Benitez during his infamous 'facts' rant towards Sir Alex Ferguson
Steven Gerrard's latest book is being serialized by sportsmail. There Steven Gerrard discussed the fateful event which occurred during the 2009 premier league title race.
With Liverpool at the top of the table, then Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez decided he had to reveal some 'facts' in a press conference. Gerrard tells of Fergie's reaction to the presser, his own reaction and how Rafa Benitez dealt with the fallout.
Below is the narration of events straight from Gerrard's mouth:
"One time he did suffer a meltdown involving Manchester United and Sir Alex Ferguson. I went home from training that Friday lunchtime and switched on the TV. "
"Rafa sat down with his usual half-smile. It looked likely to be a normal press conference, but then he reached into his pocket for a piece of paper."
"He spread it out on the table and began to read out one 'fact' after another. Rafa kept saying 'fact... fact... fact...' and I could not believe what I was hearing. I was grabbing the couch, digging my fingers into the arms, feeling embarrassed for him."
"Rafa started by saying that maybe Manchester United 'are nervous because we are at the top of the table'. "
"I thought: 'Uh oh, what's happening here?'It seemed so unlike Rafa to talk in such an emotional way. You could see the anger in him. 'I want to talk about facts,' Rafa said. 'I want to be clear, I do not want to play mind games too early, although they seem to want to start. But I have seen some facts.'
"Rafa went off on a ramble about how Manchester United and 'Mr Ferguson' had not been properly punished for various misdemeanours. He listed dates and incidents and concluded that 'Mr Ferguson is the only manager in the league that cannot be punished for these things'."
"He then railed against the fixture list and the timing of matches being skewed in United's favour. Rafa was sounding muddled and bitter and paranoid. He was humiliating himself."
"It was a disaster. I couldn't understand Rafa's thinking in wanting to take on Ferguson, a master of mind games, when we were sitting so calmly on top of the table early into a new year."
"When I met up with England all the Manchester United players told me Fergie was just laughing at Rafa, saying: 'I've got him. I've got him.'
"Rafa made a lot of decisions with himself in mind. He wanted power and control. I didn't like it. Fighting with the board, other managers and the press wasn't the Liverpool way."
"Rafa had fallen out with the owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. We were all starting to doubt them but Rafa talked to the press about problems with his new contract."
"Rafa broke the focus of the team. We got asked about it all the time in the media: 'What's all that about? Why has he done that?' We never found out because Rafa didn't say a word to us."
"I think he felt awkward because he knew it backfired. That weekend Manchester United hammered Chelsea 3–0. We drew 0–0 at Stoke."
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