Benitez took the reins at Everton at the start of July and has worked hard ever since to imprint his new squad with his football ideology.
Townsend, who is among the Spaniard’s first batch of signings at the Goodison Park, is thrilled to work under him for a second stint and is increasingly buying into his style of play.
According to the winger, one of Benitez’s key focuses is on making his men not get carried away whenever they get good results, and he revealed the Spaniard gave the whole squad a rallying speech before their 2-2 thriller away at Leeds earlier this season, which the Toffees thrived off.
“This [current Everton squad] are an ambitious group”, Townsend told the Daily Mail.
“Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve talked about the mentality and not getting carried away after one result.
“On the Friday before we played Leeds, the manager called us all in and said “yes, you’ve won one game but it’s only one game, don’t get carried away, Leeds are a good team”.
“He really gave us a rallying talk and the players thrived off that.”
Townsend added that Benitez has no interest in talking up any of his players and rather focuses on extracting every last bit of talent from them, a quality which he appreciates deeply.
“He’s somebody who’s not going to fluff you up and give you what you want to hear.
“He’s going to try and drag every ounce of talent that you have and try to get the best out of you.
“I’ve always appreciated that type of manager and I couldn’t wait to link up with him again to see how much he can improve me this time.”
Townsend worked with Benitez for only a few months at former club Newcastle United before their relegation to the Championship in the 2015/16 season.
The winger will be hoping his second spell under Benitez will be a longer more successful one at Everton.
