Ancelotti's departure occurred suddenly and pretty frayed the nerves of both the owners of the club and the fans, who did not expect such an ambush. The club, which thought that everything was going according to plan, was left with nothing, and there was no time to make new plans. They began to work quickly.
What happened
Despite the exactingness in England, there were many applicants, many wanted to try their hand at the Premier League. Nominations were considered by director of football Marcel Brands, owner Farhad Moshiri and chairman Bill Kenwright. Olympiacos coach Vitor Pereira and ex-Watford coach Walter Mazzari were at first the main contenders for the post, but the club could not reach an agreement. When it seemed that everything was decided, new names and variants appeared. Chairman Kenwright wanted someone who understood the club, but the director wanted someone to take charge of the new project. There was no hurry. Among the favorites, there were also such names as Nuno Espirito Santo, Rafael Benitez and David Moyes. The latter is on good terms with Kenwright and showed himself well in the previous season at the head of West Ham. Rafael Benitez, who lives in England, made it immediately clear that he was impressed by working close to home, and not on the other side of the world, his last club, Dalian Yifan, forced him to move to China.
Prospects
Brighton manager Graham Potter and Lille's Christophe Galtier also seemed like interesting options. But if the former already seems to have been negotiating a contract extension, the latter was unpopular with Everton's board members. There was no certainty that he would pull the Premier League, especially without knowing English, and Lille himself was in no hurry to say goodbye to the man who won him the championship. Soon, Moyes signed a new contract with West Ham. While the leadership was waiting for news from Santa, they began to talk about Martinez. Although he was fired in 2016, he continued to love the club and express his interest. Meanwhile, the wait dragged on. It would seem that a guaranteed deal was no longer considered such, and in the Benitez camp they smelled a chance. Not only was the Portuguese ggbetcasino.org pulling, but he was not very impressed during the negotiations. But Benitez is still like that. Insiders are sure that somehow Benitez managed to win over the key figures in the club. They were well aware that there was a risk of angering the fans, but it was the Spaniard who seemed to them the most reliable candidate. The last meeting before the decision took place on a luxury yacht owned by Alisher Usmanov, partner of Farhad Maoshiri. Shortly after the negotiations, the new coach put his signature. Well, Nunu moved to Tottenham. For a year at Liverpool, Benitez will earn about seven million pounds, and even more if he wins something. Duncan Ferguson will remain on the staff, as will goaltending coach Alan Kelly. Benitez will also call on his longtime colleague Paco De Miguel, a fitness coach. Obviously, now Everton are waiting for a change. Leighton Baines, who retired from football and worked as a coach, shows promise and can get a promotion. As for Benitez, he has always been known for his obsession with work. He is a coach who can earn money and spend the night right in the office. When he worked at Napoli, Benitez lived in a hotel right next to the stadium. He made so many night walks from the stadium and back that the hotel and stadium employees gave him the keys just to stop pulling. Benitez is not the kind of coach who is friends with his charges or prefers big names. However, many of his former players continue to stay in touch: for example, Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli and Sean Longstaff from Newcastle. But most of all he impressed Roman Abramovich, it was the advice of the Russian billionaire that finally convinced Moshiri that he had to act. Roman told Farhad Moshiri that Benitez was alone of the best coaches he has worked with, the source claims. He described him very nicely as a specialist and a person. He praised how he handled the dressing room and how Chelsea played back then. The manager, he said, has big balls that have helped him cope with a lot of pressure. Whether the fans like it or not, Rafa is back at Liverpool in the blue section. Those who used to ridicule the eccentric mentor of their main rivals will now be forced to contemplate his figure from the stands. Whether this is good or not is hard to say. Benitez is a master at getting the most out of his players, and these abilities will be appreciated by the young. Others will like the unpretentiousness of the Spaniard, who, in all his time in England, did not even find out which restaurants in the city were the best, he mostly dined right in the office, thinking only about football. This is a man who never swears, and who plays cards when he wants to discharge himself.