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Barnes on LFC, Barca & future

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John Barnes today urged fans to support whatever decision the club make in appointing a new manager and outlined why he believes the time is now for Liverpool to develop a long-lasting football philosophy that will set out a blueprint for success.

Talking exclusively to Liverpoolfc.tv in Bangkok, where he was managing the LFC team in the Standard Chartered sponsored EPL Masters Football Thailand tournament, Barnes talks in great depth about the role of the next Liverpool manager, how Liverpool ruled football without a true tactical football philosophy, the role of the fan and player in the modern era and what Liverpool can learn from Lionel Messi.

John, Liverpool are looking for their fourth manager in two years. What's happened because, traditionally, Liverpool have never been known for such instability?

Well, it's been a bit of a shock because I would have expected Kenny to have stayed longer but obviously the owners have taken the decision to move in a different direction and I think this decision now really needs to be for the long-term. People always talk about long-term plans but I think now we have to believe in this decision, regardless of how well or badly we do in the short-term. If the club believes in a new philosophy then they need to stick with it. If it takes two, three or four years to fulfil the plan then we need to give the club time to realise it and make it happen.

Why do you think the owners didn't believe Kenny was the right manager to implement the new direction they want to take the club in?

Well, only the owners know the answer to that question. I can't say why theydidn't think he was the right man. They obviously thought he was right for them when they gave him the role but they're new to the industry of football and they've probably been finding their way. Whether they've taken advice along the way and decided that this is now what they've got to do, I can only speculate, but we are where we are now and it's time to support the owners because they want to return Liverpool to a team that competes for the biggest trophies.

Ultimately, I don't believe that what went on in the past is important now. What is important now is the future so as to the whys and wherefores of why it didn't work or what went wrong with Kenny or should Kenny still be there... that doesn't matter. The important thing now is the way forward and until an appointment is made and the 'plan' manifests itself, everything else is just conjecture.

Some fans have questioned the direction of the club and criticised the club for not revealing what the 'plan' is. Would you ever expect a football club to explain publically its intentions?

Well, Liverpool Football Club, probably more so than any other club, are renowned for not talking a lot and telling the world everything they're doing. Kenny himself has always said, 'The club's business is the club's business and when we have something to tell people, we'll tell people'. It's not necessary for fans to know the inner workings of any football club because we don't know the inner workings of any business. I don't think it's necessary for me to know what Liverpool are doing behind the scenes. I'm not interested in that. As long as theyknow what they're doing, we don't have to know what they're doing. I'm sure in the next week or two or three, it will become more apparent how we intend to move forward when a new manager is unveiled but I don't believe us fans need to know absolutely everything that is going on at the football club.

Kenny leaving has obviously upset some fans because alongside Bill Shankly, he's arguably the greatest ever icon of this football club. Do you think in making this decision, the owners have been forced to look past sentiment and make a tough and possibly unpopular call with some fans?

At a football club, you need to make decisions for football reasons. That is the most important thing. If you make the correct football decisions, you'll achieve success on the pitch and the business success will follow. You can't get the business part right before the football part because everything is determined by success on the pitch. Get it right on the field and the off the field stuff will follow. You make a football decision and it affects the business - either positively or negatively. Kenny knows that. He understands it. As Kenny always says, 'The most important thing is Liverpool Football Club'. Liverpool Football Club was around long before Kenny Dalglish; long before the owners and will continue to be around long after us all. The club is the most important thing of all and the fans are the second most important component, because they'll always be there. These fans aren't going to be here in 100 years but new Liverpool fans will be. The fans and the club are what are important. Not John Barnes, 20 years ago or Kenny Dalglish now or Bill Shankly before that or anyone else in the future. The club is the most important thing and that is why I would urge fans to support the club and the incumbents of the club now happens to be Fenway Sports Group so get behind them and support any decision they take and trust them to do what is best for the club.

There's a lot of talk about a new football philosophy being introduced at Liverpool. Have Liverpool ever really had a football philosophy? People talk about 'pass and move' but is that a true football philosophy?

Well, Liverpool had a philosophy of sorts but that was before comprehensive tactics came into the game in England. From Bill Shankly's time, it was all about getting the ball down and passing and moving - which really doesn't mean anything - but if you had good enough players doing that, it worked. The footballers basically made the philosophy, not the other way around. So when people talk about buying 'Liverpool-type' players, it wasn't that you came in and Liverpool really instigated anything in you or tried to change you - it just meant you could play. The greatest thing about Bill Shankly, Bob Paisley and Kenny Dalglish, first time around, was that they could spot a player who could come and fit into what was already going on. Nothing was particularly structured but the players could adapt to whatever style they came into. I always use the example of George Graham at Arsenal, who beat us to the league in 1989, as the first time tactics really became noticed in English football. There's always been tactics in European and South American football but in England it was always all about good footballers playing off the cuff, keeping the ball but not really playing with any structure. Graham Taylor at Watford was the first person to really introduce tactics to English football. His structure was organisation and it was very successful for Watford.

