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End of story.". Hardly the sort of character you can see embracing the Spaniards totalitarian style. His reign at the club was a short one and he was dismissed midway through the 201011 season. In March 1994, he became assistant manager to Vicente del Bosque with the senior Real Madrid team before returning to coach Real Madrid B for the 199495 season. [40], Prior to Bentez's final season at Liverpool, Xabi Alonso, one of the key members of Bentez's squad, was sold to Real Madrid following a lengthy pursuit in a deal reportedly worth 30million. YOU would have got good odds on someone called Fofana saving Graham Potter from more death threats. Having just witnessed arguably the most stunning comeback in the competition's history, when Rafa Benitez's unfancied side had fought back from 3-0 down to a world-class AC Milan outfit to win on . "Once you reached that euphoria that satisfaction and happiness, you enjoy the moment and see everything around you, all the red with so many people with so much passion. Istanbul's districts extend far from the city center along the full length of the Bosphorus (with the Black Sea at top and the Sea of Marmara at bottom). And Babel has since described his relationship with his first Reds manager as weird, repeating pointing the finger of blame at Benitez for the fact he was unable to push on on Merseyside. You didnt mean it., I cannot let you go on loan. It was a privilege for me to play for such a great club in front of great fans. Get all the latest Liverpool breaking news, team news, transfer rumours, injury updates plus analysis of what's next for the Reds. That was why, when Pako Ayestarn (his assistant) went, they had a parting of the ways and things started to go downhill a bit.". Rafa Benitez. Liverpool also won the FA Cup beating both Manchester United and Chelsea, as well as a thrilling 53 win against Luton Town in the third round, on the way to the final against West Ham United. [6], In 1986, at the age of 26, Bentez returned to Real Madrid to join the club's coaching staff. The next couple of days were a couple of the hardest days of my life. If its the way I play or the way I am, fine. 20th Sep 2022, 7:39am. He said, "I was hoping for a sofa [a defender] and they've brought me a lamp [Fabin Canobbio]," in reference to the positions he wanted to be strengthened. That's when Chelsea made an offer and the deal was done before Benitez left. [47] It was suggested that this Liverpool team was missing Bentez's characteristic defensive rigidity[48] despite the fact that only Manchester United and Chelsea conceded fewer goals than Liverpool, and lacked the necessary depth to cope with injuries to key players such as Gerrard and Fernando Torres while Bentez's decision making was called into question. This view was later supported by Sir Alex Ferguson. [100], Bentez announced that he would resign at the end of the 201415 season. He also confirmed that he would be leaving the club at the end of the season. [56] Bentez's first Serie A game in charge was on 31 August 2010 in a 00 draw away to Bologna in the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. He won his first league game in charge, beating Southampton 31. [119] On 23 January 2021, Bentez left the club by mutual consent, citing concerns over the health and wellbeing of his family due to the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for his departure. Benitez spent six years as Liverpool manager, winning the Champions League in 2005 and reaching the final of the competition in 2007. Despite their best efforts, the Toon were beaten by six minutes worth of Manchester United attack. [24][140], Bentez is a firm believer in squad rotation and zonal marking. Again, it was another case of Benitez controversially deciding a players time at Liverpool were up, with reputation and price-tag making no difference to his decision. History repeated itself in the final as they then went on to lift the trophy after a penalty shoot-out, following a dramatic 33 draw. After his success with the U19s, Bentez then succeeded Garca Remn at the start of the 199394 season. The no-nonsense former Liverpool boss might have been criticised by former players for not being the warmest of man-managers, but in the past he has tended to get results. [53] On 15 June 2010, Bentez was presented to the Italian media for the first time after signing a two-year deal. It was never really explained to me. They stopped me from being free. Ill get 800,000, great, but I cant spend it today and Ill be five months without an experienced reserve goalkeeper. The manager understood my decision., Meanwhile, Benitez told his player: "When he is born, you call me and we decide. The Czech Republic international had had suspicions that he wasnt part of Benitezs long-term plans, and reports at the time suggested he had threatened to walk out of the team hotel after finding out he had been benched for the 2005 League Cup final. Steven Gerrard, who was linked with a big money move to Chelsea, needed to be convinced . If I leave the Reds, I would like to play in a team which would be at least at the same level as Liverpool in regard to playing in European competitions. I dont think people in England ever saw the best of me. Trump was so enraged at mockery by late night host Jimmy Kimmel he tried to get him censored, report says Don't do or say anything. The French hit-man was booked for pulling his shirt over . The euphoria of lifting the European Cup 15 years ago today is a feeling Rafael Benitez will never forget. LIVE