Everton FourFourTwo preview and prediction: Can Rafael Benitez heal old wounds at Goodison Park?

This preview appears in the August 2021 edition of FourFourTwo.

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The last time Everton appointed a Champions League-winning former Real Madrid manager, he got a rapturous reception. This time... not so much.

Carlo Ancelotti felt like a coup for Everton, and his sudden departure a rejection. That blow hit harder still when his replacement was Rafa Benitez, a man indelibly associated with Liverpool; someone who once described Everton as a “small club”, no less. The Spaniard has clarified those comments, and there was no candidate who united supporters, but the mood at Goodison Park was obvious. “Not welcome,” read one of the more polite banners. “We know where you live,” declared another, more threatening flag left at a home on the Wirral – though, as it wasn’t Benitez’s house, it transpired they didn’t.

While many fans rightly criticised the menacing message, it showed there’ll be no honeymoon period. Other Toffees may be swift to turn if results slide, and Everton’s recent status as spendthrift underachievers means they might. Chucking more than £500m on transfers under Farhad Moshiri hasn’t achieved one top-six finish. They flattered to deceive in Ancelotti’s short reign, fading to 10th in a missed opportunity. 

Benitez inherits a squad weighed down by bad buys, with whom Ancelotti kept swapping systems in search of a consistently successful formula. His side became enigmas, winning at Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham but losing at home to Newcastle, Fulham, Burnley and Sheffield United. The Italian seemed to conclude that mentality was the biggest problem. 

There are plenty of others. Benitez, looking for a project, must now wrestle with a club lacking the strategy to match its ambition. Their sixth manager in seven seasons is bequeathed a starting XI, but not much more. Everton are forever rebuilding, yet they’re trapped in a short-termist cycle. At least Ben Godfrey, Abdoulaye Doucoure and Allan were good purchases, and Dominic Calvert-Lewin kicked on under Ancelotti to become a prolific – and Benitez-esque – striker. New boys Andros Townsend and cut-price Demarai Gray certainly seem to have been bought with the expressed intention of putting balls in the box for DCL to attack.

But when Benitez replaced Ancelotti at Real Madrid, he often preferred a defensive midfielder in James Rodriguez’s place. As a cautious tactician, he doesn’t promise the flowing football in which the Colombian sparkled at the start of last term, brief though it was. 

Ancelotti’s charm and CV protected him. Benitez, given his past, needs results. Ancelotti didn’t get them in 2021, perhaps because his best days were in the noughties. Rafa must prove this isn’t the case for him.

The five-point plan

1 Put the ‘good’ back into Goodison
Depending on which way you interpret the numbers, Everton had either their worst or second-worst home record ever last season. Either way, it was bad, and the dire return may have cost them Champions League football. With the fans back, they need to rediscover the habit of beating weaker sides at Goodison.

2 Use the ball better
“We are not a possession team,” said Ancelotti after Everton lost to West Ham. Quite – only six teams saw less of the ball. But Everton were often at their most ineffective when they had the ball, as they did in those aforementioned home defeats. With the players they have, they ought to be able to create more.

3 Revive Rodriguez
James Rodriguez’s signing was genuinely exciting for Toffees fans, and many of the highlights from their 2020/21 stemmed from his class. Yet it ended on a sour note, the tactless playmaker posting photographs of himself bound for the Copa America – which he then missed – even before Everton’s season ended with a 5-0 thrashing by Manchester City. He’d skipped the previous game through tiredness, as his absences grew longer and more frequent. Minus his mentor Ancelotti, does he have a future?

4 Deliver more goals from midfield
The Toffees' midfield was remarkably impotent last season: Allan, Andre Gomes and Tom Davies failed to score, while Alex Iwobi and now-departed Bernard each nabbed one goal and Abdoulaye Doucoure two. Four goals in a combined 148 games was an underachievement. 

5 Win at Anfield… with fans to see it
The greatest result in Carlo Ancelotti’s reign came across Stanley Park – yet Everton fans still haven’t been at Anfield to see their side triumph since 1999. A repeat of February’s performance and 2-0 scoreline, only with a packed away end this time, would be much appreciated.

FFT verdict: 9th

If Benitez can win over a sceptical fanbase, the Toffees have the players to ruffle a few feathers.

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