Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez had to drag the club into the 21st century when he first arrived.

Everything from dietary habits to training-ground facilities and spying on Liverpool's opponents changed radically, reveals his former assistant manager Paco Herrera.

He told The Sun: "Everything was created little by little.

"Most of the things were done in the first two years. Like the video room, with staff who deal with this issue 100 per cent. There are big satellite dishes and contracts with two or three companies that make sure that every month the club get all the videos from every country. There have been little improvements, even though Melwood was already an excellent training ground.

"In the second year we started building a hotel of about 20 rooms. It was completed before I left, so that the players could concentrate there above all before Champions League games. The players rest there in the training centre and they don't go to any hotel.

"Ayestaran and Benitez also created small hills in the training ground for the players to do resistance running. Everything is very detailed and thought through."

The players' dietary habits also underwent a radical transformation, from the times of meals to what the Kop idols actually eat.

Herrera added: "Yes, the dietary habits were changed from the outset when we arrived. In general terms, in the teams where the management staff were English the diet was not very careful. So at the start in the entire training ground, which is very big, in the restaurant, in areas with refrigerators where you can get energy drinks and isotonic drinks - as soon as Rafa arrived he banned everything that he thought might be bad for the players.

"From that day the food was meticulously studied because the players eat breakfast there and also lunch. Now every breakfast or lunch is made with commonsense for the good of an athlete."