Jamie Carragher has expressed his shock at Rafael Benitez's eye-catching admission that he cannot decide if he is "more Liverpool or Everton".
The Spaniard coached both the red and the blue half of Merseyside but had sharply contrasting experiences with the clubs. He was at the helm of Liverpool for six years but his spell in the dugout at Goodison Park lasted just six months.
Ahead of Monday night's highly-anticipated Merseyside derby, Benitez has explained that he finds it hard to choose which club he is more closely associated with. That is despite winning the Champions League title with the Reds in 2005, followed by the FA Cup the following campaign.
His time at Everton was much less cheery and brought just seven wins from his 22 matches at the helm, culminating in his dismissal from the Blues last January with the club teetering in 16th position. That is the position they finished under his successor Frank Lampard, who was sacked last month.
Speaking ahead of the match, Benitez explained – in quotes carried by the Liverpool Echo: "When I first arrived at Anfield I was surprised by the people, they were very friendly, they tried to help with adapting to the new place from day one.
"Then at Everton, there were a lot of friendly people, but the difference was that some looked at you differently, they couldn't forget the past with Liverpool.
"I feel at home in Merseyside, my family is completely at home here and that is important. The Liverpool fans are still kind and close today, many of the Everton fans know what actually happened and are, let's say, friendly."
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He then continued, when asked about his experiences at Goodison Park: "I don't think that managing Everton tarnished my reputation at Anfield; the Liverpool fans understood that my family and my home are here and that I hadn't been managing for a while, so many accepted this.
"At the start, many of the Everton fans saw it as an opportunity to take advantage of my experience to reach another level, but others still didn't see it clearly. I think this has settled a bit now."
Benitez added: "I can't say I'm more Liverpool or Everton today. Logically, in six years there were a lot of highs at Liverpool, but I still have good friends amongst the Everton fans."
That conclusion left Carragher shocked, with the former Reds defender – who was an Everton supporter in his childhood – responding with two shocked-face emojis on Twitter. Carragher played 326 matches under Benitez across his six seasons at the helm of Liverpool.
