Instead, it is hard to believe Brands has had much to do with selecting any of the managers since he took the Everton job.
In fact, in the last few years, it is hard to know what the point is of employing Brands at Everton.
Having him alongside a managerial titan such as Ancelotti, and now Benitez, is riddled with contradictions.
Such coaches go their own way. Ancelotti showed that when pushing to sign James Rodriguez on £250k a week. Like many of the club’s transfers in the last six years, it proved to be an economic disaster, with the financial fair play repercussions meaning Benitez has his hands tied in the transfer market, spending just £1.5m to sign Demarai Gray, Andros Townsend and Salomon Rondon.
Benitez was clearly responsible for Everton’s shoestring budget deals last summer and will be formulating the list for January. If realistic targets cannot be delivered, it will be no surprise if tensions emerge between Benitez and his director of football.
Benitez has already made his mark on the club by replacing the popular director of medical services, Danny Donachie. As he has shown throughout his career, for Rafa complete control matters to him. Anyone who does not share his vision does not last long.
Until he can sign more quality and pick what resembles a first-choice team, Benitez will never be able to consistently realise his plans, or evolve Everton’s style. At the moment, he is reverting back to that which he most trusts with players who are incapable of regularly delivering. That is accentuating the problem.
There are certain traits Benitez demands from his players: organisation, compactness and control.
His teams are not designed to dominate the ball. They are organised in such a way to deny the opponent space and time to create chances. Whether pleasing on the eye or not, at their best Benitez teams are a nightmare to play against. Everton had a good start to this season. Even then, they were not playing dynamic front-footed football but reaping the rewards from an exceptionally high conversion rate despite creating relatively few chances.
Only two Premier League clubs have had less possession than Everton this season. During Benitez’s Newcastle spell, his side ranked 19th in the possession stats. That’s why Everton rate 1st in the number of kilometres they run per game, and Newcastle were 4th under Benitez.
There is nothing wrong with playing that way when it is done properly.
If players are standing off the opponent and failing to aggressively close down even in their own half – as was the case in Everton’s recent games against Manchester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and in the final stages of a 5-2 home loss to Watford – it looks awful; the worst of everything, neither productive nor resistant.
This worrying trend is one of the reasons why it has not taken long for the grey skies to reassemble above Goodison Park.
Moshiri took plenty of flak when he moved for Benitez. For all the growing anxieties, he needs to keep his nerve if the discontent intensifies in the next few days and weeks.
