RAFAEL BENITEZ HAS expressed his desire to find a new managerial role in the Premier League.
The Spanish manager, who is currently without a club, claimed that he would be pleased to make a return to Anfield one day, but is not currently pushing the move out of respect for the club and current boss Kenny Dalglish.
Benitez left Liverpool after his contract was ended by mutual consent in 2010 and went on to spend less than a season at Italian club Inter, but has claimed that his heart pines for a new job in England. Speaking at the Soccerex conference in Manchester, the 51-year-old said: “Every time that I talk about Liverpool. I try to be respectful because of my relationship with the fans and the city.
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“I’m a professional and I’m looking for a new job. At this time Kenny is the manager and I have a lot of respect for him. No rush. If Kenny retires in 10 years and I’m available, I would be pleased.
“I want to manage in the Premier League because I know, with my team, we can win trophies.”
Dalglish has come under criticism of late as he has failed to carry the Reds’ fine cup form into their Premier League campaign this season, with Liverpool currently sitting in a disappointing seventh in the table despite having won the Carling Cup and setting up an FA Cup semi-final clash with local rivals Everton.
Meanwhile, Benitez revealed that he never received an offer from Chelsea to take over the reins at Stamford Bridge following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas earlier this month. Benitez was touted as the 34-year-old’s replacement but since his departure, Roberto di Matteo has stepped up from the position of assistant manager to take over as interim boss.
“I’m waiting for a good offer in England, my family is settled here and I didn’t have the right offer so far,” Benitez said. ”I’m not worried about it, I need to find the right club and the right project.
“I heard a lot of rumours about Chelsea but I didn’t have a proper offer on the table.” The Spaniard also advised Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini not to respond to the mind games of United boss Alex Ferguson as the city rivals gear up for the title run-in.
“As a manager you need to worry about your job and your team, not the mind games,” he said. ”People are talking about mind games with Man U and City. Both teams are very good teams and if City win their next match 5-0 people will say Mancini is not affected by the mind games. If they lose it’s ‘oh, the mind games’.
“When you have a lot of foreign players normally they don’t read the newspapers so the mind games for them are nothing. I don’t think that it’s important or makes a big difference. The main thing is if you have a good team you can win all the mind games, if you don’t have a good team you can’t.
“I think it (the title race) will be tough until the end. City have enough quality and United have the confidence now and the experience.”
Benitez eager for another shot in the Premier League
RAFAEL BENITEZ HAS expressed his desire to find a new managerial role in the Premier League.
The Spanish manager, who is currently without a club, claimed that he would be pleased to make a return to Anfield one day, but is not currently pushing the move out of respect for the club and current boss Kenny Dalglish.
Benitez left Liverpool after his contract was ended by mutual consent in 2010 and went on to spend less than a season at Italian club Inter, but has claimed that his heart pines for a new job in England. Speaking at the Soccerex conference in Manchester, the 51-year-old said: “Every time that I talk about Liverpool. I try to be respectful because of my relationship with the fans and the city.
“I’m a professional and I’m looking for a new job. At this time Kenny is the manager and I have a lot of respect for him. No rush. If Kenny retires in 10 years and I’m available, I would be pleased.
“I want to manage in the Premier League because I know, with my team, we can win trophies.”
Dalglish has come under criticism of late as he has failed to carry the Reds’ fine cup form into their Premier League campaign this season, with Liverpool currently sitting in a disappointing seventh in the table despite having won the Carling Cup and setting up an FA Cup semi-final clash with local rivals Everton.
Meanwhile, Benitez revealed that he never received an offer from Chelsea to take over the reins at Stamford Bridge following the sacking of Andre Villas-Boas earlier this month. Benitez was touted as the 34-year-old’s replacement but since his departure, Roberto di Matteo has stepped up from the position of assistant manager to take over as interim boss.
“I’m waiting for a good offer in England, my family is settled here and I didn’t have the right offer so far,” Benitez said. ”I’m not worried about it, I need to find the right club and the right project.
“I heard a lot of rumours about Chelsea but I didn’t have a proper offer on the table.” The Spaniard also advised Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini not to respond to the mind games of United boss Alex Ferguson as the city rivals gear up for the title run-in.
“As a manager you need to worry about your job and your team, not the mind games,” he said. ”People are talking about mind games with Man U and City. Both teams are very good teams and if City win their next match 5-0 people will say Mancini is not affected by the mind games. If they lose it’s ‘oh, the mind games’.
“When you have a lot of foreign players normally they don’t read the newspapers so the mind games for them are nothing. I don’t think that it’s important or makes a big difference. The main thing is if you have a good team you can win all the mind games, if you don’t have a good team you can’t.
“I think it (the title race) will be tough until the end. City have enough quality and United have the confidence now and the experience.”
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