Everton are set for an emergency board meeting amid ‘growing concern’ over the club’s direction, following their recent dismal run of results.
The Toffees are currently just five points above the drop zone after enduring an eight-game winless run in the top-flight, losing six of their last seven to heap the pressure on manager Rafa Benitez.
The Spaniard had initially enjoyed a positive start to the season after taking the job in the summer – following the departure of Carlo Ancelotti – although the situation has begun to turn sour following the stark decline in form in recent weeks.
The 61-year-old was already an unpopular appointment from the outset due to his previous connections to bitter rivals, Liverpool, with it perhaps unsurprising that the Goodison faithful have begun to turn so quickly, particularly following the shambolic 4-1 Merseyside derby defeat in midweek – their heaviest loss in the fixture on home soil in 39 years.
That result only served to illustrate the widening chasm between the two rivals, with Everton still struggling to compete at the top end of the table, despite hefty, albeit questionable, investment in the playing squad in recent years.
As per the Mirror, the club are now set for an emergency board meeting to try and address their current slump, the future of Benitez believed to be ‘high on the agenda’.
The report suggests that director of football Marcel Brands has returned to the UK to take part in the discussions, with owner Farhad Moshiri also expected to travel back from the United States in the next few days, when he will then talk to Benitez before the clash with Arsenal on Monday night.
Moshiri has already defended his manager by insisting that the downturn in performances is largely due to injuries, in a text sent to talkSport presenter Jim White, although it is seemingly difficult to shy away from the mounting discontent among the club’s supporters.
The club are also seemingly paying the price for their scattergun transfer approach in recent years as well as the lack of consistency with managerial appointments, a situation that has left Benitez with an unbalanced and depleted squad that has been made even more threadbare due to injury.
