One former Liverpool player admitted he couldn’t look at any of his team-mates’ in the eyes after a disappointing performance in the Champions League
Stephen Warnock revealed he “s*** himself” playing for Liverpool against Olympiacos in the Champions League.
The former Reds defender spent five years at Anfield where he played 67 times for his boyhood club before departing for Blackburn Rovers in 2007.
During his tenure on Merseyside, Warnock made his first-team debut for Liverpool in the Champions League in 2004, nine months before Rafa Benitez would lead his team to a fifth triumph in the historic European competition.
Before the miracle that took place in Istanbul against AC Milan, there were many trials and tribulations along the way, including a 1-0 defeat away to Olympiacos in the group stage, that forged a hard road ahead for Liverpool to qualify for the knockout stages of the tournament.
Having started the game, the former left-back admitted that the ferocious atmosphere at Karaiskakis Stadium during the warm-up demonstrated just how significant this clash was, as he spoke on the Undr The Cosh podcast.
“When we got to Olympiacos’ ground on the day of the game, their fans were in as soon as we came out to warm up and you could hear them banging through the roof of the changing room and I was thinking s***, this is big-time,” Warnock said.
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The ex-England international admitted that he “s*** himself” during the game that caused Benitez to hook him at half-time in an eventual 1-0 defeat in Greece. “I admit it, I s*** myself, I came off at half-time I was awful, I felt like I was well out of my depth and I remember thinking I’ve got to f***ing do something about this,” he remarked.
“I remember coming off the plane, I was devastated and dead embarrassed, I couldn’t look at any of the players in the eye, I felt like ‘that’s me done at Liverpool'”.
Following his departure from Liverpool, Warnock carved out a respectable Premier League career with the likes of Blackburn and Aston Villa as he made his England debut during his two-year stint with the former. During his appearance on the podcast, the Lancashire native took aim at his former Reds boss as he scolded Benitez for his non-existent man-management. “He didn’t speak to anyone,” he claimed.
“His man-management was horrendous, absolutely horrendous, I’ve said this to loads of people, [he’s] tactically brilliant. Man-management? Zero. Absolutely no idea how to speak to anyone.”
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