I cannot think of a worse signing than El Hadji Diouf under Gerard HoullierÂ’s reign as Liverpool manager.
Diouf is a player of talent. He is strong, quick and has skill on the ball. He can be a handful for opposing defences and he is the kind of player who will draw defenders out and as a consequence create more space in the middle.
What an enormous error of judgement though for Houllier to sign a player who has so openly demonstrated that he has no respect or regard for the famous red shirt. He turned up late returning from the African Nations Cup (along with Diao) and his priorities seem to lie in extra curricula activities just before match day. He has shown that he has no regard for the supporters of this club or the team. His temper tantrums verge on the ridiculous at times and he obviously has deep rooted problems concerning self control (the spitting incident at Celtic is a case in point).
He is one of the worst cheats in the Premiership and spends far too much time rolling around on the ground after the most minimal of contact, if any at all. I, for one, do not want to see that from a Liverpool player. His decent performances have at best been sporadic. It only seems that Diouf is ‘on fire’ when he has the inclination.
Houllier has shown many errors of judgement in the transfer market and he has signed some of the most average or talent less players to ever wear the Liver Bird, but Diouf is something different. He isnÂ’t average or talent less. He is the ultimate in wasted talent and wasted big money. He is a player who doesnÂ’t care. He is the embodiment of everything that is wrong with the prima donna Premiership.
In my opinion, the signing of El Hadji Diouf has been HoullierÂ’s biggest single mistake.
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