A former Liverpool player has criticized Rafa Benitez for the way the ex-Reds boss treated him in the build-up to the Reds’ Champions League final victory in 2005, revealing the Spaniard also cost him £200,000.
Liverpool’s famous comeback win against AC Milan in Istanbul has gone down in history as one of the greatest sporting comebacks ever.
The Reds overturned a 3-0 deficit to beat the Serie A side in the most dramatic of circumstances, but it was a bittersweet moment for several Liverpool players who were left out of the matchday squad for the final by Benitez.
The Spaniard, who had joined Liverpool in 2004, had put Liverpool on an excellent run in the European tournament, with the Reds beating Bayer Leverkusen, Juventus and Chelsea on their way to the final.
But for an ex-Liverpool star and boyhood fan of the club, the way Benitez treated him in the build-up to the final was an ‘absolute disgrace’.
A former Liverpool player has criticized ex-Reds boss Rafa Benitez, calling him a ‘coward’
Benitez guided Liverpool to a dramatic comeback victory in the 2005 Champions League final
But one player has criticized the manager for the way he was treated in the build-up to the match
Speaking about the Under the Cosh podcastStephen Warnock hit out at Benitez after being withdrawn from the squad to play in the final despite the manager previously naming him in the 18-man matchday squad.
He had told his family to book flights to Turkey before Pako Ayestaran called him to break the hard news that the management had made a mistake in the squad and he had not been included in the squad. Warnock then called Benitez a ‘f****** coward’ on the podcast for not calling him personally.
The 42-year-old, from Ormskirk in Merseyside, was included in the squads for all of Liverpool’s Champions League matches in the run-up to the final and made four appearances during the tournament.
‘It was difficult for me because I’m a Liverpool fan, I grew up on the Kop and everything. I was like, “I fucking hate this team, like what’s going on here.” I was furious, I was so angry,” he said on the radio Under The Cosh podcast.
‘I didn’t hate the team, I hated Rafa. I sat there thinking, ‘I’m so happy for the boys, but I’m also devastated by the way things turned out.’
The defender, a Liverpool academy graduate, made 67 appearances in all competitions for the Reds before leaving the club for Blackburn Rovers in 2007.
After rising through the ranks at Melwood, he would be handed his Premier League debut by Benitez in a 1-1 draw against Tottenham in 2004.
Warnock added that he had ‘great respect for the Spaniard’ for giving him his debut for his boyhood club, but also revealed that the manager’s decision to leave him out of the Champions League final left him lost a huge amount of money.
Stephen Warnock was left out of the squad to play in Istanbul and slammed Benitez for the way it was handled
Warnock admitted his devastation after missing Liverpool’s open-top bus parade
Benitez’s decision to omit Warnock had also cost the player an eye-watering £200,000 bonus
He stated that every player in the 18-man squad for the final would receive a £200,000 bonus if Liverpool won. If they had lost, they would still have had a cool £100,000 in their pockets each.
The left-back flew out to watch his side play, but also claimed he was forced to watch the trophy parade around his home city on Sky Sports.
‘I remember I was just going to bed that night and they said, “Okay, the plane leaves at this time in the morning to go to the parade in Liverpool.” And then they changed it and said, “the whole team involved, the 18 and their wives or girlfriends.”
“So they put them all together, taking into account that they had been on our flight, the wives and girlfriends, and we flew back separately. I missed the parade, I watched it on Sky Sports.
‘Our flight arrived late. The boys literally landed at Liverpool airport, were ferried to the buses and then just started the parade. I remember thinking ‘what if*** show?’