Hicks revisits Benitez row
29 Dec 2007 - 12:05:27
Liverpool co-owner Tom Hicks has accused manager Rafael Benitez of behaving petulantly during their recent public spat over transfer plans.
Hicks and Benitez recently became embroiled in a war of words with the Spanish coach accusing the American co-owner - along with business partner George Gillett - of not understanding the European transfer market.
In response, Hicks told Benitez to concentrate on coaching the players he had at his disposal.
"We wanted to see what we could do with the players we had already bought," Hicks told Sports Illustrated.
"We just wanted to see if the team was going to gel.
"Then he went to a press conference and kind of pouted and answered in the same way 20 times: 'I'm focusing on my team.'
"The media made up everything from that point forward. They made up that we were going to fire him, that I told him to shut up, that there was a battle between Benitez and the Americans. It's really funny to watch."
Meanwhile, Hicks has also criticised the Liverpool players who lost 1-0 to title rivals Manchester United at Anfield earlier this month.
He added: "Our team played like they mentally didn't think they were good enough to win. They played tight."