Back Benitez! Everton or Newcastle, it doesn’t matter where he is... single-minded Rafa will turn ANY club around
I KNOW Rafa Benitez better than most people, and he’s one of the most committed, dedicated managers in world football.
So there is no doubt in my mind that his total focus is on Everton, and how to solve the obvious problems they have got – problems he has inherited from several years of bad decisions.
At the same time I can’t help thinking that he’s the perfect fit for Newcastle – and he’d get everything there that he’s always going to struggle to get at Goodison.
But that’s not Rafa’s way of thinking of course. I know he believes passionately he can turn things around at Everton and bring success to the club.
I don’t doubt that either. And I’m not saying this as a flag-waving former player of his
– he didn’t even put me on the bench for the Champions League final, so it’s not out of sentiment or loyalty!
Actually, that episode is one of the reasons why I believe he can sort out some big problems at Everton. I was in my final season, he had Craig Bellamy and Peter Crouch on the bench already, and there was absolutely no room for sentiment in his eyes. That’s the type of manager he is.
He calculates what is best for the team, the best way of winning football matches, and then allows no emotion or fear or doubt to come into it.
So no, I don’t think Rafa will be looking at Eddie Howe or whoever comes in at St James’ Park, thinking that they’ll be getting everything he
won’t – financial backing, time, patience, the love of the crowd. That thought did cross my mind though.
I also wondered if it would be better for everyone concerned, purely because his connection to Liverpool means he’s always starting from a negative with Everton fans.
What do I mean by that? Well, take this weekend.
Yes, they’ve lost three games on the bounce and looked poor at times. But if other results fall their way, they could be looking at going top-six by beating Tottenham today.
That is the positive way of looking at it, and I reckon the Newcastle fans, with their love of Rafa, would have tried to take that view of things.
But the suspicion of him at Goodison means it feels very much like a negative vibe – one which says ‘lose again and you’re in trouble’.
They are beginning a very tough set of fixtures – Spurs, Manchester City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, Leicester.
Even Brentford and Palace away are tough games, and that’s their run until Christmas Day.
You can feel the negativity swirling around the team too.
In the last few games, the fans have been a bit anxious and frustrated, and that has been transmitted to the pitch.
Players who were outstanding last season, like Ben Godfrey and Michael Keane, hear the groans and seem to be nervous in return.
I’m not having a go at those players, not at all. It’s what happens in football – the nerves from the terraces can’t help but spread throughout the team.
These are players who were top class, but now suffering a bit of a loss of confidence, that’s all.
Could Rafa have gone to the board and the fans, and said he’ll do them all a favour and take the Newcastle job? Possibly. But it’s a hypothetical point, because he’s just not built like that.
Honestly, he’s been there working away, watching games on tape, planning, devising, identifying weaknesses and strengths, and coming up with solutions. Until the middle of the night. I know, because I know him.
I remember going into training one Christmas Day, and then afterwards, being asked to drop some tapes around to Rafa, as he lived by me.
I popped over at tea-time, when I expected to be invited in for a mince pie and a small glass of something with his family.
Instead he was in his video room, going over plans for the next game. He’d been there since getting back from work!
He will bring that single-mindedness to Everton, believe me, and he will be totally focused, fixated, on that.
And if anyone can do it for them – without money in the transfer window, as Everton apparently won’t have any, his best players injured and a threadbare squad – then it’s Rafa.