simple. He can deliver it. He has to deliver it.
“The question was, is it possible?” he said. “I would say, yes.
“Will it be difficult? Yes, it will be difficult, but you never know. The cup competitions, to be in Europe, depending on your belief, the way you work.
“So I don’t see why not, I don’t see why we can’t try to do our best in every competition if we can be sure we have a strong enough squad to do it.
“They realised they could get an experienced manager who was competitive and can win things.”
Because of Financial Fair Play restrictions he will have to trade wisely, he admits, by offloading players on big salaries who he does not want – James Rodriguez, Fabian Delph and perhaps even Richarlison and Andre Gomes.
He must transform the mentality of the team by removing the fear factor which too often seemed evident last season.
Here, his philosophy is simple, his excitement at being back clear.
“You can see that you can compete in the Premier League against the best players and managers in the world and that is what I’m looking for. I like this challenge. I’m not afraid of anyone,” he said. “I hope that our team is not afraid of anyone. That is the way to create this winning mentality we are talking about.
“My job is to give them confidence, give them the tools so we can win any game and it doesn’t matter the name of the opponent.”
There will be signings, the manager in particular looking to strengthen the wide areas to deliver more to Everton dangerman Dominic Calvert-Lewin. That could mean the end for both Richarlison and James.
“Everyone knows this club has spent a lot of money in the last few years so it means you must respect Financial Fair Play,” he said.
“So you have to manage it in the best way possible. If you have players with big salaries who normally aren’t playing, then you want to find a solution and this solution will mean you have money to spend on new players.
“We have to be ambitious and we have to manage the situation. It is very easy to see that we have a great centreforward. He’s very good in the air, he can score goals. But we have to provide him with good crosses, good passes.
“So the objective is to add the players to improve. We can improve in these areas and the crosses will come. When we can do that, the team will be better.”
I’m not afraid of anyone and I hope the team isn’t afraid