Agbonlahor 'can't have' Benitez at Everton and believes he only joined club due to location

Benitez managed Liverpool between 2004 and 2010, winning over the fanbase with Champions League and FA Cup victories.

The Spaniard burned some bridges at Anfield when he joined rivals Chelsea in 2012 on an interim basis, but he's since gone much further, taking the helm at Merseyside foes Everton.

His arrival was greeted with plenty of scepticism among the Toffees faithful, including a disturbing banner, but his start had silenced a number of supporters.

Everton had four wins from five to start the campaign, but the pressure has since returned with a 3-0 league defeat to Aston Villa, before getting knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Championship side QPR.

talkSPORT host Agbonlahor spent his entire career at Aston Villa between 2005-2018, only departing for a pair of brief loan spells.

And the former England international can't understand Benitez joining a local rival.

"I can't have Benitez, honestly, I was based on loyalty with Aston Villa," Agbonlahor said.

"But you look at Benitez, his family, he lives in the area, he's just chosen to go to Everton because it's local.

"That's like me finishing my career and saying, 'alright Birmingham City, you know what, can you give me £5-10,000 a week and I'll sign for you because it's an extra payday because you're local' [there's] something about Benitez I can't have."

The 61-year-old manager previously hinted the move was due to locality saying: "Everton fans know I love the city of Liverpool, my team and I have been there many years and know how to make these people happy. Now the fans are enjoying how we are playing."

That enjoyment may be short-lived though, with back-to-back defeats taking the gloss off an excellent start.

Everton may have been able to stomach the arrival of a former foe who described them as a 'small club' if it meant they could break back into the top six.

But in Agbonlahor's opinion, that's not even a possibility.

"That squad of players, and they're so light," he said. "[Dominic] Calvert-Lewin out, Richarlison out, [Jordan] Pickford, [Seamus] Coleman, but that squad they've got there without those players, there's no chance of that team finishing in the top six.

"I know they've had a good start but it can be a bit misleading the start to seasons, like last season, Everton had a good start and then they fell off."

Agbonlahor believes Benitez should be taking cup competitions more seriously in order to land some silverware, with defeat to QPR greatly reducing their chances of picking up a trophy.

He explained: "Yesterday they had a strong team, but for [Demarai] Gray to be on the bench, for [Abdoulaye] Doucoure to be on the bench, Everton should've gone all out for this competition.

"They need a trophy, they've not won a trophy in so many years now, their fans are demanding silverware, the FA Cup is going to be even harder to win than the Carabao Cup.

"So it's really strange for me, to play that line-up, and it was quite an even game as well. If you look at the highlights of the game, QPR did very well so I'm sure Everton fans will be disappointed."

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