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- I did not betray Benitez, he just forgot his principles: Former Liverpool No 2 Ayestaran speaks out ahead of Rafa's Anfield return
By CHRIS WHEELER
PUBLISHED: 17:24 EST, 19 April 2013 | UPDATED: 04:25 EST, 20 April 2013The walk from Rafael Benitez’s front door in Caldy to the home of his old friend and right-hand man, Pako Ayestaran, in Hoylake only takes 10 minutes.
It’s a testament to their love of Merseyside that both have stayed long after leaving Liverpool. Yet, over the last six years, the paths of two men who travelled the world together and conquered Europe have not crossed once.
‘It’s unbelievable but that’s the way it is,’ says Ayestaran, speaking for the first time about the split. ‘I think it’s sad because we’d been together for so many years. To lose that is a pity.
‘To keep a relationship for 12 years is probably more than many married couples. There were moments when we knew what the other was thinking without even talking. It was a close relationship and I’m proud to be part of the success.’
Pair: Pako Ayestaran served as Rafa Benitez's assistant for a long time but left in 2007
Breakdown: Ayestaran left Liverpool in 2007
Benitez and Ayestaran first met at Osasuna. They went on to win promotion with Extremadura and then Tenerife after a one-year sabbatical that included studying Sir Alex Ferguson’s methods at Manchester United.
Two La Liga titles and the UEFA Cup followed at Valencia, and the success story continued at Anfield until late August 2007, the day of Liverpool’s squad photograph, when their differences came to a head and Ayestaran walked out.
‘Things began to change when we arrived at Liverpool and were so successful,’ he says. ‘In England the people around the game, even for myself, make you feel that you’re bigger than you really are.
‘Sometimes you don’t take care of the values and principles that made you so successful. Maybe we didn’t have as much detail in training.I wasn’t able to convince him that we should go back to our principles and stick to them.
‘There was a difference between the beliefs that were so rooted in myself, beliefs that we applied for many years and got us success. We were running away from them.
‘We stopped being critical with ourselves and sometimes we went through the motions. That’s the reason I wasn’t happy.’
Benitez accused Ayestaran of betraying him by talking to other clubs behind his back when Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao made an approach, describing it later as ‘a wound that still hurts’.
‘That’s not true,’ insists Ayestaran, who also turned down an offer to join Avram Grant at Chelsea after leaving Anfield out of respect to Liverpool. ‘Rafa was always the first one to know. He was aware of everything.’
So would he shake his old friend’s hand if they met?
Sour end: Benitez accused Ayestaran of betraying him
‘Yes, no problem,’ he says. ‘We decided a long time ago that we were going to take different paths but I have learned a lot from him.
‘At the same time he has probably learned a lot from me and the staff surrounding him. It wouldn’t be fair to just highlight his knowledge without how much he got from everybody who helped him and myself to be successful.’
Ayestaran knows Benitez well enough to say he will not have been fazed by protests from Chelsea fans over his appointment at Stamford Bridge and the issue of his ‘interim’ title.
‘No, it will bounce off him,’ he insists. ‘You don’t mind what they call you. You want to be called manager or coach, never mind, just do it your own way. One of the strengths of Rafa is that he’s always been able to focus on doing things, except when maybe he’s forgotten the principles.’
That’s why Ayestaran has little doubt that Benitez’s so-called outburst over the situation at Chelsea in February was as premeditated as his famous ‘fact’ rant at Ferguson in 2009.
‘He has shown over the years that he knows when and why he has to say something,’ he says. ‘It should be one of the strengths of every manager. When you do or say something it has to have purpose behind it.’
Ayestaran is sitting in the London hotel where he stays when working as an expert analyst on Sky’s coverage of Spanish football.
Homecoming: Benitez will return to Anfield on Sunday when Liverpool face Chelsea
He is a passionate scholar of the game. A laptop is open in front of him and he quotes widely from American basketball coaches to studies into training techniques at the University of Porto. He has even written down some recent quotes from Ferguson and Yaya Toure to support his theories.
He looks remarkably fit for a 50-year-old, which is perhaps not surprising given his reputation as a top fitness trainer.
His role at Liverpool extended far beyond that, however, and it is notable that Benitez won all his trophies at Anfield in the three years Ayestaran was at his side and nothing in the three years after he left.
‘Not only myself,’ he insists. ‘There was Jose Ochotorena the goalkeeper coach and Paco Herrera who was coaching the second team and doing the scouting. We had the right synergy between us and once we left all those synergies disappeared.’
Opposition: Benitez has been met with strong protests from Chelsea fans
Unpopular: Benitez's Liverpool links made it harder for Chelsea fans to accept their interim boss
Since leaving Liverpool, Ayestaran has worked an assistant at Benfica, Valencia and Al Ahly in Dubai. He was also sporting director at Real Sociedad. But he started out as a manager and now believes the time is right to be his own man again.
‘I really feel that I’m a far better coach than I was a few years ago,’ he says. ‘I know clubs from top to bottom because I’ve been involved with mostly everything.
‘We’ve heard so many times that clubs can’t compete at a higher level because they have no budget to buy quality players. Often that’s an excuse, it’s rarely just about money. It’s about doing things differently and that’s one of the things I can add to the clubs.
‘I’ve got so many things to express and put in practice. You have to transform the club, the way of doing things and the players. One of the problems in football sometimes is that the players go through the motions in training.
‘When people ask me about my greatest achievement, I never talk about the Champions League, FA Cup and La Liga. My best achievement was being able to convince this level of players like Gerrard, Carragher, Alonso, Ayala and Canizares that you have to get results through being committed in training.
‘I still keep in touch with Stevie and Carra, so many players. I can talk proudly of my relationship with them.’
Sadly, the relationship with Benitez will never be the same.
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