Then George Graham took it to another level and as much as people talked about 'boring, boring Arsenal', they won the league and it was very successful. They were structured, disciplined and very tactically aware. Arsene Wenger then came to England and changed that whole culture of playing good attractive football but in a structure which Ajax and Barcelona have always done. So Liverpool, or any other team in England, has never really had that kind of philosophy that Ajax had. Rinus Michels started it at Ajax, took it to the Dutch national side then took it to Barcelona and Pep Guardiolla has just reinforced that because the Barcelona team that Pep Guardiola had was basically a reinvention of the Barcelona team under Johan Cruyff from the '90s which was in turn a reinvention of the Dutch team. So that philosophy of putting a template in place to teach to the kids from the age of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 and right through to the first team is really an Ajax method which Barcelona and certain other teams have adopted. Andy Cole tells me that Manchester United has that now and that's what you need.

You need to have a philosophy throughout the club - from top to bottom - so that you can develop footballers to help you win trophies. You don't develop footballers to play for other clubs. You develop footballers to fit into your system. Unless you have a proper philosophy, you'll find that players being developed in your youth teams may not fit into your first team because your first team doesn't play that way and that doesn't make sense. What a philosophy allows you to do is create longevity and success at a football club. If you look at the Barcelona team, they may always sign one or two superstars but the majority of the players are ones who've been brought up playing the Barcelona way. So first of all, you have to have a philosophy about how you want to play today and then you have to look at players who can fit into that style of play. Not just buying players because they are good or they are good at other clubs. You may go out and sign the best 15-year-old in the country but if the best 15-year-old in the country is a great outside left who puts crosses in and your philosophy is that you don't play with wingers, he's not going to be any good for your team. So first of all you need to have a philosophy and a vision for how you want to play and then you pick the players to fit into that system and not the other way around.

Have Liverpool been guilty of doing just that in the past?

Well, first of all, I don't think Liverpool have had a philosophy of how we want to play. They've seen which players have done well at other clubs and then gone out and bought them and then hoped that it works. A lot of the time, it hasn't. With Ajax and Barcelona, because they know how they want to play, they can go and get the right player for their system. It might be an unfashionable player at another club, but he may fit into your system perfectly. Seydou Keita, at Barcelona for example, could move to a Premier League club and not do anything but he fits into how Barcelona play.

With your own philosophy, you don't need to necessarily look at the best players in the world - players Liverpool might not be able to afford - but rather you can go out and buy a player who will do a better job in your team than they do in their current side but it may not cost you a lot of money.

Twenty five years ago when you were playing for Liverpool, the club could go out and buy the best players in the country. Things are different now and what attracts players is not always success. Location, wages, transfer funds available, Champions League football - these are all factors that influence footballers' decisions in the modern game. Does that mean Liverpool need to be cleverer than ever when it comes to dealings in the transfer market?

Well, Liverpool were successful for two reasons back when I first joined the club. Firstly, we could attract the best players to the club and secondly, until Graham Taylor and George Graham came along, no one in England was playing cohesive, coordinated football that had any structure. Everything was just, get out there, pass and move, the manager massages your ego with 'Come on lads', 'up and at 'em' and 'get stuck in' shouts. West Ham and Norwich always had this thing of playing good football because they bought pretty players who could keep the ball but that's not a model for success because one day they'd play well and the next they wouldn't - they were inconsistent. So yes, we could buy the best players but on top of that, no one else was tactically able to combat Liverpool until Arsenal came along with George Graham and then, of course, Alex Ferguson did well at Manchester United and then Arsenal were transformed under Arsene Wenger. Everybody does it now.

Now Liverpool are at a stage where they can't get all the best players in the world - so what do you do? You better come up with a system and a vision of how you want your team to play. Swansea are a good example, I suppose. They may not have the best players in the country because they've had players who've played with them in the lower divisions but they are still there because they understand that system they play. They don't need the best players but they are still competitive. But make no mistake; Liverpool can still attract very, very, very good players. They may not be able to get [Lionel] Messi but they can get very, very good players and with a proper system, which I'm sure the new manager will introduce, they can be successful.

If this summer marks the start of LFC starting again - a year zero in football terms - then it's not going to be a quick fix, is it?

No. It took years for Barcelona to get to where they are now. They had it and then they moved away from it and now they've got it again. Under Cruyff they had it and then new managers came in and they changed the whole philosophy.

The whole point of a system is that you don't change it. You don't change the philosophy. Ajax had it and lost it as well. New men come in with their own ideas and change the entire philosophy of the club and then what happens is that you're reliant on that manager being there forever to continue that. That can't happen so you have constant change and if you have constant change, there's no continuity and no stability. It's very expensive too as you waste money on players. On top of all that, it's rarely successful. 

A club needs a thread running right through it; Barcelona has that. It's like the whole concept of a technical director in Spain. Because it's not common in England, we don't tend to understand it but in Spain, the technical director will know the long-term plan for the club and regardless of which manager comes in - yes, he can bring his own ideas, but he can't alter the philosophy and football identity of that club - he has to buy into that identity of the club which is shaped culturally and socially by the region and by the fans and also by the way that they want to play.

It's so important, not just because managers will invariably come and go, but because players will also come and go. You don't see many players at clubs for 10 years anymore so you can't just keep getting different types of players every two years and expect any type of consistency. Whereas if you know the kind of player you want in every position at your club, if your superstar player leaves, you can simply get someone else to fill that role.

You talk about Barcelona a lot. Who is the most important person at Barcelona FC - is it the manager or is it the technical director?

