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.

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.

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“Two weeks after the season, the Champions League final was on.

I was like, ‘f****** hell, Champions League final, I’m on the bench or playing'.

Your turn(

Stephen Warnock has admitted he grew to "hate" Rafa Benitez at Liverpool.

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.