Transfer Talk: Man United monitoring Lewandowski's future. Arrested after drunkenly refusing to leave a bar on the same training camp that saw Bellamy assault Riise, he admitted in his autobiography that he once came close to hitting Benitez after the Spaniard blocked him from leaving the club for Koln despite his game-time being limited. It was suggested that Bentez's position was now under serious threat. [60] Despite criticism, Bentez guided Inter to win the FIFA Club World Cup in December 2010. Bentez made a number of suggestions during Mourinho's tenure as manager that Roman Abramovich's money had bought Chelsea's success, and the pair refused to shake hands after some matches (although Mourinho declared the feud to be over after a league game in 2006). The negotiations started. Rafa Benitez spent six years at Liverpool before a shorter stint as Everton manager (PA) Rafa Benitez has admitted that he has split loyalties ahead of the Merseyside derby, refusing to. At first, I thought maybe he was going actually coming to justify his decision to leave me out. Making 52 appearances in 2006/07, that dropped to 25 in 2007/08 while he was frozen out in 2008/09 altogether, featuring just four times and making only two Premier League starts before being sent on loan to Portsmouth. But to this day I still think I should have stayed. Bentez left the club "by mutual consent" on 3 June 2010[50] with a reported 6million pay-off;[51] the media speculated that this was because the team had finished seventh in the Premier League, missing out on the Champions League, and suffered poor results, including the defeat by Wigan Athletic. [29], Bentez's spending was, eventually, significant, breaking Liverpool's transfer record when signing Spanish striker Fernando Torres from Atltico Madrid as well as signing Ryan Babel, Yossi Benayoun, Lucas Leiva and Andriy Voronin. Benitez picked up 13 points from his nine Premier League matches in charge on Everton's own turf - the same amount of points as Lampard has picked up. Bentez stands by his tactic, pointing out that teams who man-mark concede just as many, if not more, goals from set pieces. Some things are more important than football and I had the full support of the club. He moved away from Real Madrid in 1995, but management spells at Real . The former Reds captain says in his new autobiography that tactically the Spaniard was . In 2004, another La Liga league title and a UEFA Cup victory were added building on the foundation laid by Hctor Cper who had taken Valencia to two consecutive Champions League finals; in 2000 against Real Madrid, and in 2001 against Bayern Munich. I told Benitez I would go if he wanted, but he told me I was important and he would give me a new contract, which I signed. I've got two or three possibilities already and things are starting to move behind the scenes.". "It was such a bad season for me. Benitez just shook his head Id got the sack, plain and simple. The lads could see I was fuming so all hung around to see what would happen. The left-backs standards had arguably slipped in his final two seasons with Liverpool as he fought with Fabio Aurelio for a starting role with only the Brazilians injury record ensuring he didnt retain the position permanently. [ VIDEO: PST unfiltered - EURO 2020 impressions; Sancho to Man United? ] I tried to convince him to change his mind: What have you got to lose? For some reason it was important that I reach 350 matches and an exact average of fifty per season. Fifteen years after Liverpool beat AC Milan in the Champions League final, I will be sent that message a lot today. Shortly after his departure from Anfield, Bentez made a 96,000 donation to the Hillsborough Family Support Group. Joshua Askew -. [139] Bentez often plays key players in unorthodox positions to suit a formation notably converting both Steven Gerrard (in the 200506 season) and Dirk Kuyt into right-wingers. 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The man management was down to his staff. [113], In May 2017, Newcastle won the 201617 EFL Championship and made an immediate return to the Premier League after one season in the Championship. I have no problem talking to people. "In my head it's as if I've already left. I'm a total fan of his tactical methods, and have read a lot about it. ", "Rafael Benitez's Istanbul memories | Tactics, Gerrard switch and trophy lift", "Motion expert says Garcia's shot did cross the line", "Top 20 sporting moments of the decade: Liverpool's 'Miracle of Istanbul', "Benitez Uncovered: Inside The Dressing Room On That Amazing Night In Istanbul", "Rafa's Boys: How Successful Was Benitez in the Transfer Market? [134] Bentez's ruthlessness can also be seen in the way he disposed of all but Gerrard and Jamie Carragher from his Champions League winning squad within four seasons, with penalty shoot-out hero Jerzy Dudek made back-up goalkeeper the very season after the European triumph. However, as the labour dragged on, the Reds boss had a decision to make as he went ahead without the midfielder and ultimately snubbed Alonsos offer to fly out on the day of the game. [107][108] He suffered defeat in his first match in charge, losing 10 away to eventual champions Leicester City on 14 March. The thinking fan's Chelsea blog. [57] His first league win as manager came on 11 September 2010, a 21 win against Udinese at the San Siro. Katie Smith, who is studying at Leeds University, was crowned as the 2017 winner of the David Welch Student Sportswriter of the Year at the Sports Journalists Association awards in London on Monday night.