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Rafa Benitez has opened up about his life on the Wirral in a rare interview - talking about his dog walks, teenage daughters and trying to make sense of social media.

The lengthy interview was published by Chronicle Live, who spoke to the former Liverpool FC boss about his life beyond the beautiful game.

In a warm and personal interview with their reporter Lee Ryder, Caldy-based Rafa gave a glimpse at his family life on Merseyside, away from demanding managerial duties - and how he tries to switch off.

The Newcastle United manager still calls the Wirral home, despite having left Anfield in 2010, and he returns to the area to try and unwind with his wife and teenage daughters.

(Image: ANDREW YATES/AFP/Getty Images)

Speaking to Chronicle Live, he said: "When I go home and stay with my family, this is the time off that I have. And here, we are walking around.

"I play cards with my staff in our quieter moments, the Spanish game Mus and I enjoy that a lot, playing and competing.

"We are not thinking about football all the time."

What does he do when he decides to switch off from football?

Rafa has three dogs at his Wirral home, and he said he enjoys long walks after games with his wife Montse.

Showing the interviewer his phone screen, he pointed at a picture, saying: "It's the dog. To be fair, it’s not just one dog, it’s three dogs. I can only fit one on!

"My dogs are called Red, the German Shepherd, one is Goofy, a springer spaniel, and then Clem, the Labrador.

"He is called Clem because my daughter is called Claudia and a friend is called Emma - we put their names together.

"Goofy is my wife’s dog. He’s the boss."

The 58-year-old said he has tried to speak to his dogs in a number of languages, but with no joy. He said: "I try in both Spanish and English, but they don’t understand me!

"I have always had dogs, all my life. We were training them. I had one dog, a Doberman, and he was very good. We would have competitions so we were training them.

"He was the grandson of a champion dog in the United States and he was quite good, but died at three years with cancer in his brain. He was very fast and very strong.

"When I was training, I’d be running with him.

"And very dangerous in the night because when you took him out and he was running about, if somebody came up you’d have to be very careful because he was very, very fast. I was 26 or 28 at the time.

"I was living on the fourth floor, so I’d have to take him out for a pee and he’d be pulling me down the stairs.

"We had a white Alsatian, too, really nice, which lived for 14 years. A lot of my family - my sister, my brother, my two uncles, they are vets. We have always had dogs and animals around."

"For me, I don't need more followers"

Rafa also likes to spend time with his daughters, Claudia and Agata, who told him he had to stay at Newcastle back in 2016.

Back then both travelled to away games and stood with Newcastle fans before telling their dad how much the Geordies loved him.

He told Chronicle Live that his children also try to give him advice on how to use social media - something he still can't quite get his head around.

(Image: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)

The 58-year-old said: "Here is a message on my phone from my daughter, telling me about Instagram, saying ‘listen, you don’t have a clue, you have to do this and that.

"Do this and you’ll get more followers’. She was texting me one hour ago about this. For me, I don’t need more followers, but for her it seems important!

"It’s important for young people now.

"We talk about Ant and Dec and she says ‘oh, they’re big Newcastle fans and they talk well about you, so you need to follow them’.

"I have a Twitter account, @rafabenitezweb, which is attached to the website. I don’t run it myself. Instagram as well.

"Especially at the beginning I was doing some photos but the photos have to be a square and my daughter was telling me about that. She gives me advice.

"She tells me I have to follow certain people because they’re Newcastle fans. Alan Shearer was easy! Ant and Dec were easy, too!

"I can then tell my social media team, although my team is just one person!

"She told me, ‘James Bay is a famous singer but also he’s a massive Newcastle fan and he says nice things about you, so follow him’. So I did."

"I can't win" - watching Love Island with his teenagers

Rafa doesn't always get his way and has a TV in his office at home, somewhere he can go when the family are watching the TV at the same time as an important game.

When asked if there are any squabbles, Rafa said: "It’s normally about the TV. In the past, we’ve had the big television in the lounge with the football on, and we’d fight over what to watch. But not anymore, they always win!

"One of them is watching the Geordie Shore, 'What are you doing?', I say. They love all that, Big Brother, Love Island, all that rubbish. But I can’t win!"

(Image: Getty Images)

Asked what genres he would opt for if he was watching a film, Rafa started talking about his love of old karate movies - and how they inspired him to take up judo.

He said: "I did this from the age of six to 13. My moves now are not as good as they once were. But I can fight if I have to fight! I’m ready, I have done it all my life.

"At 13 I had made it to brown belt, then I gave up judo to join the Real Madrid academy. Three years later my brother was doing the black belt exam, so I did it, too.

"You had to compete in five fights and win three to get the belt. But they killed me because I no longer had the power in my arms at this time.

"I was quite tall at the time for the weight band, but the guy I fought against in the first fight, he was like this (motions small and very wide). Technically, I was fine.

"But when you go to the floor, you need the power."

"Players are like teenagers, many of them"

Rafa said his daughters watch him go through the motions of games in the dugout. He said: "They like football, they follow all my games. They are used to being around football all their life.

"They only worry about me when we are losing games! 'Dad, be careful', but they know that I can cope with the pressure."

(Image: Jason Roberts)

But Rafa feels there are similarities to managing a family to managing a football team.

The man from Madrid, who has managed superstars like Ronaldo, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard to name but a few, said: "It can be similar, managing your daughters and players!

"I always say, I have a good staff around me, young people around me. You need that to give you advice on how to communicate.

"If not, you just get older, and it’s harder to communicate with the players. I can communicate because I have those people helping me.

"We have all the latest technology and software. The way you talk with your daughter, you know how she’s thinking, it is very useful.

"Players are like teenagers, many of them. You have to think, 'What would I say to my daughters in this situation? How would I communicate?'. It really works with some players."