Rafa Benitez reveals his debt to Sir Alex Ferguson as Newcastle boss prepares to take on protege Mauricio Pellegrino at Southampton

  • Sir Alex Ferguson let Rafa Benitez watch Manchester United in training  
  • Spaniard said he came to pick brain of manager before taking Liverpool job 
  • Benitez will throw open doors of Newcastle training for foreign managers
  • He is taking on old protege Maurico Pellegrino who now manages Southampton 

Rafa Benitez has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson let him watch Manchester United training before he took over at Liverpool.

The Newcastle boss is preparing to face the coach who he mentored into management on Sunday, Southampton’s Mauricio Pellegrino.

And Benitez has been speaking about the importance of young managers experiencing different football cultures, just as he did when he was between jobs in 2000.

Sir Alex Ferguson allowed Rafa Benitez to watch Manchester United training in 2000

Sir Alex Ferguson allowed Rafa Benitez to watch Manchester United training in 2000

‘I came here to England to see Alex Ferguson for one week when Steve McClaren was his assistant,’ said the Spaniard.


‘I went to see Tony Pulis at Stoke as well, he is my friend. He (Ferguson) had a different of working compared to Tony.

‘But it was a really good experience for me, I was very open minded to learn. It is good to be like that, especially when you come to England and you play in the European cup competitions (with a foreign team). They play in a different style, you have to understand what they do and how they do it.

The Newcastle manager is open to sharing coaching expertise with other young managers

The Newcastle manager is open to sharing coaching expertise with other young managers

‘Sometimes you are the better team, but they have a way of playing and they do it really well - I had to learn.'

Benitez will thrown open the doors of Newcastle’s training ground to a group of young foreign coaches next month.

He added: ‘I was doing that when I was a young manager, I was travelling around the world to watch different ways to do things, it’s really important

‘I went to Italy and my first manager to follow was Arrigo Sacchi at AC Milan. I had a good relationship with him. Then I was watching Claudio Ranieri and Fabio Capello.

‘I was asking, ”How do you do this? How do you do that?”. I had a lot of magazines and videos, analysing what they do.’

Saints boss Pellegrino played under Benitez at Valencia and Liverpool and was on his coaching staff at Anfield and Inter Milan.

Benitez is preparing his side to take on Southampton at St Mary's on Sunday 

Benitez is preparing his side to take on Southampton at St Mary's on Sunday 

Benitez always knew the former Argentina defender was destined for a career in the dugout.

‘We had a group of players, particularly the Argentinian players, who finished lunch and then stayed for a while talking about football and different cultures. He was one of them,’ said Benitez.

‘It’s a strange feeling to come up against Mauricio, because he was my player at Valencia and I signed him for Liverpool too - I had a lot of confidence in him. And after he was my assistant for the same reason.

‘Now, to see him on the other side and to know what he is thinking and what you are thinking, it will be interesting.

‘The problem when you were the manager and he was your assistant, when you wanted to surprise someone, he knows what you were thinking of how to surprise someone - so I’m not sure I can.’ 

Rafael Benitez (left) and Mauricio Pellegrino (right) worked with each other at Liverpool 

Rafael Benitez (left) and Mauricio Pellegrino (right) worked with each other at Liverpool