good o' carra!
Unlike Houllier, Benitez quickly developed a reputation for rarely handing out congratulations in the Press. So when he did speak glowingly about you, it tended to mean more.
I picked up the Echo one night and saw a headline in which Benitez compared me to Roberto Ayala, the great Argentine defender he'd managed at Valencia.
I knew I wasn't in Ayala's class. More to the point, I knew Benitez didn't think I was as good as Ayala. But to know he'd said it certainly boosted my confidence.
Benitez repeated the trick in a press conference before a league game with Chelsea, but this time there was a sting in the tail.
"I've just told the media you're a better player than John Terry," Rafa told me. Then he started laughing as he madea tell-tale sign, putting his hand to his nose and pulling it out to imitate Pinocchio.
Before our Champions League semi-final with Chelsea I got him back when I was handed the press conference duties. "What did they ask you?" Rafa quizzed me. "I told them you're a better manager than Mourinho," I said, and then repeated his Pinocchio mime.
From Jamie Carragher's autobiography.
I picked up the Echo one night and saw a headline in which Benitez compared me to Roberto Ayala, the great Argentine defender he'd managed at Valencia.
I knew I wasn't in Ayala's class. More to the point, I knew Benitez didn't think I was as good as Ayala. But to know he'd said it certainly boosted my confidence.
Benitez repeated the trick in a press conference before a league game with Chelsea, but this time there was a sting in the tail.
"I've just told the media you're a better player than John Terry," Rafa told me. Then he started laughing as he madea tell-tale sign, putting his hand to his nose and pulling it out to imitate Pinocchio.
Before our Champions League semi-final with Chelsea I got him back when I was handed the press conference duties. "What did they ask you?" Rafa quizzed me. "I told them you're a better manager than Mourinho," I said, and then repeated his Pinocchio mime.
From Jamie Carragher's autobiography.