'We didn't accept' - Ex-Chelsea star opens up on dressing room unrest under former Liverpool manager

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has revealed that his side did not accept Rafael Benitez during his time in charge.

Benitez arrived at Liverpool in 2004 and went on to win the Champions League, but he formed an incredible rivalry with Chelsea across his time at the club.

The infamous 'ghost goal' kicked off the beef between the two sides in 2005 and it was certainly shocking when he took over as interim manager of the London side in 2012. He was even met with deafening boos during his first game in charge but he did go on to secure a third-place finish, FA Cup semi-final and a Europa League triumph.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Mikel revealed that player power and the reliance on leaders helped to guide them through that season with Benitez in charge.

"You were not having Rafa Benitez, were you?" Presenter Jim White asked Mikel.

"No we were not!" Mikel responded. "We made that clear, I think from his time at Liverpool they were obviously a big rival. I think the fans also didn't like Rafa.

"There was something about Rafa that the fans didn't take to, the same with the players. We didn't accept him as one of us."

He then explained that one of the biggest issues was the fallout with John Terry, the club captain and one of the star performers and fan favourites at the time: "He also had the thing with JT, where he was dropped and wasn't playing as much as he wanted to.

"Because, obviously, JT was always playing. Rafa came in and said 'well you're not going to play every game' but he wanted an explanation as to why he wasn't playing - and Rafa didn't give him that."

Despite the issues he had, Benitez recorded his second highest win percentage during his 48 game stint at Stamford Bridge; his 58% win ratio was only bettered by his time at Real Madrid (68%).

Eventually, he did win the fans over with the qualification for the Champions League and Europa League triumph and he initially wanted to extend his stay from an interim position but he moved on to Napoli shortly after.

Of course, he even enjoyed a small, but largely unsuccessful period at Everton in 2021 and currently finds himself in charge at Celta Vigo.