'Liverpool manager's man management was horrendous – he didn't speak to anyone'

Rafa Benitez had “zero” man-management skills and barely spoke to his players, according to a former Liverpool star.

The Spaniard remains an idol on the red half of Merseyside for his six-year spell at Anfield, which included Champions League and FA Cup glory. He later returned to the Premier League for spells with Chelsea, Newcastle and, controversially, Everton.

Benitez has come in for heavy criticism from one of his former players, Stephen Warnock, who made his Reds debut under the former Valencia boss. Warnock, now a Sky Sports pundit, has recalled how Benitez’s treatment of certain players, including himself, left him raging.

“He didn’t speak to anyone. His man-management was horrendous, absolutely horrendous,” said Warnock on the Undr The Cosh podcast. “I’ve said this to loads of people, [he’s] tactically brilliant. Man-management? Zero. Absolutely no idea how to speak to anyone.”

One particular incident ahead of the 2005 Champions League final summed up the Spaniard's lack of people skills, according to Warnock. He continued: “Istanbul was an absolute disgrace, how he treated me and a few of the other lads, but he didn’t care.

“Two weeks after the season, the Champions League final was on. So we were in for two weeks building up to that. Then, two days before, we were travelling over to Istanbul.

“A squad list of 18 would go up after training, your first 11 and seven subs. You knew if you were either playing or on the bench.

“I remember running in after the last training session and thinking, ‘please be in’. I looked on the squad list and my name was on it. I was like, ‘f****** hell, Champions League final, I’m on the bench or playing'.

“I rang the family and told them to get the plane tickets booked. I was at home getting everything ready, then my phone goes and it’s Pako Ayestaran, who was the number two at the time. He goes, ‘we’ve make a mistake with the squad, you’re not in it’. I was like ‘what?’”

Warnock recalled another occasion when he’d been left off the squad list and went for a night out as a result, only to be told the next morning he was due to be starting. “I’d had a good night out, shots, the lot,” he recalled.

“I was fuming. I told him [about the night out] and he said I was on the bench, but I came on for the last 20 minutes. Who does that? Who puts you in that position?

“He respected the fact I told him and he realised he had f***** up. But with then the Istanbul one, he didn’t have the b******* to ring me. I thought, ‘you f****** coward’, I was fuming.”

Warnock didn’t just miss out on a place in the squad, which famous defeated AC Milan on penalties having trailed 3-0 at half-time, but also a massive payday as every player in the 18 pocketed a £200,000 bonus.

“It was hard for me because I’m a Liverpool fan who grew up standing on the Kop,” added Warnock. “I was fuming, I was so angry. I didn’t hate the team, I hated Rafa. I was so happy for the lads but I was also p***** off with the way things had played out.”