El Hadji DIOUF

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These photographs of El Hadji DIOUF were taken by George Herringshaw on 18th. August 2002. © G. H.

It is hard to think of a player in Liverpool's recent history who proved more of a letdown than El-Hadji Diouf. Gerard Houllier preferred the Senegalese striker to Nicolas Anelka when he signed him for £10m from Lens prior to the start of the 2002 World Cup. Some electric performances at the tournament, particularly in the shock win over France in the opening game, and also the intriguing nickname of 'The Serial Killer' that he earned in France, whet the appetites of Reds fans eager to see some inventiveness added to their attack. He started the Community Shield defeat to Arsenal and the opening Premier League game at Aston Villa (the pictures above are during the game) before announcing himself to his home crowd in style by scoring twice on his Anfield debut against Southampton, the first coming after just three minutes. In Diouf, Michael Owen, Emile Heskey and Milan Baros, Liverpool had a vibrant, young attack that looked full of goals. The Reds went top of the table in October after Diouf set up compatriot Salif Diao to score the only goal at Elland Road, but a serious downturn in form was just around the corner. Defeat at Middlesbrough in November heralded a disastrous run of results that saw the Reds go eleven league games without a win and crash out of the Champions League. Solace could be found in the League Cup, where El-Hadji scored against Southampton, Ipswich and Sheffield United as Liverpool reached the Final. Diouf started on the right hand side of midfield, and performed well against Manchester United in Cardiff as goals from Steven Gerrard and Owen won Liverpool their seventh League Cup to salvage some silverware from a disappointing season. When El-Hadji scored against Bolton at the Kop end in the following league game, no-one present would have believed it would be last goal for the club, nor would they know what would happen just five days later when, after chasing a loose ball to the touchline in a UEFA Cup tie at Celtic Park, El-Hadji fell into the crowd before turning and spitting at a Celtic fan. He was banned for two games, missing the second leg at Anfield which Liverpool lost, a result just as disappointing as the final day defeat at Chelsea that put paid to any hopes of Champions League qualification. The signings of Harry Kewell and youngsters Anthony Le Tallec and Florent Sinama-Pongolle in the summer of 2003 cast doubt on Diouf's future, and the man signed as a £10m striker was now exclusively being played on the right wing. Gerard Houllier unveiled a new attack-minded formation for 2003/04, but results didn't dramatically improve. El-Hadji stayed injury-free and featured 33 times in all competitions in a desperately disappointing season, and he became the first Liverpool number nine in history to go an entire campaign without scoring a goal. Gerard Houllier bit the bullet in the summer of 2004, and his successor Rafa Benitez made his thoughts on Diouf clear by taking away his shirt number and handing it to new boy Djibril Cisse. El-Hadji spent the entire 2004/05 season on loan at Bolton before completing a permanent move the following summer. It's fair to say that most at Anfield were glad to see the back of him. (Mark Jones)