Slating Rafa Benitez has always been one of my favourite pastimes during his spell at Liverpool and hearing others do the same never fails to raise a smile, so respect to Yossi Benayoun for his recent rant on the FSW.
Now safely at Chelsea, Benayoun has ripped into his former boss, saying “I made up my mind to leave a long time ago because of Benitez. He never treated me with the respect I deserved. If I played well, I never felt he gave me credit. When I scored, I still expected to be out of the team the next game. And when the fans wanted me to play, Benitez told me he couldn’t understand why.”
Sounds like he could step into Joe Cole’s shoes in more ways than one then really, not that any of our managers were quite as blunt with Joey, but there definitely seem to be some similarities in Benayoun’s circumstances, with him going on to say “There are many examples of him treating me badly. Last season, against Fulham and Lyon, the fans booed when I was subbed. They thought I was playing well but Benitez told me he was surprised they booed because I was not good enough. It was as if the fans’ reaction worked against me. The situation got worse afterwards. He told me I was a better player as a substitute instead of starting in the team. Then, when we played Birmingham after I hadn’t started a game for a month, he didn’t tell me I was starting until two hours before the game. He tried to destroy my confidence. You can’t treat a player like this and expect him to be happy. I felt so unhappy but, out of respect to the club, I never spoke out. The players and the people at the top of the club knew how I felt.”
I think the difference, certainly from the account Benayoun gives anyway, is that Benitez made it personal because Benayoun adds “I don’t want to speak on behalf of other players at Liverpool, but people know what happened to Albert Riera and Xabi Alonso. It was the same for me. Benitez tried to break me like he broke Riera. I was sure he wanted me to attack him in the press during the season so he could turn the fans against me, so I kept quiet. I felt he was waiting for me to make a mistake so he could use it against me.”
Of his final ‘dismissal’, Benayoun goes on to recall “Benitez pulled me to one side after training and said: ‘You will not be in the squad for this game. Thank you for your three years of service, now you can call your agent to do a deal with another club.’ That’s when Chelsea made an offer and the deal was done before he left. I knew I had to get away from Benitez. I could not risk waiting to see if he kept his job and I could not turn down such a massive club as Chelsea. It is good for Liverpool he has gone, but it was too late for me.”
I suppose the worrying thing is that either Benitez really got away with being as much of a pillock as we thought he was at Liverpool for so long, or Benayoun has a bit of a paranoid personality as a result of not getting games. If it’s the former, then it really is a shame Liverpool didn’t hold onto Benitez although if it’s the latter, it could be us that’s in trouble.
Benayoun reassures us somewhat though, stating “I’m not stupid. I know they (Chelsea) have many great players and it will be hard to play in the team every week. But what’s important for me is I know I will be treated with respect. Carlo Ancelotti is a fantastic manager and he knows how to treat players.”
I guess we’ll see as the season unfolds…
Blue is the colour
