Gabby Agbonlahor: Everton move was wrong move for Rafa Benitez
Gabby Agbonlahor has insisted on talkSPORT that Everton should never have appointed Rafa Benitez as their manager in the summer.
The former Liverpool boss took over from Carlo Ancelotti but is now under immense pressure after losing five of the last seven Premier League games.
The Toffees host Liverpool tonight (1 December), and Agbonlahor believes the Goodison Park crowd will turn against Benitez in their numbers if the Reds end up thrashing them.
He said, as shared on their official Twitter account: “I think if they put in a fine performance, then maybe a little bit more time. I said this from the start when he signed, I wasn’t happy with it because It reminded me of Alex McLeish coming to Aston Villa having been Birmingham City manager. I wasn’t happy with it, a lot of fans weren’t happy with it.
“I didn’t think it would work anyway. The first five-six games, he was still getting results. Everton fans were okay with it, but I knew once they had some bad results Everton fans are going to turn because of the success he had at Liverpool.
“They are going to use that as an excuse to turn against him. So if they lose, and they lose in a bad way at Goodison Park, it is going to be toxic.”
Nail in the coffin?
Everton fans want Rafa gone right away, and a couple of them will be hoping things go very bad against Jurgen Klopp’s men so that he can get fired.
Taking up the job was a daunting task given his past with Liverpool, but he was willing to take up this challenge and now has to face the music.
The Anfield side have averaged three goals in the Premier League this season, and stopping them is almost impossible.
With Yerry Mina out, the Everton defence is not as strong as it used to be, and the absence of Dominic Calvert-Lewin weakens their attack.
Nothing seems to be working in the Toffees’ favour right now, and Benitez could soon be out of the club if nothing changes.
He will need a miracle tonight to get a result and performance that will impress the fuming fans.
Nothing can be ruled out, though, and should he manage to surprise everyone, he could just start worming his way into the hearts of the fans again.
In other Everton news, the Toffees are plotting January loan-to-buy bid for centre-mid hailed by Jack Grealish last month.
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