Real Madrid's deep-lying playmaking midfielder Xabi Alonso, who swapped Liverpool's Anfield for the Santiago Bernabeu in the summer, has offered his support to his former manager Rafael Benitez.
"There is no questioning that he is a good manager who can still bring success for Liverpool," Alonso is quoted to have told Sky Sports.
"He doesn't operate the same way to a lot of other managers, but you can't deny that he is successful in what he does.
"He keeps his distance emotionally - you are the player and he is the manager and that's the way he likes it. You have to accept that.
"I will always respect Rafa for what he has done in football but, more importantly, I will always be massively grateful to him for the chance he gave me to join Liverpool."
Alonso, though, did concede that the persistent speculation linking then-Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry with a transfer to the Merseyside outfit was the catalyst for his desire to crave a Real switch.
He said in the People: "The pursuit of Gareth Barry took some time for me to accept and, in all honesty, it changed the course of my future.
"I did get over it but it did take time for me to accept what had happened to me.
"Leaving Liverpool was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but after what happened with Barry I knew in my heart I had to tell Rafa that I wanted to go to Madrid when they came knocking at the door.
"I was still fairly young when I joined Liverpool and I had not only grown into the player I'd become there, but also the man I'd become."
"There is no questioning that he is a good manager who can still bring success for Liverpool," Alonso is quoted to have told Sky Sports.
"He doesn't operate the same way to a lot of other managers, but you can't deny that he is successful in what he does.
"He keeps his distance emotionally - you are the player and he is the manager and that's the way he likes it. You have to accept that.
"I will always respect Rafa for what he has done in football but, more importantly, I will always be massively grateful to him for the chance he gave me to join Liverpool."
Alonso, though, did concede that the persistent speculation linking then-Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry with a transfer to the Merseyside outfit was the catalyst for his desire to crave a Real switch.
He said in the People: "The pursuit of Gareth Barry took some time for me to accept and, in all honesty, it changed the course of my future.
"I did get over it but it did take time for me to accept what had happened to me.
"Leaving Liverpool was one of the hardest decisions of my life, but after what happened with Barry I knew in my heart I had to tell Rafa that I wanted to go to Madrid when they came knocking at the door.
"I was still fairly young when I joined Liverpool and I had not only grown into the player I'd become there, but also the man I'd become."
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