Rafa Benitez's infamous tirade has left quite a legacy 17 years on
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 25: (THE SUN OUT) Rafael Benitez manager of Liverpool and Sir Alex Ferguson manager of Manchester United look on during the match between Liverpool FC and Manchester United at Anfield on October 25, 2009 in Liverpool, England.
Rafael Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson had a testy relationship (Image: Photo by John Cocks/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
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Rafa Benitez kept his cards close to his chest when speaking to Jamie Carragher before unleashing on Sir Alex Ferguson in his infamous "facts" rant. The former Liverpool manager left the Premier League in disbelief with his five-minute tirade directed towards the Scotsman in January of the 2008/09 season.
The Reds were seven points ahead of United at the time and were continually placed under pressure by Ferguson, who complained about the fixture schedule and claimed it negatively impacted his side.
The constant protests saw Benitez reach breaking point as the Spaniard used a press conference to take out a piece of paper to list "facts", which were incidents the manager believed had shown preferential treatment towards the United icon from officials and the sport's organisations.
In Wayne Barton's latest book, Fergie: The Lost Tapes, Carragher revealed that Benitez had informed him of his plan to apply "pressure" on referees, but the Reds legend admitted what happened in the press conference was a total shock.
"Rafa knew he was going to do that a few days before," the Sky Sports pundit said. "It wasn’t off the cuff, it was very premeditated, because that weekend United were playing Chelsea. I was doing that game for Sky Sports and had to ask Rafa if I could – he told me it was fine, and said he was going to try and put a bit of pressure on the referee.
Rafa Benitez speaks to Jamie Carragher
Jamie Carragher said he found Rafa Benitez's rant entertaining(Image: getty images)
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"I didn’t know exactly what he was planning to do, but I went home after training on Friday and watched all the managers doing their different interviews on the news. It was a shock to the system. It was just daft.
"I think he was trying to maybe pressure the referee to give decisions to Chelsea, but I didn’t think it came across that well. I’m not sure if he was advised or who he spoke to about it, but I don’t think it was the greatest idea in the world."
Alex Ferguson and Rafa Benitez in 2009
Manchester United pipped Liverpool to the Premier League title that season(Image: getty images)
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Despite not being on board with his former manager's actions, Carragher said the tense relationship Benitez had with Ferguson is an aspect of the game that's sorely missed in modern football. He explained: "I quite enjoyed it. In fact, I miss it in the game today because you haven’t really had that between Klopp and Guardiola.
"But I used to love it, if I’m being honest, with Mourinho against Rafa or Rafa against Fergie. I found it all quite entertaining. I would imagine that they would meet up and laugh about it when they saw each other at managers’ meetings."
Benitez's monologue had the opposite effect he was hoping for, as United ended up usurping Liverpool in the table and went on to win the league by four points. Carragher lamented the calculated nature of Benitez's antics, instead throwing praise on the one-liners that the likes of Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger have dished out in the past.
He detailed: "But with the Rafa thing, even though I knew what he was trying to do, it was just the way it came across, pulling out a piece of paper and saying 'facts' a few times. It wasn’t an off-the-cuff clever remark, it didn’t look great.
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"Even as an opposition player when you saw Mourinho or Ferguson or even Wenger come out with an entertaining line, even if it was against your club, you’d have to just smile and think, That was a good one, that. I never had a problem if they said things before games."