Rafael BenÃtez admits that his history with Liverpool prevented him from making difficult decisions during his time at Everton.
The Spaniard’s appointment last summer was controversial from the start due to his six-year association with their Merseyside rivals, but he believed he could do a job at Goodison Park.
But after 10 points from his first four Premier League games and only being denied top spot on goal difference, the form of his team, which crucially lost striker Dominic Calvert-Lewin to injury for more than four months , fell off a cliff.
BenÃtez was sacked in January after just one win in 13 league games, but the 62-year-old regrets not making more changes to the club’s structure.
However, during his brief stint at the club, the head of the medical department and leading figures in scouting and recruitment changed, while a difference of opinion saw director of football Marcel Brands depart just over a month before the Benitez’s game.
“I thought we could improve everything… in terms of staff, departments, equipment, things like that,” he told Sky Sports.
“It was a good time in terms of experience and a shame at the same time.
“You have to analyze the context. At the time Everton came in with the offer [people said] ‘you were with Liverpool, it could be a problem’ but I have many friends who are from the Blues and they knew I would give everything to do my best and make things better.
“I knew it could be difficult, but because it was red maybe I couldn’t make some decisions. We had it very clear at the beginning.
“I had a meeting with a head of one of the departments and I asked him ‘do you think everything is okay?’ He said ‘yes, everything is perfect’.
“I thought, ‘£600m has been spent, it can’t be perfect when the owners aren’t happy and the fans aren’t happy, it can’t be perfect.’
“So I realized that we had to change things on the inside, but I couldn’t do it right away because I was [a former] Red and it could be seen as ‘oh, he’s come to change our club’.
“At another club, I would have made those decisions. I did it in the past, because you are very clear that this is the way to improve, but at Everton I couldn’t do it.
