Leon Osman: Everton will improve under Rafa Benitez
Everton were handed a footballing lesson by Watford last weekend, suffering a 5-2 loss at the hands of Claudio Ranieri’s men at Goodison Park.
It was their third Premier League defeat of the campaign and the second in a row following a 1-0 loss to West Ham United a fortnight ago at home.
Some Everton fans are starting to turn against Rafa Benitez after that humiliation, but Leon Osman is confident the team will eventually come good under the Spaniard given some of the signs he has seen so far.
The former Toffees star told BBC 5 Live Sport (as shown on their official Twitter account): “They were naive schoolboy mistakes, and when those kind of games happen, I think it’s always easy to look at the manager.
“Especially when all the gifs from Liverpool fans suddenly hit your phone saying ‘agent Rafa’s at it again.’
“It does help, and it can’t be easy, but I’m sure it must have been known that that is a possibility when Rafa was given the job. I’m not disappointed with Rafa. I’m not one of the people that said he should come to the club, but now that he is at the club, I’m right behind him.”
“I think he’s a good pair of hands, and I think he’ll improve the team.”
Definitely
Benitez’s reign got off to a perfect start, but reality is beginning to set in, and Everton fans must realise that everything will not be rosy.
It was not under Carlo Ancelotti, but the changes are there for everyone to see, and a 12-minute capitulation does not change anything.
While the Spaniard was left shell-shocked and would not have seen the result coming, there is no denying that it could have happened to anyone given the unpredictability of football.
Liverpool fans would have been glad about the outcome of the day, and they will constantly goad Everton fans and heroes whenever results do not go their way.
Benitez would have learnt a lot about his team and players as a result of that heavy defeat, and he will definitely be working day and night to prevent such from happening again.
He has proven his quality at different clubs, and not many will bet against him doing so at Goodison Park.
Fans want him to get the job done as soon as possible, though, and Benitez knew what he was getting into when he accepted this offer.
In other Everton news, Toffees ace flouted Rafa’s tactical orders vs Watford, it kickstarted disaster.
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