rafael benitez manager
Everton manager Rafa Benitez described Manchester United as “one of the top teams in the Premier League” after he watched his side get thrashed 4-0 at Old Trafford. United and Everton met in a friendly in the final pre-season game of the summer for the Reds, as goals from Mason Greenwood, Harry Maguire, Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot secured a thumping win in front of 55,000 fans. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side turned in a terrific performance, particularly in the first half, that swept the Blues aside with three goals inside the first 30 minutes. While Benitez was without regular starters in Richarlison and Dominic Calvert-Lewin among others, he admitted that United didn’t make it easy for them.
Rafa Benitez said: “Like we did in the other games we want to try and create chances, trying to move forward quickly and I think we did and we tried today, but obviously we are talking about the team that is one of the top teams in the Premier League. They are very strong physically and also they have the quality to play very precise, so I think it was not easy for us but some of the ideas that we were implementing during the pre-season is what we have to do now.”
United will train for the week, joined by new signing Jadon Sancho for the first time, before opening their Premier League campaign against Leeds United on Saturday in the lunch-time kick-off at Old Trafford in front of a capacity 75,000 crowd.
