I can't talk to Rafa: Steven Gerrard reveals frosty relationship with ex-Liverpool boss

Steven Gerrard and Rafa Benitez with the Champions League trophy

STEVEN GERRARD has revealed the 'frostiness' which drove his relationship with former Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez.

 

Under the Spanish manager, Gerrard arguably played the best football of his career, winning the Champions League and FA Cup together.

In a serialisation of his new book, My Story, the Kop legend claims he can't speak to Benitez and spoke of the lack of a 'bond' between the pair.

 

"I can pick up the phone and speak to all of my previous Liverpool managers. Except for Rafa," Gerrard said.

"It’s a shame because we probably shared the biggest night of both our careers – the 2005 Champions League victory in Istanbul – and yet there is no bond between us."

 

But Gerrard did admit that the fractious relationship spurred him on to be a better player.

He said: "Our working relationship was ultra-professional and his frostiness drove me to become a better player.

"I had a hunger to earn a compliment from him — but also a hunger to let him know he really needed me as a player. We were like fire and ice. Passion surged inside me, while Rafa was the strategic thinker."