RAFA BENITEZ AJIPANGA KURUDI LIVERPOOL

Rafa Benitez has revealed he believes he will 'almost certainly' return to Liverpool as manager.
The Spaniard remains a popular figure with the club's fans after being in charge at Anfield from 2004 to 2010, winning the Champions League and FA Cup and then overlooking Liverpool's most convincing title challenge of the Premier League era.
He will be at Chelsea until the season's end when he will again be a free agent but hopes to remain in England, and is adamant that any path he takes will ensure he returns to Liverpool, even if he doesn't know when.

But when? Rafael Benitez has not set a target date to be Liverpool's manager for a second time

'I will return, almost certainly,' Benitez told Marca. 'What I do not know is when. My daughters and wife still live there.
'My idea is to train a competitive team. Why not in England? We will have to wait and see. Everything will be worked out.'
An individual to consistently polarise opinion, the first five of Benitez's six seasons at Liverpool were a success in which they also reached another Champions League final and lost to Chelsea in the final of the 2005 League Cup.

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UNHAPPY ANFIELD RETURNS

Never a man that could be accused of lacking confidence, Rafa Benitez should regardless be warned that former managers who return to Liverpool rarely succeed.
Kenny Dalglish returned as manager, by popular demand, when he succeeded Roy Hodgson in January 2011. He was sacked 18 months later, however, having spent a significant amount of money – including £35m on Andy Carroll – and failing to inspire an improvement.
Dalglish's predecessor Roy Hodgson, incidentally, hosted Gerard Houllier's Aston Villa at Anfield, and beat them 3-0 in a rare high point of his brief reign.
Houllier's men were very poor, and he was chastised for it by Villa's fans after touching the 'This is Anfield sign' and saying 'if I have to lose 3-0 to someone, I would prefer it to be them as I like Liverpool'.

It cannot be overlooked however, that his last season was a disaster which ended with him being given the sack. The manager has repeatedly been linked with taking over at Real Madrid where his rival Jose Mourinho is presently in charge but if he is to do so, he could once again work with Xabi Alonso, whose 2009 departure to Real was hugely influential in Liverpool's subsequent decline and something for which Benitez was regularly blamed.
'At Liverpool I had to take some decisions and [Alonso] reacted in his own way,' he said. 'Each person has their own way of behaving. He is a great player, very important for any team. I cannot say we had a good or bad relationship. It was professional.
'Obviously I know the place [Madrid] very well – I was there from 13 years old as a player and coach. I am a Madrid fan. It is nice to be linked in one manner or another, but that does not make me lose my current concentration on Chelsea. I have a good relationship with [Madrid president] Florentino Perez. Whenever I have talked with him, he has always been polite.'

Trophy No 1: When Benitez inspired Liverpool to an unlikely Champions League in 2005

Benitez's appointment at Chelsea remains a hugely unpopular decision among the club's fans. They remain in contention to win both the FA Cup and Europa League, however, in addition to finishing in the Premier League's top four.
There were those who wanted Benitez to return to Liverpool last summer when Kenny Dalglish, incidentally brought back to the club by the Spaniard, was sacked, before in his successor Brendan Rodgers they appointed their third permanent manager in two years, but the club's owners now appear committed to a more long-term, stable plan.

Trophy: Celebrating the 2006 FA Cup win with Steven Gerrard