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da cassino： This article is part of Football FanCast’s Pundit View series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent quotes from journalists, pundits, players and managers…
El Hadji Diouf has reflected on his time at Liverpool as well as giving his verdict on how he thinks the team will fare this season.
What did he say?
The former Senegal international has never hidden his ill-feeling towards the club for what he views as mistreatment during his two-year spell at the club, stating that other players with lesser profiles were often favoured over him after he signed for £10m.
With Liverpool looking to challenge for the Premier League for the second year running, the retired forward has shared his thoughts on their chances of success, as well as his shock at their failure to win the title last season.
He also looked back to 2002 and the multiple offers he had on the table after the World Cup, and how he regrets his decision to move to Anfield.
Diouf told FourFourTwo: “The upsetting thing is that Real Madrid and Barcelona had offered me more money, but I really wanted to go to Liverpool – and it ended up being one of my worst experiences.”
His angst at Liverpool is still clear to see, and he didn’t hold back in his latest assessment of the team, claiming Jurgen Klopp’s men “bottled” the league last season after surrendering their lead to Manchester City.
“They were seven points ahead around Christmas – how Manchester City got it in the end beats my mind,” added Diouf.
“If you have only one defeat in a whole season, surely you can’t say that you didn’t win the league – so it’s hard for me to imagine them having such a similar season and coming out as champions.”
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Alternative view
It is an interesting angle for the former Red to take given there aren’t many examples of a team not winning the league despite losing so few games.
Manchester City were incredible last year and have already shown signs of weakness this season, whereas Liverpool have a 100% record and a winning run of 15 league games, which they don’t look like surrendering.
As a result, it is possible that Diouf’s own disappointing experience of his time on Anfield has skewed his view of the club, particularly as he had big aspirations upon joining the club, as he alludes to.