CO-WRITTEN by Alex Barilaro (@LWOSAlex) and Arslan Siddiqui (@a_sidd8)
Time is a wonderful setting for perspective. Just as hindsight is a grace that many of us are gracious for after a period of time, so too is it a constantly painful reminder of mistakes made by past generations. In football, there is no greater regret than letting a top star go and seeing your team crumble in it’s aftermath. That is, for most teams. The flipside occurs for Liverpool Football Club; they have a knack of developing incredible talent after selling on top players for astronomical fees. Fernando Torres, Luis Suarez, Michael Owen and Xabi Alonso are all names that come to mind, yet the niggling pang of regret that runs through many Liverpool supporters when they engage in hindsight is not the sales, but the reactionary purchases made in order to compensate for the superstar’s absence. When those deals go wrong, and the full force of superstardom is heightened by the perceived lack of quality replacement, Liverpool fans can only hang their heads in shame. Here, we countdown the five ultimate examples of such instances, where fans of the prestigious club are left scratching heads and questioning decisions, only truly settled when they see the “dud” or “flop” moved on – often for a cut-price fee. Though the matter is settled, there will always be that pang of regret that the players were even associated with the club in the first place, and in the Premier League Era, these five players are regarded (by the columnists of Anfield Alive) to be Liverpool’s 5 Worst Transfers of the Premier League Era.
Anfield Alive: Top 5 Liverpool Worst Transfers of the Premier League Era
5. Antonio Nunez
It was perhaps not the player that reflects so badly on our first head to enter the guillotine, but rather the deal itself. Michael Owen played 216 games for Liverpool FC, and scored 118 goals in the process. A return of one goal every two games for someone who’s played over 200 games is immensely difficult to replace, but that wasn’t the knife that sunk deepest into the chest of Liverpool fans. No, rather it was the business itself. £8 million was received for the services of one of Liverpool’s greatest strikers of the Premier League era. £8 million plus Antonio Nunez, of course, though most people have either forgotten, or indeed desire to forget about the Spaniard consigned to memorial oblivion. Nunez compensated for Michael Owen’s incredible return and poaching ability with a leg injury on his very first day of training. A three month stint on the sidelines as a result of the injury meant Nunez scored his first – and only, mind you- Liverpool goal against Chelsea in the Football League Cup final; a game that ended 3-2 to Chelsea. The other 18 appearances for the Reds bore no fruit whatsoever, Nunez not scoring or assisting a thing. The void of Michael Owen was sorely missed by Rafa’s men, though it wasn’t long before another Spaniard arrived to fill the vacancy, and fill it he did.
4. El-Hadji Diouf
3 Goals in 55 appearances. That’s a pretty sore figure for a Liverpool number 9. But it wasn’t the number that stood out most in El Hadji Diouf’s career. Nor, incredibly, was the astounding £11 million Gerard Houlier forked out for the Senegalese native’s services after a impressing at the 2002 World Cup. Rather, it was a date. 13th March 2003. Liverpool travelled to Parkhead to attempt to fend off a persistent Celtic side in the UEFA Cup quarter-final, though the real result of it all had no bearings towards the UEFA Cup, rather it was the incident involving Diouf spitting at a rival Celtic fan in the stands, on a televised game broadcasted all around Europe that defined Diouf’s career. It didn’t necessarily brand him, rather brought out the player he really was; an immensely dirty one. By the end of his Liverpool tenure he had only amassed three goals in his 55 appearances; that’s one goal per £3.5 million paid for him, and garnered a reputation as a cheat and a dirtbag for ongoing controversy on and off the pitch. Most Liverpool fans were delighted to see him shipped to Bolton the following season. Diouf is now a free agent after being released by Leeds United following “personal problems” that saw him out of a major portion of the 2013/14 season. He remains one of Gerard Houlier’s worst pieces of business, and that’s saying something.
3. Andriy Voronin
The free transfer of Andriy Voronin was an immediate spark of positivity. After seeing what his compatriot Andriy Shevchenko could do in the Premier League, surely Voronin could do no worse? He’d be alongside Fernando Torres; who was in the form of his life, and would be supported by an Engine room in midfield who would support him all the way. Fanciful in theory. Absolutely hopeless in reality. Though he arrived on a free transfer, Voronin’s attitude, lack of finesse and complete disregard for any passing opportunity made him one of Liverpool’s worst strikers of the 21st century. Though bought on a free transfer, Liverpool fans were still irate with his meager 5 goals in 27 Liverpool appearances, including a drought of absolute dire straits in his second season where he didn’t find the back of the net once. Remarkably, Liverpool made a £4 million pound profit on him when they moved him onto Dynamo Moscow, and haven’t really seen another striker of his poor quality since. Oh, bar the next player in the list of course.
2. Andy Carroll
Liverpool’s record transfer fee paid £35m for this man, Andy Carroll. Kenny Dalglish decided to replace Fernando Torres with the tall, beast-in-the-box, unfit Englishman. The only reason Carroll did not make #1 in this list was because he helped Liverpool capture their first trophy since 2006. Although it was only the Capital One cup, he did have some heroic performances during the demolishment of Manchester City. He also helped lead Liverpool to the FA Cup final that year, where they lost to Chelsea in a game. Carroll was the best Red on the pitch that day. All in all, he managed a meager 6 goals in 44 matches. Carroll was sent and eventually sold to West Ham by Brendan Rodgers. Other than the earlier mentioned performances, Carroll’s Liverpool career consisted of being an injured, ineffective, slow, lack of skill striker. He was never able to replicate the impact that Fernando Torres brought to Anfield.
1. Alberto Aquilani
During the beginning of the end for Manager Rafa Benitez, his deep obsession for Gareth Barry led him to hand talismanic playmaker, Xabi Alonso, to Real Madrid. I mean, Alonso was obviously not of use if only the BIGGEST club in the world wanted to make him their new Galactico. Long story short, Benitez missed out on Barry, and decided to shell out 17m quid on plan C, Italian playmaker Alberto Aquilani. He made 18 appearances over the course of 3 years (spent two of those three years on loan after Liverpool had enough). Aquilani was brought in to replace Alonso, and unfortunately, he never made any sort of impact for the Reds. Injury and a lack of impact saw Kenny Dalglish send Aquilani home for good. All in all, Liverpool lost Alonso, spent £ 17m on a replacement that never lasted a full season, and had a gaping hole in their central midfield. As business goes, replacing one of the greatest Liverpool midfielders of the 21st century with Alberto Aquilani is absolutely abysmal to say the least.
CO-WRITTEN by Alex Barilaro (@LWOSAlex) and Arslan Siddiqui (@a_sidd8)
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