Liverpool stars were ‘bored’ by tedious ‘what’s the time Mr Wolf’ training drill adopted by Benitez

Peter Crouch has recalled that he and his Liverpool team-mates were left “bored” after being made by Rafael Benitez to complete a tedious training drill.

Benitez spent six years as Liverpool’s manager between 2004 and 2010. Ahead of his second season in charge, he signed Crouch from Southampton for £7m.

Crouch won the FA Cup and Community Shield during his time at Liverpool and he departed after three seasons.

The gangly striker only started nine times in the Premier League in his final season under Benitez in 2007/08.

Liverpool reached the Champions League final that season and Crouch was named among the substitutes as they lost 2-1 against AC Milan.

Crouch was “devastated” to be left out and Jamie Carragher has since claimed that Benitez made a mistake in not starting the forward.

The ex-Tottenham and Stoke City star did not fully see eye to eye with Benitez. Now he has recalled what was “the most boring session ever” under the Spaniard:

“One of his sessions was a warm-up and we would do this thing where we would all be in a team shape, and there would be various cones set out in the formation of the team we would play on the weekend,” he said on That Peter Crouch Podcast.

“There would be no ball whatsoever, and Rafa would shout ‘left-back’. We would all have to funnel over without a ball, and be in the positions that we should be in, if the left-back got the ball.

“We would all be moving as a unit. It was one of the most boring sessions I have ever been a part of.

“If you don’t go out with the intensity that he liked, he would stop it and you would keep doing it until he did.

“The whole squad was involved, 25 players, there could be six midfielders, and they would all be in their specific position, so the whole team, including the subs would have to do it.”

After being told that it sounded like the childhood game, ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf,’ Crouch replied, “Yeah, exactly right. Premier League players doing ‘what’s the time Mr Wolf’ first thing in the morning.”

Back to more serious matters, Liverpool host Man City in their first Premier League clash of the season on Sunday at Anfield.

The Reds currently find themselves 13 points adrift of the champions having played a game less.

Ahead of Sunday’s game, Crouch has suggested that Liverpool vs Man City is under threat of being “one-sided”:

“It’s not quite the game of the last couple of seasons,” Crouch told BT Sport.

“Liverpool seem to be suffering at the moment and City seem to be flying, adding Haaland to the mix, it does feel one-sided.

“We can’t read too much into tonight, they’ve managed to rest three key players in Foden, Silva and Haaland – fresh for the weekend. You have to fancy City.”

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