It’s been a major bone of contention throughout Farhad Moshiri’s Everton tenure; A baffling, almost stubborn reluctance to learn from past mistakes.
When Carlo Ancelotti jumped ship to Real Madrid, many at Goodison Park – including sporting director Marcel Brands – wanted a young, up-and-coming tactician with fresh, exciting ideas (Liverpool Echo).
A Graham Potter, according to reports, was Brands’ pick.
Moshiri, ever the dreamer, opted instead for another 60-something manager. One with a far more impressive CV than Potter but someone who arguably hit his peak when Alessandro Pistone, Marcus Bent and James Beattie were still Everton players.
Even if it wasn’t for his Anfield past, the appointment of Rafa Benitez still would have looked decidedly misplaced.
And how many times, since Moshiri became the club’s majority shareholder in 2016, have Everton overpaid for a player who would not come close to living up to their frankly absurd price-tags?
A reminder; Yannick Bolasie, Moise Kean, Davy Klaassen, Nikola Vlasic, Alex Iwobi, Jean-Philippe Gbamin, Fabian Delph, Cenk Tosun, Theo Walcott, Henry Onyekuru and Morgan Schneiderlin set Everton back around £230 million.
Few will have much sympathy for Benitez. But even the most ardent of Toffees supporters would have to admit that the Spaniard was dealt a rather difficult hand.
Especially when you consider that his attempts to revitalise a seriously unbalanced squad were constantly undermined by Financial Fair Play concerns.
Who will replace Rafael Benitez at Farhad Moshiri’s Everton?
Benitez was put out of his misery on Sunday. His exit came just 24 hours after Everton produced performance which made the Premier League’s bottom team look like world-beaters.
The search for his successor begins amid speculation about Wayne Rooney, Rudi Garcia, Frank Lampard and even the man Moshiri sacked six years ago.
According to The Athletic, Lucien Favre is also back on Everton’s radar.
The former Borussia Dortmund, Monchengladbach and Hertha Berlin coach had been identified as a potential replacement for Roberto Martinez back in 2016 too.
But Moshiri dillied, dallied and eventually missed out on a man who would guide unfancied Nice into the Champions League less than 12 months later.
As far the man who took the Everton job instead? Well let’s just say it set the tone for the rest of the Moshiri era.
“I know that I was on Everton’s shortlist,” Favre admitted at the time, via The Mirror. “But I didn’t want to wait any more.”
Six years on, Moshiri is once again searching high and low for a new manager. And Favre is once again on the lookout for a new club.
But Everton beware; Favre is not going to wait around forever.
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