You've got to give credit to El Hadji Diouf... Hear us out!
To see a man so bitter, so absolutely obsessed with Steven Gerrard that he has to take every opportunity to slander one of the best midfielders of his generation is truly spectacular, and his determination to continue to do so despite everyone telling him that he is full of shite, is the determination of a true champion.
And El Hadji Diouf is a true champion of talking bollocks.
His latest is a comically deluded attempt to explain why he knew that Mario Balotelli wasn't going to play at Liverpool, and it's got nothing to do with his piss-poor attitude and work ethic. No, Mario failed because of Steven Gerrard's jealousy.
I told him [Balotelli] not to go to Liverpool. It wasn't made for him, that things couldn't go well with Gerrard, who has never had his talent and then said negative things about him.
Gerrard is a jealous man who doesn't like men of character. Mario is a good person that you should listen to. He's not a guy who's going to cause problems in the dressing room.
There are a lot of things that have been made up about him. People tell tales about him, but they're often a load of rubbish. He was young when he arrived in England, you mustn't forget that.
When he had problems at City, when he wasn't playing, we talked. I told him that it [his form] would come back. Of course it was hard for him, because he's very sensitive. People perhaps don't understand that.
Balotelli's move to Liverpool was never going to go well, and the man himself has this week claimed that the decision to go there was the worst of his career, but it was certainly not because of Steven Gerrard.
Inter Milan, Man City, AC Milan, and now Liverpool are all clubs who thought they could channel his clear talent into an end product on the pitch, but all gave up soon after. Perhaps at a club with less pressure such as OGC Nice he can shine, much like Hatem Ben Arfa, but while he has gotten off to a good start, he has done that before, and it seems more likely that it will all go tits up than ending with a move to PSG.
As for Diouf, he is currently without a club having last played in Malaysia... And remains in absolutely no position to question to ability of Steven Gerrard, having never been in one in the first place.
The last time he made the news for slamming Liverpool players, John Arne Riise's reaction was spot on and works just as well now:
Diouf interview: what a load of crap!! Put him on the pitch with Carra and Gerrard. 50/50 challenge please!! Smash!!!
— John Arne Riise (@JARiiseOfficial) December 30, 2015
