Plenty of years have passed since Steven Gerrard played alongside El Hadji Djouf at Liverpool, but the former club captain still holds resentment towards his old teammate.
El Hadji Djouf was a controversial character and one whose legacy at Liverpool is very different to that of Steven Gerrard’s.
The striker is often remembered as, in Jamie Carragher’s words, the only number nine ever to go through a whole season without scoring. The moment he spat on a Celtic supporter during a 2003 UEFA Cup match was another of Djouf’s particularly low moments.
Gerrard revealed in his 2007 autobiography that he was not Diouf’s number one fan. The ex-Senegal international responded five years later saying no one at Liverpool could stand Gerrard.
Liverpool’s old skipper has now fired back more than a decade later, claiming his team should have never signed Djouf in the first place. Instead, he believes they should have agreed a permanent deal for Nicolas Anelka, who had been on loan at the club.
“We got recruitment badly wrong at times,” Gerrard told Rio Ferdinand Presents.
“I’ll give you one example. We had the chance to sign Nicolas Anelka or El Hadji Djouf. And we bought El Hadji Diouf on the back of a four to five game period in a World Cup when we could have bought someone on the back of five to six years. That was the decision.
“I don’t know who made the final decision. That one example of us as a club getting it wrong because that is one of the biggest mismatches you could debate. El Hadji Diouf or Nicolas Anelka.”
Ferdinand was quick to heap praise on Anelka in response to Gerrard’s statement. He declared that the former Arsenal and Chelsea striker was one of the top three hardest players he has ever played against.
Gerrard responded: “And he came into our sessions, Anelka, coolest man ever. Calm, relaxed. You just knew he had that aura and that confidence in himself.
“He was ready to win. He was ready to help Liverpool win more or get closer to you guys or wherever it was. Anelka was coming in and he was a level above.
“A decision was made and honestly, it was a complete mismatch. That was one example, I’ll give you, where I couldn’t believe what was happening.”
During the two seasons Djouf spent at Anfield, Liverpool only lifted one trophy. Michael Owen and Gerrard were the goalscorers as the Reds recorded a 2-0 victory over Manchester United.
Djouf left Liverpool to join Bolton on loan in 2004 and he left permanently the following year. He would go on to play alongside Anelka at the Trotters until both players departed the club in 2008.
