El-Hadji Diouf: I showed Gerrard he was nothing when I arrived at Liverpool
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Most of the football world was paying tribute to Steven Gerrard yesterday after the legendary Liverpool midfielder announces his retirment but, as ever, El-Hadji Diouf didn’t quite get the memo.
The former Senegal forward spent three years at Liverpool between 2002 to 2005 but his time at Anfield was marked by a number of unsavoury incidents.
Diouf, 35, was accused of ‘not caring about football’ by Gerrard in the midfielder’s autobiography.
Gerrard, 36, retired yesterday after an illustrious career but Diouf hit out at the veteran on French television by claiming that he was ‘nothing’ on the world stage.
‘When I arrived I showed him he was nothing at all. He was nothing at all,’ Diouf told SFR Sport.
‘I asked him to tell me in which big competition, Euros or World Cup, people think about him.
Diouf spent two years as Gerrard’s team-mate at Anfield and says he had a problem with Gerrard as a person, not as a player.
‘I repeat. I respect the player, very big player, but the man, I do not respect. And I told him, I let him know that.
‘With all my respect I let him know. For me in Liverpool, he was not just a player like anyone else. He had to work and play his football as I had to work and play my football.
‘Then as you know, there were some brown-nosers, who went to the manager to repeat what I said. That was the real problem. When Gerrard did that, we had an argument, like real men.
‘That is why he does not like me. He knows I say what I think, that when it is not right, no problem, I am up for it.
‘He could not, he was afraid of looking into my eyes. He was afraid of talking to me. Let’s not forget when I arrived I did not ask for his shirt. He asked for my Senegal shirt for one of his mates.’
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