Jamie Carragher has revealed that Jose Mourinho was in contention to become the new Liverpool manager in 2004 before the club decided to appoint Rafael Benitez instead.
Mourinho had established himself as one of the hottest managerial properties in football by leading unfancied Porto to Champions League glory in 2004, eventually joining Chelsea, where he won their first league title in 50 years during his debut campaign at the helm.
Mourinho's Chelsea developed a fierce rivalry with Benitez's Liverpool during that period, and Carragher revealed that the Reds rejected the chance to appoint the Portuguese boss themselves due to some of his touchline antics.
"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," Carragher told Sky Sports News.
"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.
"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."
Mourinho went on to win two Premier League titles, two League Cups and the FA Cup during his first spell at Stamford Bridge, while Benitez won the Champions League and FA Cup with Liverpool.
Barney Corkhill
