Rafael Benitez is a Liverpool legend.
The Spaniard may not have been as successful as the likes of Jurgen Klopp, Bill Shankly or Bob Paisley, but he has a special place in the Reds’ history.
Indeed, Benitez masterminded the famous 2005 Champions League final win, and he’s still beloved on Merseyside to this day.
However, not everybody is a huge Benitez fan.
Speaking on Undr The Cosh, Stephen Warnock has been discussing his relationship with Benitez at Liverpool, and he says that he really didn’t like the manager at the time as he left him out of the 2005 Champions League final squad at the last minute
Stephen Warnock hated Rafa Benitez
Warnock spoke about his time at Liverpool under Benitez after being left out of the Champions League squad.
“It was hard for me, I was a Liverpool fan I grew up standing on the Kop and everything and I was thinking ‘I hate this team and what’s going on here.’ I was fuming. I didn’t hate the team I hated Rafa. I was so happy for the lads, but the way things had played out. If you’ve ever played or not played in a final you don’t feel a part of it,” Warnock said.
Rafa Benitez is like marmite
This isn’t the first time we’ve heard something like this about Benitez at Liverpool.
Robbie Keane famously didn’t get on with the Spaniard during his time at Anfield due to his personality, but others thrived under that environment.
Steven Gerrard has gone on the record to state that he feels Benitez’s cold approach actually helped him improve, while many of Liverpool’s players around that time played their best football under Benitez.
Benitez’s approach was certainly unique, and it clearly didn’t rub everyone up the right way.
Warnock would leave Liverpool for Blackburn Rovers for £2m a short time after this incident.