Italian World Cup winner Marco Materazzi has slammed Real Madrid manager Rafael Benitez‘s style of play and listed numerous top players who have not enjoyed playing for the Spaniard.

Materazzi was at Inter Milan during Benitez’s short spell at the San Siro in 2010 and was dismissive of his appointment as Real manager back in the summer, per MailOnline’s Matt Maltby.

Following Los Blancos’ 4-0 defeat to Barcelona on Saturday, Materazzi has taken a swipe at the former Liverpool, Chelsea and Napoli boss, claiming the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Steven Gerrard have not enjoyed playing for Benitez, per Italian outlet La Gazzetta dello Sport (via Marca):

“Are Napoli winning and playing entertaining football? That’s because they have a coach now. I watched El Clasico on Saturday and I felt like Cristiano Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard, John Terry and Paolo Cannavaro. Those are all players who did not like playing under [Benitez].”

Liverpool legend Gerrard has previously described to Football Focus that his relationship with Benitez was “distant” despite the pair leading the Reds to Champions League and FA Cup glory.

It was recently reported, following the Clasico defeat, that Ronaldo is not happy with having Benitez as manager at the Bernabeu, per Jack de Menezes in the Independent.

Life in the Real dugout has not been easy for Benitez since he succeeded Carlo Ancelotti in the summer.

Defeat to Barcelona followed a 3-2 loss to Sevilla and Real now sit six points back from the league-leading Catalans in the Spanish top flight.

Their poor recent form has seen them drop dramatically down Bleacher Report’s European club rankings, per Sam Tighe:

Following the weekend’s thrashing, the 55-year-old Benitez was given the backing of Real president Florentino Perez, per the Guardian‘s Sid Lowe.

However, as noted by Spanish football expert Andy West, that is by no means an indication that he will stay in the role long term:

Indeed, Sky Sports’ Guillem Balague does not believe Benitez will be in charge of Real next season, despite being contracted until 2018. 

Certainly Benitez will need to turn Real’s form around if he is to remain in his job for any length of time and maintaining good relationships with his players will be key if Los Blancos are to bounce back.  

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