'Something doesn't feel right': Gary Neville makes claim about Everton fans

By Giuseppe Labellarte

Gary Neville has claimed that Everton boss Rafa Benitez will deliver the kind of football which will please the Toffees fans.

However, the Sky Sports pundit also reckons it’s a “bitter pill to swallow” for Everton fans given Benitez’s Liverpool links.

Everton ran out 3-1 winners over Southampton in their Premier League opener at the weekend.

The Toffees fell behind at Goodison Park but turned things round with three second-half goals.

Neville thinks Everton’s style should be “up and at them, get the ball forward” like it was under David Moyes and back in the 1980s.

“If you go to Goodison Park, they don’t want 100 or so passes at the back before a goal,” he told Sky Sports.

“They do want crosses, pressure building, set-pieces, they want the game to be quicker. I think Rafa will play that way.

“But, something doesn’t feel right because of the connection with Liverpool and Rafa’s words and love for Liverpool is so strong, the adulation he still gets from Liverpool fans for what he achieved.

“It’s a bitter pill to swallow [for Everton fans] – that a manager so suited to them has to be so connected to their major and bitter rivals.

“So, there’s something about it I don’t like, but I’ve got no doubts, Rafa has so much experience, he’ll probably love the idea of it, in some ways.”