A former Liverpool player has blasted Rafa Benitez for how the ex-Reds boss handled him in the run-up to their Champions League closing victory in 2005 – revealing that the Spaniard also value him £200,000.
Liverpool’s well-known get versus AC Milan in Istanbul has long gone down in background as one particular of the finest sporting comebacks at any time.
The Reds turned all around a 3- deficit to defeat the Serie A facet in the most spectacular of situation, but it was a bittersweet moment for numerous Liverpool’s players who were omitted from the matchday squad for the final by Benitez.
The Spaniard, who had joined Liverpool in 2004, had taken the Merseyside outfit on an excellent run throughout the European tournament, with the Reds beating Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea on their way to the ultimate.
Still, a single ex-Liverpool star and boyhood admirer of the club explained the way Benitez handled him in the direct-up to the last as an ‘absolute disgrace’.
A former Liverpool participant has blasted ex-Reds manager Rafa Benitez, calling him a ‘coward’
Benitez guided Liverpool to a dramatic comeback victory in the 2005 Champions League last
But a person player has hit out at the manager for how he was taken care of in the create-up to the match
Talking on the Under the Cosh podcast, Stephen Warnock hit out at Benitez, right after he was withdrawn from the squad to enjoy in the last, in spite of the supervisor getting formerly named him in the 18-gentleman matchday crew.
He experienced informed his relatives to e-book aircraft tickets to Turkey, right before stating that Benitez’s assistant, Pako Ayestaran, named him to produce the tricky information that the administration experienced designed a mistake on the squad. He extra that he was no longer integrated in the group.
On the podcast, Warnock known as Benitez a ‘f***ing coward’ for not calling him up individually to supply the news.
The 42-12 months-previous, who hails from Ormskirk in Merseyside, had been named in the squads for all of Liverpool’s Champions League matches in the run-up to the last – making 4 appearances through the event.
‘It was challenging for me for the reason that I’m a Liverpool admirer, I grew up standing in the Kop and all the things. I believed “I f***ing despise this team, like what is actually likely on listed here”. I was fuming, I was so indignant,’ he mentioned on the Beneath The Cosh podcast.
‘I did not detest the workforce, I hated Rafa. I sat there thinking, “I’m so happy for the lads, but I am also p***ed off with the way items have played out”.’
The defender, a graduate of the Liverpool academy, built 67 appearances across all competitions for the Reds, prior to leaving the club in 2007 for Blackburn Rovers.
Following increasing by means of the ranks at Melwood, he would go on to be handed his Leading League debut by Benitez for the duration of a 1-1 attract from Tottenham in 2004.
Warnock additional that he experienced ‘massive regard for the Spaniard’ for supplying him his debut at his boyhood club, but also disclosed that the manager’s conclusion to omit him from the Champions League closing squad saw him pass up out on a huge sum of cash.
Stephen Warnock was omitted from the squad to perform in Istanbul and blasted Benitez for how it was handled
Warnock admitted his devastation immediately after he had skipped out on Liverpool’s open-leading bus parade
Benitez’s decision to omit Warnock experienced also charge the player an eye-watering £200,000 bonus
He said that just about every player in the 18-guy squad for the final would obtain a reward of £200,000 if Liverpool received. If they experienced lost, they would have each nonetheless pocketed a awesome £100,000.
The remaining-back flew out to Turkey to check out his side enjoy from the stands but also claimed that he was pressured to check out the trophy parade close to his home metropolis on Sky Sports.
‘I try to remember that night just going to bed and they stated, “correct, the plane leaves at this time in the early morning to go for the parade in Liverpool”. And then they modified it and explained, “all the squad who have been concerned, the 18, and their wives or girlfriends.”
‘So they place all them with each other, bearing in head they’d been on our flight coming about, the wives and girlfriends, and we flew back again separately. Missed the parade, I viewed it on Sky Sports.
‘Our flight was late coming in. The lads practically landed at Liverpool Airport, obtained ferried to the buses and then just begun the parade. I just don’t forget thinking “what a s***show”.’