Jarrad Branthwaite
Rafa Benitez says Everton will review plans to send Jarrad Branthwaite on loan after the teenager produced a goal-scoring performance against Chelsea.
Rafa Benitez said: “At the beginning, when I was thinking about him, I saw a young player who could train with us and be coached by us and he could improve, I wanted to see him and he was training really well, I had the conversation with my staff and over the last two weeks he has been training really well so you can see he is improving and progressing. You want to keep players with us if you think they can improve. Ok, we will see now and also with Covid around we have to be very careful, like today. We had 10-12 players unavailable. It was really important to see the young players doing well.”
Benitez’s plans were decimated by injury and illness but Everton produced one of their most disciplined and determined performances of the season to grab a deserved draw against Chelsea. Asked if it was the most significant result of his Goodison tenure,
Rafa Benitez said: “You can say that because we have so many issues with injuries, with illness, the way that the team was playing and reaction when we conceded the goal showed character. It is a great point, not just because it’s a point, but because of the way we won the point and you can see the celebration with the fans, everybody realised how important it was, and, how difficult it was at the same time.”
