Ex-Everton ace Lucas Digne sheds light on Rafa Benitez falling out
Lucas Digne has lifted the lid on his abrupt Everton exit, criticising former Blues manager Rafa Benitez.
The French international jumped ship in January following yet another falling out between the Spaniard and one of his players.
The left-back claimed he was right in the dispute that saw him join Aston Villa, slamming Benitez’ “bad philosophy”.
He told L’Equipe: “It was a way for him to protect himself. I never asked for that. People who know me at the club know that everything was going very well. I was not the only one to leave, moreover (James Rodriguez, in particular).”
Shedding light on why he and Benitez fell out, Digne said: “In relation to the style of play, especially. I thought we had a team that could have a lot more possession, which we had the quality for. He asked me the question, I gave him my answer,” the France international stressed.
“I know my place. I felt legitimate to give him my feelings and those of the other players in the locker room. The group was unanimous. The sequel proved me right since he was fired because of the poor results. I think he also had a bad philosophy. He didn’t fit at Everton.”
Shambles
It was a devastating blow for Everton to lose Digne. He was the team’s most creative player and a strong defender, and the fan favourite will be sorely missed.
Vitaliy Mykolenko looks to be a very good long-term replacement but he is very inexperienced and might take some time to settle in.
At 22, he has bags of potential, but the Ukrainian still needs to find his feet in England. Once he does though, you can expect him to be just as good as Digne.
The Benitez era at Everton is the perfect highlight reel of everything that is and hopefully soon, was, wrong with the club.
The former Liverpool boss was only in charge for a matter of months and he has already shunned the squads’ two best players in the shape of James Rodriguez and Digne only for the club to sack him weeks later.
In other Everton news, Anthony Gordon raves over Joe Edwards’ impact at Finch Farm.
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