The traditions and ethics of Barcelona Football Club are the most important thing.

What type of manager do you need to come in and develop a real football philosophy?

What you want is a manager with a very clear vision of how he wants his team to play football. That's the most important thing because when you're at a top club like Liverpool, you will be able to buy players who can fit into your system. You don't need 11 players like Lionel Messi to create a system. What will help is if you can get good players to fit into your system and then try and compliment them with a couple of superstars because there will always be times when systems don't work. Barcelona didn't win the Champions League this season because their system didn't work against Chelsea. They totally outplayed them and had loads of chances but they couldn't finish chances off. There was nothing wrong with their system but what they needed was a moment of individual brilliance and they didn't get it on the night. What a system does is give you a base for consistency. If Messi doesn't dribble around three players and score a wonder goal every week, it doesn't matter because 99% of the time the Barcelona system will beat you anyway. If every player understands their role within the team, that will breed consistency and with consistency comes competitiveness.

Both the club and the supporters are going to need to be patient while things develop - because if it was an easy quick fix, everyone would be doing it, wouldn't they?

There needs to be a lot of patience - both in the boardrooms and in the stands. How long will it take? It will take a long time but it won't take as long as Liverpool fans have been waiting to see the team win the Premier League. So, yes it could take a long time to develop it and start reaping the benefits from it but maybe if a system was put in place 20 years ago, we wouldn't still be waiting to win our first title since 1990. If we keep changing the manager, the players or the system every one, two, three or four years, we could be waiting another 20 years to win the title too.

Patience is not something a lot of the 'I want it now' generation seem to have though...

You need to ask these fans to support the club. There's a clue in the word supporter - that's what you do, you offer support to the club. If the Liverpool fans in 2005 didn't offer support to the team at half-time when we were 3-nil down, then Liverpool would not have won the Champions League. The fans could easily have turned their backs on the team and booed the players because they were losing 3-nil but if they had of done that, Liverpool would not have come back. It was the same in the semi-final of the FA Cup against Everton. One-nil down at half-time and not playing well but the fans supported the team and look what happened.

So if you do implement a plan and there are times when things are not going well, think about how much the club needs your support and what unconditional support can actually achieve. I understand fans frustrations but if everyone is giving 100% and everyone is trying their best, then you need to be patient and you need to support them through thick and thin.

If things don't go well instantly, the media can quickly turn...

The media exist to sell newspapers and, of course, negativity sells, especially in England, so the media have no role whatsoever to play in Liverpool's success. It's down to the fans and the club to stick together.

The appointment of the next manager is now on the agenda but there are very different styles of managers out there. What sort of manager do Liverpool need to employ?

What sort of manager? The right one. What we have to do is respect the manager of Liverpool Football Club no matter who he is. The players have to give him that respect because if they have respect for the fans and respect for the club's decisions, they have to have respect for the manager. That's why I always use the example of Barcelona when it comes to how a football club should be. Lionel Messi might be the biggest superstar in the world but he respects his team-mates, he respects football, he respects the fans and he respects the manager - whoever that manager may be. Players should have no say over who a manager should be; they should not have any input into whether they believe one manager is better than another. Whoever the manager of a football club is, he is the most important person and everyone should respect him. No one can undermine him. This is why I talk about Barcelona and Lionel Messi because they understand how to be successful and to be successful you need to be a team.

Lionel Messi sees himself the same way he sees his team-mates. Forget the way we see Lionel Messi - we see him as being better than his team-mates - but that's not how he sees it. Financially he will get more money, he will get bigger sponsorship deals, he will get more kudos and all the rest but he still sees himself as the same as all his team-mates and also his team-mates on the bench. That's what unity is. They have respect for the fans and they have respect for the manager, whoever the club employs. That is what we need to do.

What if Liverpool were to appoint a manager who is young and has not won anything yet? Would it concern you that Liverpool were trying to achieve success with a manager who has never tasted it so far in his managerial career?

Well, what is success? Is a manager guiding a team to safety - a team like Wigan, for example - less successful than Harry Redknapp guiding Tottenham to fourth or fifth? Which manager has been more successful in terms of working with what they've got? All you can ever do as a manager is maximise the potential for that team and if maximising the potential of that team means you finish fourth from bottom, and a team who finishes second doesn't maximise their potential because they should have finished first, the manager of the team who has beaten relegation has had a more successful season.

Ian Holloway nearly keeping Blackpool up was for me a great feat than Carlo Ancelotti finishing second with Chelsea. So regardless of whether Roberto Martinez, who is one manager who has been linked with Liverpool, just kept Wigan up, that means nothing. Could Alex Ferguson keep Wigan up? Could Jose Mourinho keep Wigan up? We don't know but what Roberto has done is he has maximised the potential of that team and therefore if he goes to a better team, as long as we believe he can maximise the potential for that team, he will be successful.

