By ESPNsoccernet
staff
Former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has played down Sir Alex
Ferguson's role in the success of Manchester United, insisting that
money has been the decisive factor in the club's triumphs and not
the Scot's management skills.
Benitez and Ferguson were Premier League rivals for six seasons,
with the pair's relationship in that time somewhat tempestuous.
And ahead of this weekend's clash between United and Liverpool,
Benitez has opened up old wounds by questioning Ferguson's
influence on the Red Devils' success in an interview with BBC
Radio Merseyside.
After it was put to him that Ferguson's personality has been
critical in driving United forward, Benitez responded: "No, I think
it's the money they were spending. If you analyse the transfer
record and the history ... Rooney, or Ferdinand, for example ...
£30 million for a young player or a centre back.
"Every year they [United] are very well-off. It's not just
because of the interviews or the press conferences; it's because
they had money."
Benitez and Ferguson's troubled relationship came to a head
during the 2008-09 season, when Liverpool ran United close before
the Red Devils pipped them to the Premier League title.
During that campaign, Benitez delivered a pre-prepared critique
of his opposite number, listing a series of "facts" that suggested
Ferguson influenced both the Premier Leage fixture list and choice
of match officials.
But Benitez has once again dismissed the notion that the
infamous "facts" press conference was responsible for Liverpool's
failure to beat United in the title race.
"To be fair, I didn't like it when the press was talking about
mind games because I was just focused on my team, and the things I
had to do for the team," Benitez said.
"If you say something in a press conference I can guarantee you
that it has no impact on another manager. It can happen perhaps one
in one hundred times, but the press likes to talk about mind games,
but what they don't realize is that you cannot win mind games if
you have a bad team.
"You can be the best in the press conference, but after, if you
have a bad team you will lose. It's easy to talk about mind games
when he [Ferguson] has a good team and he has won, and that was the
case."