Former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez had another one of his infamous so-called "rants" yesterday as he responded to Roy Hodgson's derogatory comments about the Spaniard's management whilst he was in charge at Anfield.
Like his "rant" against Sir Alex Ferguson in January 2009 Rafa was spot on in his accusations. That, as the Liverpool legend would put it, is a fact.
After Liverpool's shocking start to the season that has included embarrassing defeats at home to Northampton Town and Blackpool and has also seen us collect only eleven points from ten Premier League games, Roy Hodgson has tried to divert some of the pressure away from himself by blaming Benitez for leaving the 63-year old with a squad full of "expensive failures" to work with.
Benitez rightly retorted Hodgson regarding the squad that the former Inter manager has inherited from the current Inter boss.
He said, "With £10m net spending, I left that squad with £300m value (and) 13 internationals."
While Hodgson certainly has been left with some players in the squad who are not good enough to wear the Liverpool shirt, the overall quality of the players is evident to see.
Rafa's squad that finished last season in seventh place contained a record number of internationals travelling to the World Cup from a single club side. They may not have performed during the previous season, however their quality cannot be doubted, either by Hodgson or any of Benitez's other retractors.
All of this was also achieved with very little money. Benitez's claim of having a net spend of £10 million could be seen as a little harsh on himself, as the financial situation at the club left his hands tied in the transfer market.
In fact, Benitez made a profit in his last four transfer windows at the club, as the former owners' transfer policy evolved from "sell to buy" into "sell not to buy".
Whereas formerly Benitez was allowed to invest money from player sales and therefore continually develop the squad, towards the end of his reign he was denied even those funds.
All the same, Benitez left a good squad to work with. It is by no means a great, title winning squad, however it is also definitely not a squad worthy of the relegation places, which is where Liverpool have been for far too long this season.
Hodgson had also tried to engage in petty politics, claiming that Benitez had banned Kenny Dalglish from the club's training ground during his time at Anfield.
This was a low blow to inflict, and Rafa rightly responded to his accusations, saying, "I brought back Kenny Dalglish to do a role in the club and Christian Purslow gave him another role."
Whether or not Rafa banned Dalglish from the training ground is completely irrelevant and Roy was simply using that to divert attention away from his shoddy management and under-performing players.
It just provided yet more evidence to support Benitez's attacks on Hodgson concerning the Englishman's bizarre media interviews.
"I think that Mr Hodgson, he doesn't understand," insisted Benitez. "Every single press conference is even worse than the last one. He's talking about things that he doesn't know. And some people cannot see a priest on a mountain of sugar."
The strange Spanish colloquialism may leave many fans confused, however it simply means that Hodgson cannot see the truth staring him in the face. Although Rafa didn't specifically state that plain truth, I suspect that Benitez is implying that Roy is simply not good enough to manage Liverpool, and that Hodgson is one of the few people failing to realise that fact.
Benitez went on to state, "We gave the fans their pride again. We fought for the fans, we fought for the club and we fought for our players. So maybe he cannot understand this."
Hodgson's failure to stand up for Torres, as well as his subtle hints that the supporters' protests against the previous ownership were harmful to the team, have caused doubts as to whether he understands how to defend the club and stand up for the supporters.
This is in contrast to Benitez, who repeatedly lauded the supporters and chastised the parasitic owners during his spell at the club. Not once did he speak against the fans in anyway and he never failed to defend his players when they required him to state his confidence in their ability.
Rafa then, in his own unique and endearing way, ended with some wise words that his successor will do well to listen to and act upon.
"Instead of talking about flips and flops, he has to concentrate on his job, try to do his best and not talk about the level of his players or the new players. Concentrate, try to do your best because it will be the best for the club and it will be the best for the fans."
Hodgson must stop providing the media-men with journalistic gold and return to focusing solely upon developing his tactical approach and instilling the right confidence and ability in his players through intense and meticulous training.
Some might correctly claim that Benitez is acting similarly to Hodgson because he is talking out about issues not affecting his current club, when he should instead be concentrating on preparing his side for their visit to Tottenham Hotspur this evening.
However, the crucial difference is that Benitez's Inter have been successful so far this season, whereas Hodgson's Liverpool have been anything but.
While we lie in 12th position with a mere eleven points and ten goals, Inter Milan sit second in Serie A on 18 points, scoring a total of 21 goals in all competitions including ten in only three Champions League matches.
Benitez has earned the right to discuss his former side's state as he has continued the formidable form of his predecessor at the San Siro, whilst also converting the Italians to a more attractive and attacking style of play then that exhibited under Mourinho.
The same could not be said about Hodgson, who must shut up and improve quickly if he is to remain as Liverpool manager for the rest of the campaign.
YNWA
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