It's not about who is fashionable at any given time. It's about maximising the potential of the team you have. You need to look at how Martinez has done it - his methods and his philosophy in terms of how you want football to be played. There is no right or wrong way of playing football. Stoke play football the way they do and that's 100% right for them. I have no issue with that whatsoever. No one way is better than the other - however, if you are talking about the ethics and traditions of a football club, maybe you will say, you'd rather have Roberto Martinez than Tony Pullis. Tony Pullis and Stoke finished higher than Wigan did under Martinez and Tony's methods are fine - they may just not be right for a Liverpool, a West Ham or an Arsenal. Does the manager you want for your team like his team to play football the way you want and do you think he can maximise the potential of the players at his disposal and can he bring in players of quality to help interpret his vision of how he wants the team to play? That's the questions you need to be asking. At Liverpool you can do that. You don't have to spend £50m or £100m on players - look at Newcastle, they spent money wisely and bought great players. There are great players out there to endorse whatever football you want without having to spend a fortune.

Should age or a lack of success be a determining factor in who you do or don't appoint?

Well, a lack of success would be an issue if you'd been around for a long period of time - say 10 years - and you've done nothing. Obviously it depends on what you consider success to be. As I say, Martinez keeping Wigan in the Premier League is success for me. In terms of age, I guess it has to be a factor because if you're looking for experience, a first time manager shouldn't get a job at a club like  Liverpool if they've never managed before. Martinez has been around for maybe four or five years, he was at Swansea before Wigan, so while his age limits the amount of experience he can possibly have, in terms of the success he's had in the last four years, I think he has proven he is a good manager.

If you had to design a new football philosophy for Liverpool, what would it look like?

[Laughs] How long have you got?! Well, first of all you have to decide what kind of football you want to play. It's such a comprehensive vision, it would take me so long to explain, you'd have to go through every position and go into detail on what is the requirement of this position - when the goalkeeper gets the ball, where should the full backs be? Where should the centre-halves be?  Where do the midfield players go? You need to do that for every position and every different scenario that can arise in a game. Understanding the philosophy and the method is the most important thing. The workings of it will always be different. Graham Taylor, for example, his philosophy was a long ball game however everybody in their position knew exactly what was required from them.

Formations mean nothing. Look at 4-4-2 for example... Watford played 4-4-2 and Liverpool played 4-4-2 but the way they played it was completely different. It's more to do with the players understanding their role in that team for 90 minutes. Every time the ball is in a particular position on the pitch, where are the players? What position do they need to get into to be in the correct area on the pitch no matter what the circumstance is?

I've watched Brazil train and they go through this for hours and hours and hours. It's quite boring to watch but once you understand the method and you see it in action - as you do with Barcelona - it looks like they can play it with their eyes closed. It takes a long time to implement but once it's implemented and the players understand it, then what happens is you don't have to rely on players to do individual brilliant things to win you matches. Sometimes you need a moment of brilliance but for 99% of the time, it does work and if 99% of the time your philosophy works then you'll be happy.

We talked a lot about the manager but obviously it will be the players who need to play for that manager. How important is it that they totally buy into the whole culture of the club and what it means to the fans?

It's massively important. What's most important is the respect that the players have for the fans and the region where the team is. When you join Liverpool from another club you need to understand what is required of them in terms of embracing Scouse life. For example, in London, because of the nature of London, the Arsenal fans don't necessarily have to have a relationship with the Arsenal players because you've got the West End and people in London see famous celebrities and how they act. They then expect their football players to act the same way.

In Liverpool, you can't do that. When myself and Peter Beardsley came to Liverpool - and he was the most expensive player in British football at that time - we knew that we had to have a relationship with the fans whereas I don't think I would have had that relationship with the fans if I'd signed for Arsenal, for example. Newcastle is quite similar to Liverpool in that respect. That's what I'm talking about when I talk about Barcelona - and the whole Catalan culture. If you look at Messi, Xavi [Hernandez] and [Andres] Innesta, if they go out in Barcelona, they can't go out as superstars and ignore fans and ask for minders in restaurants to block fans from asking for autographs. They can't do that because they understand their club and their supporters. Maybe you can get away with that in London or Madrid but in Liverpool and Barcelona you can't do that. As a footballer, you can't behave like that if you're a Liverpool player. It's all about understanding the city, the culture, the fans and if you match that with a footballing philosophy, you won't go far wrong.

Is it all intrinsically linked? If Liverpool players embrace the fans, the fans will embrace them and offer them more support and if they get more support, our chances of success are far greater?

You're trying to create harmony. That harmony was there in Istanbul. The fans supported the players that night and we know what happened next. The players have to give something back though and that's so important. Unfortunately we live in a culture in England where fans actually expect to be snubbed by players. They expect players to not want to sign autographs or to not want to talk to them because football players are aloof. But the important thing is not what fans expect, it is how you personally behave. What's important is not how fans see you, but how you see yourself. Fans may see you as a superstar who won't want to come over and have a drink or talk to them but you need to change that perception.

You need to see yourself as a part of the community, which is the whole Bill Shankly theory. That was his philosophy - everyone being 'one'. Unfortunately with the advent of the Premier League, fans have become so detached from players - more so than in any other country. Look at the difference between how the Barcelona players act and the way lots of Premier League players act. The players there have the humility to respect football in the first instance and to respect the club and the fans secondly. That's a fantastic way to be. It's the perfect model and it's a model that Liverpool should aspire towards.

