Gary Neville believes it remains an 'absolute mystery' how Everton's 2021/22 season went so badly wrong while Rafa Benitez was at helm.
The Spaniard enjoyed a strong start to life as Blues boss, winning four of the opening six league fixtures before things soon took a turn for the worse as the club's next top-flight victory did not arrive until December 6 against Arsenal. Benitez was eventually sacked by the club in January after failing to turn around the side's poor form, with Frank Lampard appointed to steady the ship.
Optimistic over the Toffees' chances of enjoying a strong campaign before a ball had been kicked, Neville backed Everton to be overachievers for 2021/22 - a prediction which certainly did not come true. Reflecting on his pre-season thoughts of how the Blues would fare under Benitez, the Sky Sports pundit remains in disbelief over the rapid rate at which the club's season spiralled out of control.
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"I had them down as my overachievers. I just thought Benitez is such a stable and steady performer that he would get them into eighth, where Wolves and West Ham are, I thought he would do that to them. He is not the greatest to watch at times but he usually gets a group of players organised and together. I couldn't believe how badly it went. United and Everton are the mystery of the season for me, absolute mystery," he told the Overlap.
"Benitez has that access to agents to get players in and I thought he could do it on his own. He had been at Newcastle where there was a toxic atmosphere and I thought he was perfect to deal with a difficult club like Everton. I knew it would go badly at one point, but I never thought it would happen so quickly."
Highlighting one moment in particular that stood out as a low point, Neville pointed to Everton's decision to offload Lucas Digne after a relationship breakdown with Benitez - only then to part company with the Blues' boss a matter of days later.
"That was a shocker," admitted Neville. "Selling him and then sacking Benitez was unbelievable. That just told you how bad it was. They sold Digne, sacked the manager three days later and had got rid of one of your best players."
