Steven Gerrard has once again clashed with his former Liverpool teammate, El Hadji Diouf, who previously claimed that “nobody” liked the former Reds captain.
Gerrard, who made 710 appearances for Liverpool, scoring 186 goals and famously leading them to Champions League glory in 2005, remains an iconic figure at Anfield. However, his relationship with Diouf — who played alongside him between 2002 and 2004 before moving to Bolton — has long been strained.
In his 2007 autobiography, Gerrard revealed that he was “not Diouf’s biggest fan,” describing him as self-centered with the wrong attitude. Later, in his book My Story, Gerrard went further, calling Diouf “one of the Liverpool signings I liked least” and accusing him of having no care for the club. He also referenced Diouf’s infamous spitting incident against Celtic. Gerrard’s legal team even had to respond to Diouf’s later claims on Senegalese radio that the midfielder “never liked black people,” which Gerrard strongly denied.
Despite the years that have passed, tensions have not cooled. In a recent appearance on Rio Ferdinand Presents, Gerrard reignited the feud by using Diouf as an example of Liverpool’s poor recruitment decisions.
He reflected:
> “We got recruitment badly wrong at times. I’ll give you one example. We had the chance to sign Nicolas Anelka or El Hadji Diouf. And we went for Diouf after a few good games at the World Cup, instead of signing someone proven over several years. That was one of the biggest mismatches you could ever debate.”
Anelka, who had played for PSG, Arsenal, and Real Madrid before joining Liverpool on loan, was praised by Ferdinand as one of the toughest players he faced. Gerrard agreed, saying Anelka exuded calmness, confidence, and quality during training.
> “Anelka came in with this aura — cool, composed, and ready to win,” Gerrard said. “He was on another level. When the decision was made not to sign him permanently, I honestly couldn’t believe it.”
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