Rafa Benitez in no rush

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By liverpool's new Head of Communications, Jen Chang:

WEST KIRBY, England -- Seated in a restaurant on a quiet afternoon, Rafa Benitez laughs as he tells the story of how he first stumbled into coaching. No, not the injury problems that forced him into early retirement as a player at the age of 26 and subsequent entry into Real Madrid's coaching staff -- but how he got involved with coaching one of the boys' teams at his daughter's school in Liverpool.

This particular boys' team had been losing a majority of their games and the school had asked Benitez if he'd be willing to help out. Benitez had originally demurred due to other time commitments, but one day had shown up to watch one of the games. He made a couple of tactical suggestions ( for instance one of the larger kids had been used in the center of midfield, while Benitez advised he should be deployed on the wing to place the player into more space) and armed with the new strategy the team immediately proceeded to win. A smile crosses his face as he remembers the postgame celebration, where some of the parents told him that he was "pretty good at this sort of thing" and should keep managing the team.

It's not just coaching youth teams that occupies Benitez's time. These days the former Valencia and Liverpool manager and most recently Inter, keeps busy working with his website, which in addition to highlighting his tactical observations, helps to promote the charitable works undertaken by his wife's foundation (which among other things, gives financial support to the Hillsborough Family Support Group). The rest of his time is spent watching games -- lots of them -- both in preparation for his role as a pundit for Eurosport but mostly for his own interest. "When you are not training or not coaching, you have to do a lot of things," said Benitez. "Some people just go on holidays and enjoy watching TV, but I like to analyze games, I like to know how teams play, the tactics, the players if they are good enough or not for the future if I [look] to sign players."

It's at this point that Benitez shows me what he and his staff have developed: a new coahing app for the iPad called Globall Coach. It's a tool for coaches (both professional and amateur) that can be used as a visual teaching aid to facilitate learning. "The [initial] idea of a program was to show the fans the tactics of Istanbul 2005 when we won the Champions League [at Liverpool]," said Benitez. "The movement we were doing with Kaka between the lines and after, a line of three defenders. We started working with the IT people and thought 'why don't we create a program that we can use.'"

The app itself is incredibly versatile, it can even be programmed to assess the tactics of a specific game that one has watched. Benitez himself uses it after matches to examine a team's movement and analyze the shape of the game. We talk about tactics for a while as Benitez scrolls through various matches that have caught his interest as of late. He's particularly intrigued by what Borussia Dortmund does, "When I was a young coach, I liked AC Milan," said Benitez, "now I think Borussia Dortmund is doing a really good job. They play with four defenders high, they press high, they go with their fullbacks forward all the time, with wingers inside. If they have to play direct football they go to support quickly and if they give a goal away they press with 2-3 players on the ball. They're very good with their movements." Obviously the current Barcelona and Real Madrid squads also stand out, but Benitez is keen to emphasize that what helps make both teams special is their willingness to press when they lose the ball and the intensity of that pressing.

It's a fascinating conversation as Benitez notes the differences throughout various teams, leagues and compares both their schemes and the numbers. "The main thing for me is passes per game, passing accuracy and in particular final third passing accuracy." It's here that he points out that MLS is far below the other leagues (only a 58.7percent final third passing accuracy compared to 64-65 percent in England, Italy and Spain and with a higher propensity for longer passes, 15.8 percent compared to figures in the 13-14 percent range for top European leagues).

LA vs. Real Salt Lake animations created by Globall Coach.

As the tactical discussion continues, it's only natural to ask if we've reached the pinnacle of tactical evolution in the modern game. Just how much more advanced can the thinking develop? After all, many of the staples such as pressing, a high defensive line and zonal marking were in fact proposed or instituted by Victor Maslov, famed for his work with Dynamo Kyiv in the Sixties. "It's not the same systems they were using in the past, similar systems but there's now more pace, more intensity," said Benitez. "I remember an article when they talked about the time you had when you received the ball, I don't remember the exact figures but I think it said it was 4 seconds for Garrincha, 3.5 for Cruyff, 2 for Maradona, 1.5 seconds for the lowest etc.

"So it means you have less time and you have to do things quicker, you don't see as many people dribbling and running with the ball because the opposition are on top of you so quickly you have to pass the ball -- nowadays there's more emphasis on collective technique more than individual technique."

The conversation inevitably drifts to what Benitez is looking for in his next management job. He's certainly not been short of offers since leaving Inter, but he's in no hurry and is waiting for what he sees as the ideal project, a team that matches his desire to win trophies and a team that doesn't necessarily have to be in the Premier League. With his daughters happily settled in at school in the Liverpool area, Benitez is accepting of the fact that he might have to move on his own and commute when possible if his next job falls outside England. It's also no secret that Benitez would consider returning to Liverpool if he were ever asked at some point in the future. It's not something he is keen to discuss and he is quick to emphasize his respect for the job that incumbent Kenny Dalglish has done, but there's a sense of unfinished business on Benitez's part, of the inability to complete his project at Anfield.

There continues to be a pervading myth in some quarters that Benitez had vast transfer sums at his disposal during his time at Liverpool. While it's true he spent around £223 million during his six-year tenure, in actuality, according to calculations by Paul Tomkins, author of Pay As You Play, his approximate total net spend was only £62M, a figure that puts Liverpool below the likes of Aston Villa, Sunderland and Tottenham over the same period. The figure drops further to £20.5M (if you include the subsequent sales of all players Benitez bought such as Torres and Mascherano).

