- In his new book, Kop hero Jerzy Dudek lifts the lid on what life was really like under Spaniard who returns to Anfield as the Magpies' manager this weekend
Dudek claims in his book that poor man-management by Benitez almost drove him to violence
Jerzy Dudek was one of the stars of the Miracle of Istanbul, his wobbly legs routine helping Liverpool win the 2005 Champions League final in a penalty shoot-out after coming from 3-0 down at half-time against AC Milan.
That was manager Rafa Benitez’s finest hour with the club. But, ahead of Benitez’s return to Anfield with struggling Newcastle on Saturday, Dudek reveals in his entertaining autobiography why wanted to HIT the Spaniard... and claims he wasn’t the only one.
Jerzy Dudek: A Big Pole In Our Goal (RRP £18.99, £14.99 on sportmediashop.com — ebook also available), published Friday April 22 .
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Rafa Benitez is truly passionate about the game.
He has a great knowledge of football. He’s not a fool who comes out with theories that are all talk. His problem is that he’s not a great ‘people person’ so always encounters problems when managing a group because he is very cold and hard-faced in how he makes decisions.
He kept a distance between himself and his players – like there was an invisible wall there – but it didn’t stop him from being a genius of a coach.
After the Champions League triumph, I felt he was treating me unfairly, but that’s how Rafa operated. He did everything so coldly, almost inhumanely, because he saw things as business.
He had to protect his interests, but it was hard to be on the receiving end of it. when I returned to Melwood I had a new rival - Jose ‘Pepe’ Reina, a Spanish international, had been signed from Villarreal for a reported £6million.
I wasn’t happy and went straight in to see Benitez, who tried to calm me down.
“It doesn’t mean that I’ll let you go."
“You don’t buy a player for so much money to leave him on the bench... Should I look for a new club or will you take care of selling me?”
“Okay, let’s wait for serious offers. Then we’ll start to talk money. We’ll find a good solution for everybody.”
I loved being at Liverpool, but Benitez clearly didn’t want me.
I’d been the hero in Istanbul so could I now just be a fire-fighter who waits for the moment when a fire needs fighting?
If this was Poland, the media and fans would have demanded that I play, but I didn’t have that support in England.
Then rumours started that I was earning between £60,000-70,000 per week and Benitez wanted me off the wage bill.
I wondered if someone had made this story up to try and turn the Liverpool supporters against me. I was confused, so I spoke about what Benitez was up to.
The main interest was from FC Cologne, so I told Benitez I wanted to go there.
He said it would be a good move for me, adding: “We’ll definitely help you, we’ll do whatever it takes to make a deal.”
The negotiations started. I was in touch with Cologne regularly and they told me Benitez wouldn’t speak to them. I got more and more frustrated with him until transfer deadline day when I finally boiled over.
As soon as training had finished, I stormed over to him and ripped my gloves off in an aggressive manner. I was so angry that the lads said later the aggression was pouring out of me. I raised my voice.
The lads could see I was fuming, so all hung around to see what would happen — footballers love seeing a bit of confrontation on the training ground!
I was furious with him, absolutely fuming, and in my head I could hear a devilish voice saying ‘Punch him in the face – punch him in the face and he’ll let you go to Germany’.
To be completely honest, I genuinely considered punching Rafa in the face. Then the consequences of doing so flashed through my mind. Would he let me go? Or would it just lead to a massive media scandal? Surely I couldn’t stay if I gave him a smack?
I don’t know how, but I managed to stop myself.
Punching a Liverpool manager who had won the European Cup only a few months earlier wouldn’t have looked too good on the CV, I guess, but I was still angry.
“You said you’d help me. You said you’d do everything to get a deal through. You didn’t mean it. You promised you would help me but now I have a concrete offer you’ve not kept your word.”
As I walked off towards the dressing room, Stevie walked alongside me.
“You wanted to punch him, didn’t you, lad? You really wanted to f***ing punch him...”
I explained to the lads in the dressing room how he’d promised to help me move but was now going back on what he said.
I worked under Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid and while no such thing as an ideal coach exists you’d be close to finding it if you combined his and Rafa’s qualities.
Mourinho had more respect in the dressing room because he was a more personable character who spoke to his players as people.
It was a different philosophy, but one that helped players to accept his demands in training more than they did from Benitez.
Most of the lads didn’t like it and Stevie was one of them.
I knew he had some issues with Rafa and twice it looked like he might leave Liverpool for Chelsea.
Rafa wanted him to leave – I think he thought he could buy three or four players with the money – but, deep down, Stevie didn’t want to go.
I know that the relationship between Stevie and Rafa was never the same afterwards and because Benitez had played games with me regarding a potential transfer I was on Stevie’s side, even if I decided not to say anything publicly.
Stevie once said to me that it would have been great if Mourinho could have taken over at Anfield when Rafa left.
I think it was after my leaving, when I came to Liverpool as a Real Madrid player in the Champions League. I remember those words well, even if it was just a casual conversation.
I think Liverpool could have improved under Mourinho. Stevie and Jose had a mutual respect.
It’s a pity that Stevie didn’t come to Real.
In my opinion, that move would have extended his career at the top level for at least two years and he would have learned even more by playing for Mourinho.
Mirror
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