Rumour is he got too close to Jose...
RAFA BENITEZ fell out with his No2 Pako Ayesteran because
he was too matey with bitter rival Jose Mourinho.
The simmering row between the Liverpool management team boiled over
after the Premier League clash with Chelsea at Anfield two weeks
ago.
And it came to a head when Ayesteran walked out on Thursday.
Boss Benitez was furious when he saw Ayesteran hugging Mourinho and
joking after the Londoners had pinched a point through Frank
Lampard's controversial penalty.
An Anfield insider told us: "That was about the last straw for
Rafa.
"Everyone knows Mourinho is not his favourite person and when he
saw Pako showing such affection towards him he saw that as blatant
disloyalty.
"There has always been friction between Benitez and Mourinho and
Rafa did not take too kindly to one of his staff joking with the
opposition manager especially as he felt Liverpool had been
robbed of victory."
Ayesteran also had a bust-up with Benitez during the summer, when
he was interviewed for the director of football job at Athletic
Bilbao without telling the Reds' chief.
Their hostility deepened when a new fitness coach, Paco de Miguel,
was appointed pre-season. Fitness training was a big part of
Ayesteran's duties.
The end came when Ayesteran refused to appear in Liverpool's
official squad photograph last week, an act Benitez saw as a
further sign of his lack of commitment.
Our source said: "There was no going back after the photo incident.
Rafa was incensed that such a scene took place in front of the
whole squad.
"It is very sad. The two men have worked together for 11 years and
were very close."