"To be fair, everyone has had bad signings," said Benitez. "But if you analyze the current squad of Liverpool -- [Pepe] Reina, [Glen] Johnson, [Daniel] Agger, [Martin] Skrtel, Lucas Leiva, [Dirk] Kuyt, Maxi -- a lot of these players that are doing really well, they were signings that we did. So the people that talk about [Philipp] Degen or [Andriy] Voronin who were free, how you can compare them to the signings of [Fernando] Torres and [Xabi] Alonso? Even with Torres, Alonso, [Javier] Mascherano and the money brought in [with their sales] and still they talk about the other signings, the majority [of which] were not too expensive. "

We debate some of those moves that didn't pan out as planned at Liverpool such as the signing of Dutch forward Ryan Babel in what seems to be Liverpool's never-ending search for a potent winger. "Babel played in a 4-3-3 system at Ajax, " said Benitez. "But he didn't do well as a winger at the end, we were trying to find his best position but it was not going well. Babel was a young player that needed to understand the English game and he didn't." Benitez admits he had searched extensively for wingers while at Anfield, in hopes of replicating his use at Valencia of dangerous widemen Vicente and Rufete. One deal he confirms, which almost came to fruition, was that of Brazilian Dani Alves, then at Sevilla. "Daniel Alves was our first option on the right side," said Benitez. "The problem that we had -- I had to decide to bring Alves as a winger when he was an offensive fullback. It was a difficult decision as we had money at the time for only just one striker or a winger/fullback. We signed a striker, the striker was Kuyt, who to be fair has turned out to be a fantastic contributor to the club."

As for the much criticized sale of midfielder Alonso in the summer of 2009, Benitez explains that his plan had been to bring in both Alberto Aquilani and Stevan Jovetic. "Jovetic was our target but we didn't have the money," said Benitez. "My idea was to play Mascherano, Lucas, [Steven] Gerrard, Aquilani -- two of these four players in the middle and Jovetic between the lines, but we didn't have the money."

In theory, weren't the funds from the sale of Alonso more than enough to cover the purchase of both Aquilani and Jovetic? "You are right. In theory," is Benitez's response.

The other stick which is often used to beat Benitez with is his relationship, or supposed lack of, with players. Too cold, too dour, too calculating say those same critics. It's a gross misrepresentation if ever there was one. In person, for those who know him, Benitez has always been warm and friendly. He explains his philosophy thus. "Normally the manager has to do his job, he cannot be the close friend of the players, it's an old style that does not [necessarily] work now. You have to do your job, you have to improve your players, you have to teach them, you have to coach them properly. At the end they will realize and see the difference. You cannot say there's no relationship -- every day we train, you can see managers that don't train for 3-4 days. I train every day with my players and talk to them every day, trying to improve them. "

As for not getting along with players, Benitez says it's simply not true and reels off a list of players he's still in close contact with, including several stars who some media outlets have falsely claimed to be estranged from him. Benitez might not text his former players as frequently as certain other managers do -- largely out of respect to their current mangers -- but as he shows me, he's clearly viewed fondly by many of his former charges.

By now, Benitez is running late to pick up his daughters from school -- as he's dashing out the door there's only time for one last question, one that has bothered the masses who've been reading the tactical blogs on his website. Why then does he include the goalkeeper when he's mentioning formations, why 1-4-2-3-1 instead of 4-2-3-1?

"I was saying 4-2-3-1, but if you go to coaches' schools they say 'oh you have to play with a keeper,'" smiled Benitez. "I've also had this conversation with some goalkeeper coaches and they all say 'listen, the keeper also plays' so I have to say it to keep all the goalkeepers happy!"

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Michael Owen Interview:

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Michael Owen runs a finger along the back of his right leg where a hamstring used to be and retraces a career path that changed one fateful night in Leeds 13 years ago.

April 12, 1999. Owen’s star was in the ascendancy after that goal against Argentina in the 1998 World Cup and a successful second  season for Liverpool when the 19-year-old fell to the turf at Elland Road.

‘You’ve got three hamstrings and one was just totally ruptured,’ he says, raising his leg off the sofa to demonstrate the point. 

Rare breed: Michael Owen is two weeks away from full fitness - and that could strike fear into the hearts of Manchester City fans

‘It should be right the way down but one bit starts there, attaches there and the rest of it attaches there. I’ve got no hamstring in the middle. I’m basically running on two hamstrings on my right leg and three on the other.

 

‘That injury has probably changed my whole career. I’ve been compromised from the age of 19.

‘Every specialist says the same thing. It goes from one and then you compensate and it goes to the other one, and then to the groin, and then a double hernia and then on to this.’ 

Owen is referring to the thigh injury that has kept him out since early November. He has played only four games for Manchester United so far this season, but his three goals have kept up a very respectable strike rate of one in every three games (17 in 52 appearances, 34 of them off the bench) since Sir Alex Ferguson surprised many people by taking him to Old Trafford in 2009.

Owen arrived as a free agent that summer after circulating a  brochure through his agents in an attempt to persuade clubs that he was not injury-prone.

Mersey master: Liverpool was the club where Michael Owen made his name

A torn hamstring in the 2010  Carling Cup final, similar to the one he suffered a decade earlier, and his current five-month lay-off might suggest otherwise.

