TalkSport pundit Kevin Hatchard has expressed his concern for Everton and head coach Rafael Benitez following their display against Watford this past weekend.
The Toffees suffered something of a humbling performance at home against the Hornets at the weekend. Despite taking the lead twice, a chaotic final 15 minutes saw them ship four goals and eventually lose the game 5-2, a result even more shocking when you consider that Watford had only scored seven league goals before the game at Goodison.
And speaking about the performance on the TalkSport Gameday podcast (25:08), Hatchard dropped a rather worrying verdict on what he saw from Everton on the day, saying that it was something that shouldn’t have happened under the eyes of someone like Benitez, someone who is renowned for his discipline and structure when it comes to how his teams set up:
“The one thing that’s really alarming I think for Rafa Benitez is that he prizes shape above everything. You know, on the training ground, he works for hours and hours and hours to make sure, he will physically move players on the training, say ‘you have to be here, at this position’.
“They were all over the place. I mean, I can’t recall too many looser performances from a Rafa Benitez team.
“So he’s got a lot to work on. Let’s not forget, Carlo Ancelotti, one of the great European coaches of recent times, how many home defeats did he suffer? So this is a group of players that still needs a lot of work and still needs to find some kind of consistency from week to week.”
TIF Thoughts on Kevin Hatchard’s comments about Rafael Benitez and Everton’s display
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Whilst Saturday certainly wasn’t a good day at the office for the Toffees, it should only really become a concern if it happens on a regular basis.
Up until now Everton have been relatively strong defensively in the league, only conceding more than one goal twice so far this season, so it’s clear to see that Benitez’s style has had some good effect on the side, and as a result it has put them high up the table, currently sitting just three points outside of the Champions League spots.
So it’s not like a lack of shape, discipline or defensive stability is something that has totally escaped them this season.
As long as they can carry on that form throughout the rest of the campaign then that should give them enough of a platform to be challenging near the European places come the business end of the campaign.
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