I don't spend all day thinking about football. But a large part of it, yeah.
— Rafael Benitez
There are massive clubs with massive amounts of money, and Liverpool were always a little bit behind. But if you create a good team, a good atmosphere, and work hard, you can get there. You can win trophies.
As a manager, you are important sometimes, and you make mistakes, but the most important people are your staff and your players. Never call me 'the special one!'
You go to Madrid, you have four or five teams at the maximum level. You go to Milan, and it's the same. Napoli is similar to Newcastle in terms of everyone supporting one club in the city. It's positive and unique when you have that.
There are only two or three places in Britain with Catholic and Protestant cathedrals,and Liverpool is one. My wife Montse and I like to go to both of them.
I was a PE teacher, and when you teach, you can say, 'You have to do this.' It's an order. That's one way. Or you can say, 'Listen, we have these problems, so give me the solution,' and they have to think about it. Or you can say, 'Here are three options - which one is best?'
I go to the training ground early in the morning, between 7:30 A.M. and 8:30 A.M. Not just me, my staff. Then, sometimes I leave at 8 P.M. or 6 P.M.
Always you will miss something if you have to go, because you are trying to improve players who are people. You talk with them and work with them every day. You will miss them.
The family is something you are always missing, but it has to be like this. It is not easy for any manager to be with your family, in your house, and working at your nearest club. So you have to travel.
When you are the manager, you want to win.
I am a Madrid fan.
I have won the Champions League, won the FIFA Club World Cup, the FA Cup, the Italian Super Cup, the Spanish league twice, nine trophies, all the trophies you can win at club level.
I would say the Geordie accent and the scouse accent are similar in terms of I don't understand anything!
I want to talk more about the future than the past.
I was under pressure in my first season at Valencia, and we won the title. Two years later, I was under more pressure there, and we won the title and the UEFA Cup.
It is very important that you can express yourself, especially at half-time in a changing room, which is the crucial time for a manager.
Players want to join a club that's ambitious.
Sometimes you have to praise players.
When I arrived at Liverpool, the budget was £20m gross. When I left, it was £17m, but still people said I must win the title. Manchester United had around £50m more every year, but they said I must compete against them.
I love the Beatles.
I understand 100 per cent why someone would want to buy Newcastle United. It's very clear: it has the potential to be one of the top sides.
When you have more money than anyone, and you can buy the players that you want, OK, you can buy the quality, and maybe you no longer mind about the other things.
I have been doing this for a long ,and it is the players who learn who you need to work with. You have to coach them to think and understand the game. If they cannot, then you have to tell them, 'You have to do this anyway,' but the best thing to do is say, 'Listen, if he is doing this, then maybe you have to do that.'
I don't read the press that much.
I don't always sleep for too long, but I sleep well. Sometimes when you have a doubt about team selection, you talk to your pillow, but in the morning, you have an idea.
If the fans are behind your players, it's much better.
When you are winning and go to finals, you want to win the finals.
To manage is to decide the team, the substitutions, and everything until the end.
With Tenerife, we had to fight in the most difficult second division in Spain with Atletico Madrid, Sevilla, and Real Betis, and we were promoted. I know you have to fight until the last day. We were promoted in the last game.
I am a professional that likes to concentrate on my job during the games.
The fans say you can do this and that, but you have to analyse the potential of the team with your staff. Will it be enough to be at the top until the end of the season? You never know.
How can you change things when you are under pressure? You don't tell a player who keeps giving the ball away not to touch the ball; you keep training and working hard.
Competition in football means someone will improve.
I like working on the pitch, staying focused.
When you're a young manager and trying to build something, you work very, very hard.
When you are playing well, the players play with more confidence, sometimes without changing anything.
You are under pressure when you play to avoid relegation.
I like 'Only Fools and Horses' and 'Father Ted.'
When you play against a top side, you know they will have more possession, and they will be in more control, and you have to find one or two counterattacks.
I don't only watch football. I like films.
I come from a Napoli team who scored 104 goals. Do you think I'm going to be hyper-defensive with Real Madrid? A team that creates chances and is great in possession is not defensive.
Having the family around is always very important because they are supportive. If you have a good day, you can enjoy it together. And if you have a bad day, you always find something as a distraction with your children, because they are normally happy.
Everyone has to have the same targets, and the fans are very important for every team, for the motivation of the players. It's the same in every club.
Wenger is a great manager, a great person, someone who knows the league here in England.
I will do my job: I will try to win every game until the last minute. That's it.
People think I don't have experience in the second division, but we were promoted with Tenerife and Extremadura,and I was the coach of the reserve team with Real Madrid in the second division. I know what it means to go from this level to another level. I realise how difficult it is.
Whenever people say things about me, it always comes back to Liverpool - but I cannot just become 'the former manager.' I am a professional football manager.
As a manager, I have to keep calm.
We want to win trophies and be in the record books.
I don't think where they live is important to footballers.
