Why Gerrard 'was nothing': Diouf reignites feud

TRIBUTES for Steven Gerrard have flooded in from across the footballing world after the Liverpool legend announced his retirement, but not from former teammate El-Hadji Diouf.

Posted Saturday, November 26, 2016 by Foxsports.com

The Reds flop, who is the only number nine in Liverpool history to go a whole season without scoring a goal, has once again ripped into the former England captain.

The duo were teammates for two seasons when Gerard Houllier brought Diouf to Anfield for ￡10m in June 2002, but it's safe to say they aren't friends now.

"People told me at Liverpool, there was some guys you could not touch, but I touched them. That is why it was complicated for me," the 35-year-old told French TV channel SFR Sport.

Former Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder Emmanuel Petit asked: "Are you talking about Steven Gerrard?"

Diouf replied: "I do. Stevie G and Jamie Carragher, the two scousers."

Gerrard write in his autobiography in 2015 that: "It seemed to me, Diouf did not care about football and about Liverpool."

Diouf agreed with the comment and claimed: "When I arrived I showed him he was nothing at all. He was nothing at all.

"I asked him to tell me in which big competition, Euros or World Cup, people think about him."

Petit struggled to recall the year Liverpool defeated Milan in the Champions League and Diouf said: "Here is the proof, even you cannot remember.

"You are talking about Euros and World Cup. Today I owe you respect (Petit), I owe respect to Mr Zidane because you did win the World Cup."

Petit said to Diouf that he "cannot let you say that about Steven Gerrard, he was an immense player."

But Diouf claimed it was more about his issues with Gerrard outside of the pitch rather than when he is playing on it.

"I repeat. I respect the player, very big player, but the man, I do not respect. And I told him, I let him know that," said Diouf.

"With all my respect I let him know. For me in Liverpool, he was not just a player like anyone else. He had to work and play his football as I had to work and play my football.

"Then as you know, there were some brown-nosers, who went to the manager to repeat what I said. That was the real problem. When Gerrard did that, we had an argument, like real men.

"That is why he does not like me. He knows I say what I think, that when it is not right, no problem, I am up for it.

"He could not, he was afraid of looking into my eyes. He was afraid of talking to me. Let's not forget when I arrived I did not ask for his shirt. He asked for my Senegal shirt for one of his mates."