Benitez's Everton regret as Carragher tells Blues to appoint ex-Liverpool boss

Football fans don't forget. They can often forgive, but the forgetting is usually the sticking point.

If you've wronged a set of supporters at some point then you'll be remembered for it, and it will crop up again and again.

Take Rafael Benitez and the football hotbed of Merseyside, a place he loves so much he has come to call his home, even now.

Of course Benitez will forever be remembered as the man who brought the Champions League to Liverpool back in 2005, but football flows through both red and blue veins in Liverpool. There is always another side to the story, and another opinion to hold.

At the time that Benitez was building his Liverpool side, over the other side of Stanley Park David Moyes was doing the same with Everton, and to an impressive degree.

Indeed, in the season Liverpool won the Champions League in Istanbul, Everton finished above them in the table and in the top four. An outstanding achievement but one that would again pale into insignificance given what has being achieved at Anfield, especially when Everton failed to make the Champions League's group stages.

The rivalry matters on Merseyside, and so when, a couple of years after Istanbul, Benitez dubbed Everton "a small club" after their defensive approach earned a goalless draw at Anfield, it made headlines.

"I was really disappointed because one team wanted to win the game and one team didn't want to lose it," said the Reds manager, who had also referred to Everton as "smaller" before the match.

"Everton put eight or nine men behind the ball and defended deep but that's what small clubs do.

"When a team comes to Anfield and only want a point what else can you call them but a small club?"

The comments hit a nerve, with Moyes accusing Benitez of a lack of humility and pointing to the financial differences between the clubs, and defender Alan Stubbs calling the Liverpool boss "bitter".

Naturally, Liverpool fans loved the quote.

It very quickly took hold on Merseyside and added even more fuel to a fire that has now long burnt out that old "friendly derby" cliche.

Having now lived on Merseyside for many years though, and contributed to many of the area's charitable initiatives, Benitez regrets what he said.

Speaking to his former defender Jamie Carragher on Sky Sports' Monday Night Football in 2019, Benitez said: "I made a mistake when I said it was a small club.

"What I wanted to say was they are a small team because in this game I remember they had one chance.

"Liverpool fans were happy and the Evertonians were upset. But I didn't want to say they were a small club, I wanted to say they were a small team."

Why does any of this matter? Well as Carragher has written, Benitez must surely be considered as a leading candidate for the now vacant Everton job, if only fans could overlook his past.

There may be more compelling candidates such as Nuno Espirito Santo or Eddie Howe, but having gone down the Carlo Ancelotti route then Everton have a perfect replacement for the Italian on their doorstep if they want one.

Benitez would surely want the job as well.

It doesn't really risk ruining his reputation with Liverpool fans as nothing really could, and the initial reaction to the prospect of the appointment has been one of understanding on the red side.

On the blue one there are hurdles to overcome.

That Monday Night Football interview in 2019 coincided with the time Everton were looking for a new boss after Marco Silva's departure, and Benitez was keen to stress that he gets on well with the Blues fans he meets.

Would Rafa Benitez be a good choice for Everton? Have your say in the comments section

"Some Evertonians come to me and say about what I did for the city," he added.

"We have the charity, and all these things, so I have a very good connection with the city, not just the Liverpool fans."

Enough so that the past, and the hurtful comment, can be forgotten by everyone? Maybe not.

Because forgetting remains one of football's most elusive goals.