By Andrew Warshaw
July 1 – Everton and Tottenham Hotspur, two of the Premier League’s supposed heavyweight clubs who seriously under-performed last season, have both ended their search for a new manager to try and revive their respective fortunes.
In a highly controversial move, Everton have appointed former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez to succeed Real Madrid-bound Carlo Ancelloti while Spurs – after a 10-week search – have brought in ex-Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo as head coach to replace Jose Mourinho.
The recruitment of the widely travelled Benitez is one of the most intriguing managerial appointments of recent years, and certainly the most contentious in Everton’s history.
Benitez has agreed a three-year contract and whilst his pedigree is not in doubt, the Spaniard is the first person to manage both Everton and Liverpool for over a century and will be under more pressure to succeed than any time in his illustrious career given the fierce rivalry between the two clubs.
Back in 2007 when in charge at Anfield, Benitez was quoted as describing Everton as a “small club”, comments the blue half of the city have never forgotten.
He has since apologised, claiming his words were misconstrued and that he was referring to what he believed was a ‘small team’ mentality rather than Everton as a club. But he nevertheless faces the mother of all challenges winning over the Everton faithful, illustrated by the fact that banners were hung outside their Goodison Park stadium protesting Everton’s move for him.
Farhad Moshiri, Everton’s major shareholder, ignored the dissenting voices to pursue Benitez, who won the Champions League and FA Cup during his six-year Liverpool reign and will be expected to improve on Everton’s disappointing 10th-place finish last season.
“Rafa impressed us greatly with his knowledge and experience but, above all, the passion and hunger he showed to join our club,” Moshiri said. “To put it simply, we need to be competing at the top end of the league and to be winning trophies. Rafa is a proven winner with huge experience in coaching internationally and we have secured the best man to achieve that for us.”
Everton will be Benitez’s fourth Premier League club, having previously also managed Chelsea and Newcastle. He has also been at Napoli, Valencia, Inter Milan and Real Madrid plus a spell in China.
Down in north London, meanwhile, Tottenham’s protracted and at times farcical search for Mourinho’s replacement finally came to an end with the announcement of Espirito Santo – but only on a two-year deal.
Having reportedly approached a succession of other well-documented names, the club settled on the Portuguese on the apparent recommendation of incoming managing director Fabio Paratici.
Espirito Santo impressively steered Wolves to back-to-back seventh place finishes in the Premier League after getting them promoted but departed after last season when they slipped to 13th. He joins Spurs with a huge in-tray following the club’s underwhelming 17-month spell under Mourinho who in many ways left them in a far worse state than when he arrived.
A place in the inaugural Conference League, achieved under interim coach Ryan Mason following Mourinho’s sacking in April, was the club’s “reward” for a seventh-place finish but was greeted with derision by many Spurs fans who had got used to Champions League qualification when Mauricio Pochettino was in charge.
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy, reportedly thwarted by a number of other managerial candidates, thanked supporters for their patience and pledged the new man would “revert back to our core DNA of playing attacking, entertaining football”.
But it’s a tough ask. Among Espirito Santo’s tasks will be overhauling an unbalanced squad, eliminating the negativity under Mourinho and restoring harmony and confidence – whether or not Harry Kane remains.
And that’s just for starters.
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