Bill Shankly invented ‘The Liverpool Way’ says Rafael Benitez

Dec 2 2009 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

RAFAEL BENITEZ marked the 50th anniversary of Bill Shankly’s appointment as Liverpool manager by insisting the club must always aspire to the levels of pride and passion the great Scot achieved at Anfield.

Benitez, the current incumbent, admits he knew little of Shankly when he took over the hot seat himself four and a half years ago.

But he soon learned exactly how important Shankly was to the history of the club.

And he admits the appointment of playing legend Sammy Lee as assistant manager was partly designed to rediscover the spirit of Shankly.

Benitez said: “When we decided to bring in Sammy we had someone who knew the philosophy and the ideas of the club.

“Everything has changed in football and everything is different in society nowadays.

“Life is different. Everyone has iPods or Wiis and in a hurry to do things. But still we try to have the same ideas as Shankly.

“When people talk about the ‘Liverpool Way’, it was always to win. We try to do this and that is our priority if possible. We try to do things properly, like Shankly did.”

Half a century has passed since then chairman TV Williams changed Liverpool forever by making Shankly manager but, as far as Benitez is concerned, the Shankly way will never die and will forever provide motivation for future generations.

He said: “One of the things we did after Sammy came was to change a little bit of decoration at Melwood. We now have a lot of photographs of former players, the legends and the managers and quotes from different people.

“We have been trying to bring this spirit. It is much better now. When people come to training now, they can look around and it is an inspiration to them. It would have been an honour to have met him, 100%.