14 Aug 2021 06:51:45
So been watching the best goals from 01/ 02 season as I was only 9 (sorry lads) at the time, was there a reason as to why we didn't make the anelka loan permanent.
With the 4 strikers of Owen, anelka, heskey, fowler we had although fowler was injured for most of it. Owen being a poacher, fowler scoring from anywhere, anelkas pace and heskey target man was probably one of the best front 4 I've seen from us.

{Ed001's Note - Houllier didn't like him because he kept asking questions about tactics. Ged wanted robots who obeyed without question, rather than tried to discuss tactics with him.}

1.) 14 Aug 2021
14 Aug 2021 10:04:00
Fowler was already gone when Anelka arrived, there was no way all 4 would've been at the club even if Houllier had wanted Anelka permanent.

Litmanen was the 4th striker. Also I think we had Baros by 01-02 as well, although he only played once that season.

2.) 14 Aug 2021
14 Aug 2021 08:49:43
Yeah, he wanted El Hadji Diouf instead. Possibly one of the worst footballing decisions ever given we got some of the best football out of Anelka post Arsenal.

3.) 14 Aug 2021
14 Aug 2021 10:09:05
Instead of Anelka it was seen as a better option to buy the **** that is El Hadji Diouf because he had a good World Cup and scored a goal. Never made sense!

4.) 14 Aug 2021
14 Aug 2021 10:31:43
Anelka was brilliant for us. An off-field issue was I think his brother (? ) who was his agent and was demanding a contract the club wouldn’t go with. Shame though, he was on fire that season and it was a real set back that he didn’t stay.

5.) 14 Aug 2021
14 Aug 2021 10:57:31
I remember reading the headline on Ceefax that we’d signed Anelka on loan. Amazing to think we had Jari there at that time too. Unfortunately it just didn’t work out for either player. Diouf? Thought I’d erased that cretin from my memory.

6.) 14 Aug 2021
14 Aug 2021 11:31:38
I'd not long had my photo taken with the 2001 Treble at Anfield. Then came back to have my photo taken with 5 trophies!
Great times, but letting Anelka go and buying Diouf was a sign that Ged was slipping. The writing was on the wall at that stage.

7.) 14 Aug 2021
14 Aug 2021 12:17:51
Boot22, Diouf was already earmarked to join Liverpool even before the WC began in 2002. And if you think Diouf was crap before he signed and only signed cos he scored in the WC ( which in fact, he didn’t) then you have it all wrong, IMO.

The fact of the matter is that Senegal don’t even make it to the WC, the AFCON final (lost on pens to Cameroon), and nearly leading a modest Lens team to the French League that season (lost on the last day to Lyon, at Lyon) WITHOUT El Hadj Diouf, end of. He was absolutely unplayable that season for club and country so I have no prob with us signing him at the time.

Now, all the glory would later go to his head and became a true piece of work and in hindsight, it was not a good move BUT that was not the impression at the time, IMO. Personally, I would have signed both him and Anelka.

8.) 15 Aug 2021
14 Aug 2021 23:57:46
I’ll bow to your knowledge. The first time I ever heard about him or about Liverpool signing him was after the World Cup. I thought it was a foregone conclusion that we were signing Anelka, who by the end of the season was really settling in or so it seemed.