LIVERPOOL

Games: 297  Goals: 158

Analysing Owen’s career has never been easy. Great? Without a doubt. He has played for some of the best clubs in the world, was voted European Footballer of the Year in 2001 and lies fourth in the list of England’s top goalscorers with 40, nine behind Sir Bobby Charlton.

But it could have been one of the greatest and Owen knows it. 

‘If I’d still been in one piece from the World Cup and gone through my career, what type of player would I have been?’ he asks rhetorically. ‘No doubt about it, if I hadn’t had as many injuries I would have been the all-time leading scorer for England.

Goal getter: Owen scored over 150 goals for Liverpool including one in the FA Cup final against Arsenal

‘I look back on my career like  everyone with, “What if this or what if that?”

‘There’s regret that maybe the medical care you’re getting now wasn’t available 14 years ago when I had my big injury. With United, I had it surgically repaired and it’s brand new. I wouldn’t even know I had an injury. Back then you just let it go.

ON INJURIES:

You've got three hamstrings and mine was totally ruptured...that changed my whole career

  

‘Some people will think I was blighted with injuries and that’s a matter for them. I think to myself that I was exceptional at a young age but I paid the penalty for that.

‘I was 15 and playing in the Under 18s for England, I was seven and in the Under 11s at county level, I was playing above myself all the time.

‘When me and Steven Gerrard were breaking through at Liverpool he was phenomenal at 14 but he just couldn’t stay fit. That was the biggest blessing in disguise for him. He couldn’t play so he grew into his frame and all of a sudden he plays a lot more than me in the latter part of his career. 

‘I was just ready and as fast as anything, and as mentally strong as anyone out there. I was ready-made to do it when I was young but now I’ve had to pay the price.

‘Bloody hell, when Gerard Houllier said that I couldn’t play every game I remember saying I’ll rest when I’m 30. He was probably right, wasn’t he! Part of me thinks I’ve been the luckiest person in the world as well. I’ve played for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle, Man United, got 90-odd caps for England,  40-odd goals, don’t need to work again, got four great kids. I’m not that unlucky! 

Making it on the world stage: Owen scored a wonder goal for England against Argentina as a teenager in 1998

‘I got a hat-trick in the Champions League, scored against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final, the winner versus Manchester City and the last goal of the season (against Blackpool) when we won the league. There have been great moments, but this season has been a bloody nightmare with the injury.’ 

REAL MADRID

Games: 40  Goals: 14

Owen is sat in the upstairs entertainment area of the Manor House Stables he co-owns with his business partner Andrew ‘Bert’ Black in Malpas, a picturesque village on the Cheshire border with Wales. It’s an idyllic setting, half an hour from

Northop where he lives with wife Louise and their young family.

A series of turns through the country lanes takes you to a long driveway, past the mile-and-a-quarter gallop and down to the house where trainer Tom Dascombe lives on site. Three dogs, German short-haired pointers, laze in the afternoon sun.

Among the racehorses poking their heads out from two sets of stables either side of a pristine lawn are Owen’s Ascot winner Brown Panther and Wayne Rooney’s horse Switcharooney.

Pain game: Owen has suffered with injuries throughout his career

Cuban Tash is owned by a syndicate of eight United players past and present, with Paul Scholes, Michael Carrick, John O’Shea and Tom Cleverley among the teammates who have bought a stake in some of the 90 horses resident there.

Ferguson too is a keen  follower of the sport.

ON ENGLAND:

No doubt about it, I would have been the all-time leading England scorer

 

On one side a hostel has been built to accommodate 10  stable lads among a staff of 40, next to a veterinary area complete with hydro pool.

‘There wouldn’t be too many yards in Europe or the world with their own facilities on site like that,’ says  Dascombe. If only this kind of medical care had been available to Owen when he needed it most.

The 32-year-old United star and Black have invested millions, but Owen isn’t in it for the money.

He loves the sport; loves horses and the personal involvement. It’s why a striker renowned for his  clinical, cold-blooded approach to scoring goals wept when Brown Panther won the King George V Stakes at Ascot in June.

‘This was like my son or a family member doing something pretty special,’ says Owen. ‘It almost gets you inside as opposed to a scream of joy or excitement, like winning something or scoring a goal.

‘I think people were surprised because they didn’t realise what goes into it.

‘Nobody knows what it takes to get that horse there. I own the mother and we’ve got all the  brothers at home. From a few hours old we’ve seen him being brought into this world. The ups and downs.

Galacticos: Owen joined stars such as Ronaldo and David Beckham at Real Madrid

Breaking it in, putting the saddle on its back, chucking its jockey  off, all the things you need to  learn. And then to see it win on the grandest stage of all when I’ve had it as a pet.

NEWCASTLE UNITED

Games: 79   Goals: 30

‘People are spending millions and millions to get a Royal Ascot  winner. But to breed one? What I did there was a million to one. It’s impossible to do. I’m obviously just very lucky.’ 

Horseracing has helped bring out the other side in Owen. He can express himself more easily these days than the intense young man who used to distrust the world and snap at his family. He regularly airs his opinions on Twitter.

‘I’ve formed more friends out of this place than I ever have in my football career because you’re in a tight bubble,’ says Owen, speaking to mark the launch of Manor House’s three-year partnership with Trinity Elite, a tax, accounting and wealth management specialist.

