2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[gorgeousgeorgeEFC]

Howard Kendall used to say that we Evertonians were like the 12th man. That’s exactly what we were against Arsenal last night.

We gave the team a massive lift. Why can’t we be like that every week instead of murmuring discontentedly and/or criticising our own players and our own manager?

After last night’s performance against an excellent Arsenal that were in 5th until the weekend and that have destroyed teams like Spurs and Leicester this season… I have confidence that R.A.F.A. can eventually arrest this seemingly terminal decline, win us a trophy and eventually get us into the top 4.

Sadly he has inherited a desperately poor squad. It’s not that the lads don’t try; it’s just that they’re not on the same level technically as the players at the top clubs. Plus we’ve been desperately unlucky with injuries. Take the RS’ best defender, best midfielder and leading goal-scorer out of their team for months on end and they wouldn’t be much higher up that table than we are now.

 

[Misa]

Howard Kendall used to say that we Evertonians were like the 12th man. That’s exactly what we were against Arsenal last night.

We gave the team a massive lift. Why can’t we be like that every week instead of murmuring discontentedly and/or criticising our own players and our own manager?

After last night’s performance against an excellent Arsenal that were in 5th until the weekend and that have destroyed teams like Spurs and Leicester this season… I have confidence that R.A.F.A. can eventually arrest this seemingly terminal decline, win us a trophy and eventually get us into the top 4.

Sadly he has inherited a desperately poor squad. It’s not that the lads don’t try; it’s just that they’re not on the same level technically as the players at the top clubs. Plus we’ve been desperately unlucky with injuries. Take the RS’ best defender, best midfielder and leading goal-scorer out of their team for months on end and they wouldn’t be much higher up that table than we are now.

Agree with everything except the last part. Bias aside, I think they will still have a squad good enough to finish in the European spots and fight for top 4.

 

[Nyhus]

After last night’s performance against an excellent Arsenal

Excuse me? Did you not watch the game? They were absolutely awful.

 

[Thomasc]

So GOT has officially turned into fanboys v pragmatic posters after 1 win and 5 points out of 27.

This is is how low the bar has been set, looking back through the last few pages there is some cringeworthy stuff as usual from GOT’s resident WUM.

Whilst it’s nice to finally get a win and move us away from the bottom 3, there is going to be a few red faces if we don’t follow that up with at least a point at the weekend.

Let’s see some consistency before we all start proclaiming some sort of phoenix from the ashes going on.

 

[Harryflashman]

Delighted with the win , huge in terms of the run and hopefully getting us back on track . We certainly needed it and thank god it came , what a winner .

 

[larbert toffee]

Yes a good win last night indeed, although in the next two months, we'll need to win a lot more than one game.

But when i see a post with a load of text in one jumble, i'm always inclined to skip it. Is it that hard to press the enter button on the keyboard?

Then just skip it then, highlighting bad grammar is just arrogance and bad manners, you're not exactly Oscar Wilde yourself.

 

[steven]

He was 100% sat next to Benitez and is clearly seen enjoying the end here mate.

Ah FairPlay - my bad ?

 

[gazzaa2]

Great to see things back on the up again and starting to climb the table. Things are looking up.

 

[kenada_blue]

Needed to be done, we might be able to get a fee for Lucas,one player who we wont really miss, shame really as he looked special at one point, Carlo was getting nothing from him as well, Rafael has this one spot on

Haha behave.

One of the highest assisting defenders for a number of seasons in a poor side.

Once him, Richy, and Dom have gone (the fans will say they're poor as well), we'll see how good our conquistador is

 

[MisterJ]

Played with confidence tonight mate, lovely to see, coaches need to establish why that was and help him build on it

There were times, especially in the first half, when he was the only player looking to pass forwards, to try and make something happen

 

[MisterJ]

Great to see things back on the up again and starting to climb the table. Things are looking up.

Lets not get ahead of ourselves; it's all for nothing if we don't beat Palace at the weekend

 

[jamieni]

Dropped Rondon. Dropped Digne ..Brilliant win and 3 points .

Pretty sure Rondon did his hamstring against RS.

 

[bullybeef]

I liked Rafael’s assertion that it will take time but we will do it in his post match interview.

He sounded supremely confident which made me feel more confident.

 

[COYBL25]

Change

Only a curmudgeon would react in such a way. If you cant enjoy that game and win you may as well give up.

You've become too embroiled in factionalism. You and many others.

Changes nothing.

 

[Eggs]

….’a man who needs confrontation, a man who thrives on confrontation’ said Carragher. Coleman said there are problems off the pitch but the players reacted to the fans.

Last night was a victory for the magnificent support, time will tell if this Managers style will turn the clubs fortunes around or he becomes even more unpopular.