Steven Gerrard slams Rafa Benitez over "disastrous decision" to sell Xabi Alonso
Liverpool never should have let Alonso go at that price, according to Steven Gerrard.
In his new book, My Story, serialised in the Daily Mail, Gerrard cited Alonso as the best central midfielder he's ever played with. The former Liverpool captain admitted he couldn't believe it when Rafa Benitez sold the Spaniard at such a low price.
"Three players stand out in my time at Liverpool. They all speak Spanish. Each of them unleashes a wave of emotion in me and in every Liverpool supporter: Fernando Torres. Xabi Alonso. Luis Suarez."
"It was clear Alonso was royalty after our first training session together in August 2004, and Rafa Benitez, who had been so clever to buy him in the first place, was equally stupid to sell him to Real Madrid five years later. He was, by some distance, the best central midfielder I ever played alongside."
Gerrard points the finger of blame squarely at Benitez over the sale of Alonso to Madrid. He claimed that the midfielder could have built up a magnificent legacy at Anfield if the Liverpool boss tried harder to keep hold of him.
"It was a disastrous decision to sell Alonso, and especially for just £30million — which looks a snip now when you reflect on all he has achieved subsequently, both at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and with Spain, winning the Euros and the World Cup.
"I blame Rafa entirely for the loss of Alonso. He could still have been playing for Liverpool six or seven years after he left in 2009."
If Alonso was the best Gerrard ever played with, then El Hadji Diouf was by far the worst.
Gerrard revealed that he studied every player on their first day of training to work out whether they would be a "king" like Alonso or a "prat" like Diouf.
"I had seen a staggering number of new signings walk into the Liverpool training ground."
"I watched every single one of their first training sessions with close attention, wondering whether we’d bought a star or another dud, a king or a prat, a Xabi Alonso or an El Hadji Diouf, a Luis Suarez or a Mario Balotelli."
"A few people have since asked me if I saw any comparison between Diouf and Mario Balotelli - and I’ve always said no. I’ve got respect for Balotelli; I’ve got none for Diouf."
http://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/st...disastrous-decision-to-sell-xabi-alonso/39604
El-Hadji Diouf has accused Steven Gerrard of racism.
Diouf claims that he warned Mario Balotelli against joining Liverpool as Gerrard 'never liked black people.'
"We all saw how he made life difficult for Mario Balotelli at Liverpool. I warned him. Liverpool isn’t a team that accepts black people unless they are English," Diouf told Portuguese radio station Radio Future Média.
"It’s common knowledge. Gerrard has never liked black people. When I was at Liverpool, I showed him I was black, that I wasn’t English, but that I'm no pushover. All the time I was there, he never dared looked me in the eye.”
The one-time Liverpool 'striker' was responding to Gerrard's criticism of him in his autobiography, in which the LA Galaxy player said: “I don’t really want to waste time thinking about El Hadji Diouf but it’s worth highlighting his wasted seasons at Liverpool as an example of how it can all go wrong."
“Gerard Houllier, a very good manager and a usually wise judge of character, signed Diouf in the summer of 2002. Gerard bought Diouf for £10m from Lens - solely on the recommendation of his former assistant, Patrice Bergues, who had coached Diouf there.
“I understood why Gerard rushed through the signing, but he did not really know Diouf as a person. He was one of three new signings which were meant to turn Liverpool into Premier League champions.
“It seemed to me that Diouf had no real interest in football and that he cared nothing about Liverpool. For example, the way he spat a huge globule of gunky phlegm at a Celtic fan in a UEFA Cup match at Parkhead in March 2003 summed up his contemptuous and spiteful demeanour.
“A few people have since asked me if I saw any comparison between Diouf and Mario Balotelli - and I’ve always said no. I’ve got respect for Balotelli; I’ve got none for Diouf."
http://www.joe.ie/sport/el-hadji-di...ious-allegation-against-steven-gerrard/512011
Liverpool never should have let Alonso go at that price, according to Steven Gerrard.
In his new book, My Story, serialised in the Daily Mail, Gerrard cited Alonso as the best central midfielder he's ever played with. The former Liverpool captain admitted he couldn't believe it when Rafa Benitez sold the Spaniard at such a low price.
"Three players stand out in my time at Liverpool. They all speak Spanish. Each of them unleashes a wave of emotion in me and in every Liverpool supporter: Fernando Torres. Xabi Alonso. Luis Suarez."
"It was clear Alonso was royalty after our first training session together in August 2004, and Rafa Benitez, who had been so clever to buy him in the first place, was equally stupid to sell him to Real Madrid five years later. He was, by some distance, the best central midfielder I ever played alongside."
Gerrard points the finger of blame squarely at Benitez over the sale of Alonso to Madrid. He claimed that the midfielder could have built up a magnificent legacy at Anfield if the Liverpool boss tried harder to keep hold of him.
"It was a disastrous decision to sell Alonso, and especially for just £30million — which looks a snip now when you reflect on all he has achieved subsequently, both at Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and with Spain, winning the Euros and the World Cup.
"I blame Rafa entirely for the loss of Alonso. He could still have been playing for Liverpool six or seven years after he left in 2009."
If Alonso was the best Gerrard ever played with, then El Hadji Diouf was by far the worst.
Gerrard revealed that he studied every player on their first day of training to work out whether they would be a "king" like Alonso or a "prat" like Diouf.
"I had seen a staggering number of new signings walk into the Liverpool training ground."
"I watched every single one of their first training sessions with close attention, wondering whether we’d bought a star or another dud, a king or a prat, a Xabi Alonso or an El Hadji Diouf, a Luis Suarez or a Mario Balotelli."
"A few people have since asked me if I saw any comparison between Diouf and Mario Balotelli - and I’ve always said no. I’ve got respect for Balotelli; I’ve got none for Diouf."
http://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/st...disastrous-decision-to-sell-xabi-alonso/39604
El-Hadji Diouf has accused Steven Gerrard of racism.
Diouf claims that he warned Mario Balotelli against joining Liverpool as Gerrard 'never liked black people.'
"We all saw how he made life difficult for Mario Balotelli at Liverpool. I warned him. Liverpool isn’t a team that accepts black people unless they are English," Diouf told Portuguese radio station Radio Future Média.
"It’s common knowledge. Gerrard has never liked black people. When I was at Liverpool, I showed him I was black, that I wasn’t English, but that I'm no pushover. All the time I was there, he never dared looked me in the eye.”
The one-time Liverpool 'striker' was responding to Gerrard's criticism of him in his autobiography, in which the LA Galaxy player said: “I don’t really want to waste time thinking about El Hadji Diouf but it’s worth highlighting his wasted seasons at Liverpool as an example of how it can all go wrong."
“Gerard Houllier, a very good manager and a usually wise judge of character, signed Diouf in the summer of 2002. Gerard bought Diouf for £10m from Lens - solely on the recommendation of his former assistant, Patrice Bergues, who had coached Diouf there.
“I understood why Gerard rushed through the signing, but he did not really know Diouf as a person. He was one of three new signings which were meant to turn Liverpool into Premier League champions.
“It seemed to me that Diouf had no real interest in football and that he cared nothing about Liverpool. For example, the way he spat a huge globule of gunky phlegm at a Celtic fan in a UEFA Cup match at Parkhead in March 2003 summed up his contemptuous and spiteful demeanour.
“A few people have since asked me if I saw any comparison between Diouf and Mario Balotelli - and I’ve always said no. I’ve got respect for Balotelli; I’ve got none for Diouf."
http://www.joe.ie/sport/el-hadji-di...ious-allegation-against-steven-gerrard/512011
