Peter Crouch had the best run of his career while playing for Liverpool and despite having the utmost respect for the club and Rafa Benítez, our former striker shared a story of a time when he wasn’t so impressed.
Speaking on ‘That Peter Crouch Podcast’ (from 41.04), the 41-year-old said: “I remember leaving for England, scoring three goals in two games and coming back. Rafa told me ‘don’t get carried away’ and I said ‘what!?’
“He put me on the bench for three games and I don’t understand that mentality, I’m not that kind of person who gets carried away by my own success, that would never cross my mind, I was just buzzing and confident.
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“I think he was trying to bring me back down to earth and I was thinking, I actually need to play, I’m flying, I’m so confident…
“I don’t think it was good at all, I think you have to get to know your characters… I love Rafa and I wouldn’t have anything bad to say about him as a coach, he gave me the opportunity to play for the best club in the world and I will always be grateful to him.” and he’s a great person but he wasn’t very good with people…dealing with you on a human level, he wasn’t very good.”
It is no surprise to hear that Rafa Benítez was cold towards his players as this is something that has been repeatedly mentioned about the Spaniard and especially by the former Reds who played with him.
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The former England striker saw his fine form punished by Istanbul’s winning manager and it must be such a confusing and frustrating position to be in.
There are some players who would benefit from coming back down to earth after an impressive international hiatus, but others, like our former number 15, don’t need to be reminded not to get ahead of themselves.
His resume and especially periods of success at Anfield will speak for the former Everton manager, but there were certainly periods in his career that show he hasn’t got it all right.
This view of former players is always really interesting and it’s safe to say that one asset Jurgen Klopp will undoubtedly have over the former Real Madrid manager is his people skills.
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