SoccerBlogs

Steven Gerrard has praised Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez's "winning mentality" and man-management which the England international insists makes playing for the side "a pleasure".

Gerrard and Benitez have not always enjoyed the smoothest of relationships, the Liverpool captain revealing in his autobiography that he longed for "a 'well done' off Rafa" amid reports of disputes over where and how the former Valencia coach was deploying the talismanic midfielder.