Rafa Benitez and Lucas Digne had a row in Spanish ahead of Everton v Arsenal
Rafa Benitez and Lucas Digne had a disagreement in Spanish over tactics ahead of the Everton clash against Arsenal on Monday (December 6), according to Patrick Boyland.
Beating Arsenal 2-1 on Monday did not seem as sweet as usually would for a fan of the Merseyside outfit.
The Toffees won their first Premier League game in over two months and that lifted the pressure off Benitez.
However, the biggest talking point from the game was his decision to omit Digne to play Ben Godfrey out of position at left-back.
After the game, the Spaniard stated that the France international was not injured, but instead dropped for Godfrey, a centre-back by trade.
Per a recent report by The Athletic’s Boyland, “It is understood that Digne was not injured for the match, nor was he “unavailable” in any operative sense of the word.
“Any suggestion that he was left out even as a temporary precaution has been flatly rejected. Instead, he was omitted after his already fractious relationship with Benitez took another turn for the worse.
“The pair have rarely seen eye to eye, particularly on tactical matters, and tensions boiled over in the build-up to the Arsenal game.
“It is understood they had a disagreement in Spanish (the language in which they often communicate) ahead of the all-important match, which resulted in Digne being excluded altogether from Monday’s group.”
Bad look
Seeing the manager fall out with one of the best players in the team is a bad look and is unlikely to benefit anyone.
The Frenchman has gone from being one of the most potent chance creators in this side to someone who plays a minimal impact in the final third.
It would thus come as no surprise that the Toffees appear to be weakened in attack than they were under Carlo Ancelotti.
Benitez needs to find a way to get his best players onside and getting into spats with them is not the right thing to do.
He’s handled dressing rooms with bigger egos than the ones at Goodison Park so this is clearly not a new thing for him.
We’re not suggesting it will happen, but there’s a good chance that if he keeps doing this, he risks losing the dressing room which usually results in the manager losing their job as well.
In other Everton news, Toffees-linked ‘Magnificent’ striker is open to leaving in January
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