2021/22 Rafael Benitez

[Noisy noise annoys]

I wouldn't mind Longstaff as a squad player off the bench tbh - people baulked at Gray and Towsend who have been good players for us.

Gray > Walcott
Townsend > Benard
Longstaff > Delph/Gbamin/Davies

Has he been any good this year? I genuinely havent watched

 

[Efcjake]

most of them were players bought for the slog in the championship. and to be fair, they did the job.

To be fair they spent double what every other team in that league did so you would expect them to come back up immediately.

 

[Amokachi1995]

They were massive favourites to come up - rightly so, given the squad they had should never have been relegated. Surely he should have been building for the Prem, and not to slog the Championship?

Still though, without knowing the full picture of who was responsible for transfers at Newcastle (it was widely reported Benitez did not want Saint-Maximin), it doesn't inspire confidence;

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I always felt he got lucky with the team he inherited at Liverpool too. He had a few good signings like Torres etc but always considered him to be a bit hit and miss in the market - paid a good few bob for the likes of Robbie Kean, Glen Johnson, Ryan Babel etc.

Always felt Moyes at Everton was a lot better in the market than Benitez at Liverpool.

Today, I reckon Moyes will recruit better at West Ham than Benitez will here.

Benitez is also as interim as a manager is ever likely to be - giving him money/power to spend should mean we've waved goodbye to DoF model.

That list of players is an absolute rogue's gallery. The quoted Chronicle article rated most of them a success!

Would definitely trust Moyes more with my last fiver.

 

[Efcjake]

Has he been any good this year? I genuinely havent watched

Imagine a geordie Tom Davies

 

[Kev50]

They were massive favourites to come up - rightly so, given the squad they had should never have been relegated. Surely he should have been building for the Prem, and not to slog the Championship?

Still though, without knowing the full picture of who was responsible for transfers at Newcastle (it was widely reported Benitez did not want Saint-Maximin), it doesn't inspire confidence;

View attachment 147834

I always felt he got lucky with the team he inherited at Liverpool too. He had a few good signings like Torres etc but always considered him to be a bit hit and miss in the market - paid a good few bob for the likes of Robbie Kean, Glen Johnson, Ryan Babel etc.

Always felt Moyes at Everton was a lot better in the market than Benitez at Liverpool.

Today, I reckon Moyes will recruit better at West Ham than Benitez will here.

Benitez is also as interim as a manager is ever likely to be - giving him money/power to spend should mean we've waved goodbye to DoF model.

can't agree with that. He took that awful Hollier team and in a couple of years their starting 11 was Reina Arbeloa Mascherano Alonso Luis Garcia Torres. He also picked up Bellamy and Crouch for buttons. The team that finished second was a world away from that Holler side.
Moyes was second to none at finding diamonds in the rough and making them very good players. So, great on a budget. But whenever he had backing, he always blew it. Benitez on the other hand, signed good players such as Alonso Mascherano and Torres and improved them significantly, so I think he will recruit better than Moyes, given we now hopefully will be able to spend

 

[Kev50]

To be fair they spent double what every other team in that league did so you would expect them to come back up immediately.

they would yes start as favourites, but it's no easy task getting out of that league first go

 

[roy vernon]

Delph and Siggurdsson are out of contract in the summer and God knows what will happen with Gbamin mate so 1-2 free/cheaper signings to pad the squad out is shrewd business in my eyes.

Do agree we need to spend money on a top CM to partner Doucoure.

You know, I'm not sure about this one. Part of me thinks yes let's get a good centre back in and then I think, if we spend big on a centre back, it will be on Benitez alone to decide who. His past record is hit and miss with transfers and we can't afford to get it wrong.

Im not sure we shouldn't be looking in the loan market and gradually introducing Branthwaite to see if he makes the grade. I think Benitez is short term here, another year at most, an established player will obviously want big money and a long contract. What if he doesn't suit the system of whoever follows Benitez?

Its a very tricky decision to make. We really need a new DOF who will be firmly in charge before we spend big.

 

[nsno-chris]

Geordies love him though

 

[blue to the bone]

To be fair they spent double what every other team in that league did so you would expect them to come back up immediately.

