Jamie Carragher has explained why Liverpool opted to snap up Rafa Benitez as manager during the 2004 summer break over Jose Mourinho, who had just won the Champions League with Porto.
Both bosses were hot property during that period, with Mourinho bringing great success to Porto, winning the Portuguese cup and league titles, along with the European trophy, while Benitez had just won his second La Liga with Valencia in three seasons.
Mourinho likely had the edge, but Carragher, speaking on the Sky Sports Football Podcast, said it was likely the management style and demeanour of Benitez which saw the Reds go for the Madrid-born boss.
The 42-year-old said: "Gerard Houllier had lost his job, and (chief executive) Rick Parry had interviewed Rafa Benitez at some stage.
"He was just keeping the senior players informed about where they were up to, and he did mention Jose Mourinho.
"I knew much more about Rafa Benitez because of the Spanish football and what he'd done, and it looked that (appointing him) was quite far down the road anyway.
"But I think the feeling was that Jose Mourinho couldn't be a Liverpool manager, possibly because of the way he conducted himself at times.
He continued: "I think even that run down the line, even though it was great, at Old Trafford, the feeling was at the club and maybe from certain players that it wasn't really the Liverpool way of doing things.
"So I always thought we'd go for Rafa with him being a little bit more standoffish.
Benitez brought about a revival of Liverpool. Despite him missing out on the league with the Merseyside club, he achieved Champions League glory, taking them to two European finals, winning one, while he also won the F.A Cup and UEFA Super Cup.
By contrast, Mourinho never tasted European glory with Chelsea. Instead, he dominated domestically, winning the Premier League in his inaugural season with the Blues.
