Jermaine Jenas slams Everton boss Rafa Benitez following 3-2 Brighton defeat
Jermaine Jenas has slammed Everton boss Rafa Benitez following yesterday’s (January 2) defeat to Brighton.
The first game of 2022 saw the Toffees on the back end of a 3-2 defeat at Goodison Park.
Jenas questioned Benitez’ tactical set-up despite having a number of weeks in preparation for the match.
Speaking on Match of the Day 2, he said: “I didn’t like the formation that Everton were going up against,”
He added “I felt like the two in midfield were going to be heavily exposed and it proved to be right.
“Everything about what Everton did today just screamed they don’t know what they are doing in my opinion, you had the defence going one way and the midfield going the other.
“For Everton, 16th of December was the last game they played, they’ve had all of that time to be working on things on the training pitch and I watched a team today that were unorganised, didn’t seem to have a direction in terms of the way they play, had no quality, gaps everywhere.
“Everything that Rafa Benitez is not.”
Past it?
It is evident that Benitez is well past his prime. His days of winning major trophies are over with his new role being a stabiliser at clubs and is that what Everton are really looking for?
Gone are the days of Real Madrid and Napoli. Benitez’ last job was a high paying role in China, hardly the most productive of leagues for a master tactician.
Before that he got relegated from the Premier League during his time at Newcastle. Admittedly he did earn them promotion in emphatic style, but Benitez seems to care more about the money rather than the football as he comes to the end of his career.
Benitez is surely just the man to steady the ship at Everton before they enter a new club defining era.
The game has surpassed him, and he no longer has the capability of making a team great and developing players but he (supposedly) is great at grinding out results and setting up strong teams – something the Blues hope to see more of come the end of the season.
In other Toffees news, Everton in ‘final stages’ of Nathan Patterson signing from Rangers – Fabrizio Romano.