Rafael Benitez launches attack on Liverpool chiefs
Inter Milan manager Rafael Benitez has launched an attack on his former employers at English Premier League club Liverpool, claiming the board members at the club 'knew nothing about soccer'.
The 50-year-old did not enjoy the most cordial of relationships with the chiefs at Liverpool during the difficult campaign last season, and left the Merseyside club to take over as Inter manager this summer.
He told reporters today that, “The last year at Liverpool, I had directors who knew nothing about soccer and you couldn't talk about soccer with them. My relationship with [Inter] president Massimo Moratti is good — he is a man who knows his soccer."
Though Benitez did not point the finger at specific men on the five-man board, it is believed he was venting his frustration at the club’s owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett.
He is also believed to have been referring to chairman Martin Broughton, the British Airways chief who was brought in earlier this year to help the American duo to find a buyer for the club at the request of Liverpool’s largest creditor, the Royal Bank of
Scotland, as a condition to the bank extending the deadline on a loan.
As a result of debt, Benitez struggled in the transfer market, with Liverpool’s nine-figure debts meaning that he was not able to shell out for top players towards the end of his reign.
Benitez started his career at Anfield successfully, having led Liverpool to glory in the UEFA Champions League at the end of his first season in charge. He followed that by winning the FA Cup in 2006. After finishing in second place in the league in the
2008-09 season, Liverpool struggled under Benitez last term and could only finish in seventh place, and could not qualify for the Champions League.
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