And remember it wasn't even Benitez that relegated them according to that wombat

 

[tsubaki]

can't agree with that. He took that awful Hollier team and in a couple of years their starting 11 was Reina Arbeloa Mascherano Alonso Luis Garcia Torres. He also picked up Bellamy and Crouch for buttons. The team that finished second was a world away from that Holler side.

that Houllier side won the Champions League
that Benitez side didn't win the Champions League
he paid £7 million for Peter Crouch, who scored one goal every four games for them
he paid £6 million for Craig Bellamy, who scored nine times in 40-odd games for them

 

[GrandOldTeam]

can't agree with that. He took that awful Hollier team and in a couple of years their starting 11 was Reina Arbeloa Mascherano Alonso Luis Garcia Torres. He also picked up Bellamy and Crouch for buttons. The team that finished second was a world away from that Holler side.
Moyes was second to none at finding diamonds in the rough and making them very good players. So, great on a budget. But whenever he had backing, he always blew it. Benitez on the other hand, signed good players such as Alonso Mascherano and Torres and improved them significantly, so I think he will recruit better than Moyes, given we now hopefully will be able to spend

Fair enough.

"awful Houllier team"? Again - I've always felt Benitez inherited a decent side - I mean, in his first season there he ended up with less points than all Houllier's 5 seasons before that. He never surpassed any of Houllier's league seasons (2nd) but of course, won C.League.

Everton aren't going to be able to sign the obvious names like Torres and Mascherano. Looking at his most expensive 20 signings there, it's not a disaster but it's not great either;

Rather not waffle on too much about *them* though.

Just having a scout at what he done elsewhere and he's not someone I think should be given good backing/autonomy over spend when/if we can.

 

[Kev50]

that Houllier side won the Champions League
that Benitez side didn't win the Champions League
he paid £7 million for Peter Crouch, who scored one goal every four games for them
he paid £6 million for Craig Bellamy, who scored nine times in 40-odd games for them

yes, it did, but I credit the manager for that. if you look at that team there is a reason it ws ripped up.
Crouch has never been a goalscorer, and Bellamy never prolific. they bring more to the party than goals alone

 

[Saint Domingo]

can't agree with that. He took that awful Hollier team and in a couple of years their starting 11 was Reina Arbeloa Mascherano Alonso Luis Garcia Torres. He also picked up Bellamy and Crouch for buttons. The team that finished second was a world away from that Holler side.
Moyes was second to none at finding diamonds in the rough and making them very good players. So, great on a budget. But whenever he had backing, he always blew it. Benitez on the other hand, signed good players such as Alonso Mascherano and Torres and improved them significantly, so I think he will recruit better than Moyes, given we now hopefully will be able to spend

I’m hoping there’s some gems to follow in terms of recruitment. Gray is already an unbelievable signing. How much do you normally need to pay for a player of that pedigree, especially English. Imagine how much the likes of Barnes, Saka, Greenwood etc. would go for and we got him for 1.7 million. Outrageous business.

I’ve always thought his transfer dealings were decent. Yes he’s had his share of duds like all managers but he’s also bought players who have done really well for the clubs they’ve been at.

 

[Marius57]

He didn't talk about the "influence" of Brands. He said he spoke to Rafael and Brands. That could simply be Rafael telling Brands to sign Gray for him.

Carragher said the other night that he's certain that Gray was Rafas signing.

Various reports suggest that Rafael bypassed Brands in the summer.

I mean, this is a direct quote of his off the OS

"Collectively with what Marcel and the manager have said to me, everything fits, including the Club’s ambitions and goals. Everton are a very big club and the main objective is to be pushing and competing back up there in the table."

So you are lying.

 

[Theoneandonly]

If Benitez was responsible for transfers during his time at Newcastle, then you have to start to wonder if Moshiri is a masochist.

Rafael had a lot of empty promises from Ashley though didn't he.

He also said they were haggling over his 5th and 6th choice players, rather than going for ones he wanted.

Rafael had lined up deals for the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Praet, Plea, Ruben Dias, Tammy Abraham.