‘You’re scared what you say because different things get out, but here you can relax and meet like-minded people.

‘If you look at anyone at the top of their profession, there has to be something a little bit different. Some of the top musicians are quirky aren’t they, to say the least. You have to be driven, cold, hard and mentally tough as iron.

No fun on the Tyne: Owen suffered relegation with Newcastle

‘My missus thinks I’m a bit weird. I’m cold and don’t have many  emotions really. When Brown Panther won I had a tear in my eye but I don’t think I’ve cried in about 20 years.

‘When I was at the top, I had more quirks than now. My wife thinks I’ve mellowed. I was tough to live with a few years ago, she tells me.

ON RACING:

I've formed more friends in this sport  than I ever have in my football career

 

‘On match days I was very on edge if there was anything said to me. She would go into a different room because I would spin things. I was so fired up and ready. I was a lot more volatile. Not physically, just in terms of what I said.

‘I thought I was reasonable but I’d take it out on the ones I love most. My mum used to get it in the neck as well. I never did that with my dad, maybe because I was trying to impress him most with my performances.

‘I was a bit sheltered in my early life because it’s very uncommon for someone so young to be in the spotlight. If you’re a goalscorer you have to have a certain attitude because not everyone can do it.

‘But there was no game face. That was me. I’m very serious. I’m a lot of things that people wouldn’t be able to understand.

‘You’re obviously conscious of being brash or big-headed but I always knew I was going to be a footballer when I was seven or eight. I didn’t just think I wanted to be one, I knew I was going to be one. Nothing ever surprised me really.

Surprise move: Owen joined Manchester United on a free transfer in 2009

‘A bit like when I scored the goal against Argentina. I came back and it’s like, “What did you expect me to do?” I expected to do that. If you don’t think you’re going to do something, then you’ll never do it.’ 

MANCHESTER UNITED

Games: 52  Goals: 17 

Owen is as sensitive about his horseracing commitments as he used to be about his injury record.The last thing he wants is to be seen as an old pro serving out his career and picking up a salary while pursuing an expensive interest outside the game.

‘When I retire from football,  I won’t do any more or less than I do now,’ says Owen, who has already started his coaching badges. ‘If it (his business) washes its hands and we have a nice profit out of it, that’s fine, but football is where I want to stay for the rest of my career.

‘I never intended it to be this grand. Once my partner bought in, we’ve taken it to the next level and now it’s something pretty damn special, but it still hasn’t changed my life in many ways.

‘Footballers are criticised for not planning for the future and getting depressed because they’ve nothing to get up in the morning for.

Familiar scene: Owen scoring against Israel at Wembley in 2007

‘Then if you do this, the first question is, “Doesn’t this take your mind off football?” so you can’t win whatever you do. Either you’re a dumb footballer not thinking ahead or you’re not concentrating on football enough. I still probably spend five per cent of my time here, 20 per cent with my family and 60 per cent training.’

ON RELATIONSHIPS:

My missus thinks I’m a bit weird. I’m cold and don’t have many emotions really

 

Dascombe sees a different side to Owen. They talk every day and meet at the stables every couple of weeks.

‘He always gets very excited,’ says the trainer. ‘Embarrassingly excited, even if we have any little winner, whether he owns it or not.

‘We had a launch day here two years ago in March and our first run from here  won a big race down at  Lingfield. He was stood here watching it on Sky and he was dancing around,  hugging me. He loves  his horseracing. He is  absolutely so passionate about it. He feels that they’re all his.’ 

Another regular sight: Owen is forced to leave the pitch during Manchester United's Champions League game with Otelul Galati in November

The United striker is two weeks away from full  fitness. It means he could feasibly play in the  Manchester derby on April 30, which should strike fear into  the hearts of the City fans still haunted by his injury-time  winner in the 4-3 classic at Old Trafford in September 2009.

Ferguson gave Owen a new  one-year contract last summer. There is no guarantee of another.

ENGLAND

Games: 89  Goals: 40 

‘I don’t think I’ll play until my late 30s like Giggsy,’ he says. ‘But I’d like to play more, probably for two or three years after this season.

‘I don’t wake up in the morning with sore knees or an achilles. It doesn’t take me half an hour to get out of bed as I hear from some older players. None of that  resonates with me. When I get injured it’s sudden and a disaster for three or four months, never just a week.

Next step: Owen has moved into the world of horse racing and owns a number of horses including Brown Panther who won the King George V stakes at Royal Ascot

‘As long as I’m wanted at a  good level I will play on, but  part of that is in my hands  and part isn’t. I’ll wait to  see what the manager says on that.

ON THE FUTURE:

I want three more years as a player and then spend the rest of my career in football

‘If it happens, great, we’ll talk about it. If not, I’ll try to stay at a high level. I wouldn’t drop out of the Premier League. I want to stay at the top level or look at other markets, but I have  four children and they’re settled in school and that’s something to weigh up.

‘There are a couple of possibilities when I’ve finished and media might interest me. Gary Neville is a breath of fresh air and has almost encouraged me to do it. I get excited when it’s half-time now because he’s so intelligent and brings something new to it.’ 

The options are there but it is clear Owen is not ready to be put out to grass.