Everton director of football Marcel Brands has promised new manager Rafael Benitez honesty and ‘integrity’ after the Spaniard was appointed at Goodison Park. Brands admitted it was ‘unfortunate’ he has worked with three different managers in his three-year spell at the club – where he recently signed a new contract – but hopes Benitez can provide stability ahead of the stadium move to Bramley-Moore Dock. The Dutchman was not pictured in any of the official club images or video following the appointment of the former Liverpool manager because he is having to quarantine having been abroad.
Marcel Brands said: “I think it’s always an advantage if you have experience of winning trophies because that’s always something special. I hope his experience will help us win the silverware we have been looking for. The level of the Premier League every year is increasing. The squad, staff and the manager should be top. His experience and the fact he’s busy 24 hours a day with football will hopefully help us to be successful in the most competitive league in world. If you look at the England match [the 2-0 Euro 2020 win over Germany] and the quality there is in the squad on the pitch and on the bench, is incredible. I think that is shown all over the Premier League.”
Brands believes one of his ‘most important strengths’ in his role as director of football is his ‘trust’ but revealed he craves stability to implement his long-term plan at Everton.
Marcel Brands continued: “Unfortunately, in the three years that I have been working for Everton, we have already had three different managers. Hopefully now with the new manager we can create [stability] for a longer period. My job is to support and to facilitate the manager, staff and football department as well as possible. Hopefully my experience will help him also. I think one of my most important strengths is that a manager can trust me, that I will always be honest. Integrity is, for me, a key word in working with people together – not only with the manager but also with the people around me. That’s what I have done in the past 25 years and that’s what I will always do – that I’m someone people can rely on and that’s what I will also do with Rafa.”
