Benitez in new Manchester United outburst

Monday, 12 January 2009

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Benitez has questioned whether David Gill's role at the FA constitutes a conflict of interests

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Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has made a fresh attack on Manchester United with a swipe at the club's chief executive David Gill.

Benitez made headlines last week with a series of outspoken remarks about his Old Trafford counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson.

He has followed that up with further comments about Gill, who also holds a senior position at the Football Association.

Benitez said: "They were saying we are a threat. Now they know we are, they are playing mind games.

"But I don't think it's a mind game when you have control over everything; it's a mind game when you have the same level as the other people, then you can show you are cleverer than the others.

"But when you have control of everything and your chief executive is powerful in the FA and things like this, then that is not mind games.

"Is there a conflict of interest with David Gill at the FA?

"That is another fact. It is a fact that one person has a lot of power and control, and is on a lot of committees in the FA. To me that is very strange."

Neither the Football Association nor United have commented.

Last week Benitez made a number of accusations about the Manchester United manager. He said that Ferguson and his staff's haranguing of match officials when they leave the bench at half-time was so severe that his side had resorted to "marking" members of the United bench.

He went on to say: "Only Mr Ferguson can talk about the fixtures, the referees and other things and nothing happens," Benitez said. "We need to know about the facts. I am not talking about my impression. But facts."

The outburst caused much discussion in the press about whether the pressure of the title chase might be getting to the Liverpool manager.

Alex Ferguson, responding after United's victory over Chelsea on Sunday, said "I think you've got to cut through the venom of it and hopefully he will reflect and understand that what he was saying was absolutely ... well, it was ridiculous." He went on: "But I think he was an angry man. I think he was disturbed for some reason or another and that's all I've got to say about it. I don't understand where the venom came from."