Greg O’Keeffe has claimed on the All Together Now podcast that Rafael Benitez is both happy and excited at Everton.
Benitez was not seen as an acceptable appointment by some Everton fans back in the summer, but nobody can deny he’s getting a great tune out of his current crop of players, all while spending just £1.8 million in the transfer window.
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There may have been slight panic amongst some Everton fans over the last few days when Newcastle United’s takeover was passed through by the Premier League with Benitez previously linked with a return to Tyneside having left the club back in 2019, but he doesn’t seem to be getting mentioned on potential shortlists in the press.
In any case, O’Keeffe believes that Benitez is currently happy to be Everton manager.
“I think generally speaking he’s good, he’s pretty relaxed. He’s pretty on the level, win or lose, and I think he’s enjoying it; I just get a sense he’s enjoying it, just from the way he speaks about the club.
“I think he’s excited about what’s happening and about the start he’s had, the reaction he’s got from the players. He seems like a man who’s quite happy, to me, in his job and hopefully, that bodes really well.”
TIF Thoughts on Benitez…
Amanda Staveley even attended a home fixture against Liverpool when Benitez was the manager at Newcastle, but given he’s recently joined Everton, it would perhaps take a huge offer from PCP Capital Partners to get him out of Goodison Park.
Despite regularly being hit with the stick of being a boring manager that plays a dull brand of football during his time at Newcastle, he’s proving those pundits wrong with the Toffees, as they have already scored more goals than clubs such as Tottenham Hotspur, Leeds United and Leicester City and are also in the top seven for shots on target per 90 minutes, showing they are being careful of when they are shooting on sight and it’s seeing them reap the rewards (FBRef).
Therefore, it is no surprise that Benitez is thought to be enjoying life back on Merseyside.
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