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Many Liverpool fans may claim that picking Everton's pocket in the race
to sign Dean Saunders during the summer of 1991 was worth the £2.9
million Derby County received. However, the player wouldn't have felt
that way just a year after his arrival at Anfield. The move, through no
fault of his own, was a badly conceived one born out of a flawed theory.
He had scored plenty of goals in a struggling side the season prior to
breaking the domestic transfer record but was totally unsuited to the
type of build up play Liverpool used. At The Baseball Ground hopeful
balls would be hit towards the striker who usually patrolled the halfway
line waiting for a chance to exploit the fact that opposing teams were
pushing up against The Rams.
He enjoyed no such luxury at Anfield and
was expected to not only make his own chances by reading the pattern of
play but have the sureness of touch to play his part in the patient
style. He possessed neither attribute in great measure and only really
found his niche at Anfield with the ball at his feet and faced up
against defenders. In those circumstances he was possibly the most
deadly striker in the game and it was in that role that Dean enjoyed a
prolific UEFA Cup campaign during the 1991-92 season. He won an FA Cup
winners medal by the close of his first term but it couldn't mask his
weaknesses and in the league, which Bill Shankly once described as
Liverpool's bread and butter, he was often found out. After much
wrangling over a fee he joined Aston Villa in September 1992 with The
Reds standing a £600, 000 loss on the two deals. (Darren Williams)
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