Rafael Benítez today launched a cryptic attack on Liverpool's ousted owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, as well as the current managing director Christian Purslow.

Benítez, whose six-year reign as manager ended in the summer, was responding to Hicks's claim that he was largely to blame for Liverpool's worst ever start to a Premier League season. Hicks had accused Benítez of wasting much of the money he was given to spend during the latter half of his tenure.

But a clearly irked Benítez this afternoon insisted the Americans were to blame, citing their of appointment Purslow in the summer of last year as the beginning of a downward spiral that ended in the Spaniard's exit. In an outburst reminiscent of Eric Cantona's famous quote featuring seagulls and trawlers, the Internazionale manager compared the events leading up to his departure to a bottle of milk.

"I prefer not to talk too much about Liverpool," said Benítez, who watched the Merseyside derby defeat on Sunday which left his former club second bottom of the table. "I prefer not to talk about this because I feel really sorry for the fans.

"I was watching the fans and I was really sad after the defeat the other day. We have a saying in Spanish, which is: 'White liquid in a bottle has to be milk.'"

Benítez, who led Liverpool to second place in the Premier League in 2009 but could manage only seventh last term, added: "What does this mean? It means that after 86 points and finishing second in the league, what changed? The Americans, they chose a new managing director and everything changed.

"So, what changed? The managing director is involved in all the decisions: new lawyer, new chief of press, new manager, nine new players, new medical staff, new fitness coaches – they changed everything. At the beginning, they changed the managing director who was talking with some players, and they changed everything that we were doing in the past.

"So, if you want to ask again what was going on, it's simple: they changed something and, at the end, they changed everything. So, white liquid in a bottle: milk. You will know who is to blame."

Pressed further on the matter, Benítez would only say: "White liquid in a bottle. If I see John the milkman in the Wirral, where I was living, with this bottle, I'd say, 'It's milk, sure.'"