Balague: Benitez has a desire to manage Liverpool again

Rafa Benitez feels he has unfinished business at Liverpool and would love to manage the club again one day.

The 60 year-old Spaniard is currently out of work after leaving latest club Dalian Pro in the Chinese SuperLeague in late January.

The well-travelled manager is known as someone who loves a project and Journalist and close confidant Guillem Balague has said that he would love a return to Liverpool although it is not on the cards at this time.

The Echo reported Balague as saying:

“There is a feeling of unfinished business with Rafa and Liverpool, I've always said that.

“Rafa would love to be the Liverpool manager at some point. Maybe in a time of crisis, proper crisis, not what's happening now.

“Maybe in a time where there's a need for a strong personality to steady a ship. But right now in the way that the owners are behaving and Klopp and everything, that situation doesn't exist.

"How can we think that Klopp has reached the end of an era? Look at the bigger picture, how can anyone suggest that?

"It's laughable. It's stupid and absurd to be talking about a future without Klopp."

The issue regarding who will succeed Klopp when the time comes has sprung to life during the last few weeks. Bookies slashed the odds of the German leaving Anfield due to a flurry of bets placed by people who would have been better served using that money at bestaustraliancasinosites where at least they'd have a chance of their gamble paying off.

Unsubstantiated rumours a few weeks ago that the German was considering his position due to the significant drop in form by the team turned out to be just that, as it was revealed he was dealing with a personal tragedy with the passing of his mother.

There will come a time when Klopp does decide to walk away from this fantastic team that he built and while it will be a incredibly sad day, there will be no lack of suitors for the role.

The main question is would they look to bring back a manager past or look at someone with progressive Football philosophies.

Benitez unquestionably won the hearts of a lot of Liverpool fans with his ability to connect with the fanbase on and off the pitch and restoring Liverpool’s name as the pre-eminent team in Europe.

He fought the good fight against Liverpool’s rivals, never taking a backward step ruffling plenty of feathers and creating everlasting memories along the way.

His disputes with the owners at the time will go down in Anfield folklore, but his pre-occupation with what was happening off the pitch ended up affecting performances on it and his own judgement when it came to buying and selling players.

It would be harsh to say that Benitez’s best days are behind him, but would he be able to re-invent and alter his pragmatic ways, something that his old sparring partner Jose Mourinho has failed to do?

Benitez did not like to gamble and his approach was usually ultra cautious. For those who do like a gamble you should visit here.

At this stage it is nothing more than a hypothetical scenario and may very well remain that way. 

But like many things in Football, it presents itself as an interesting talking point.