Spaniard will be leaving the club next month however.
Veteran Chelsea midfield player Frank Lampard has admitted that he did not enjoy a close working relationship with ‘interim’ Chelsea head coach Rafa Benitez last season, reports the Sun.
The former Valencia, Liverpool and Inter Milan boss replaced Roberto Di Matteo in the Stamford Bridge dug-out last November after the popular Italian was sacked by the Blues’ billionaire Russian owner Roman Abramovich.
And in the intervening six-month period, the Spaniard managed to guide the west London club to a top three finish in the Premier League, and with it automatic entry into next season’s Uefa Champions League, as well as victory in the final of the Uefa Europa League against Benfica earlier this month.
However, despite winning 28 of his 48 matches in charge of the Champions League holders and losing just ten of those contests, the England international says that he never really got close to Benitez.
“There are certain managers you build relationships with and feel closer to. He’s not that kind of bloke,” said Lampard.
“Other managers draw a bit of a line and keep it that way. Rafa’s more like that.
“He was not really the sort of manager you could sit and talk with.
“We had a couple of conversations about my future in which he was quite honest saying that he wasn’t really involved.
“So that’s where that conversation ends.
“He’s not a manager who goes round putting his arm around every player — and I’m not saying that’s wrong.
“There are a lot of managers like that, Fabio Capello was like that with England.”
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