Ex-LFC defender: I should have never signed for Liverpool because Houllier ‘never talked to me’

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Liverpool’s former German left-back Christian Ziege has claimed he regrets his time at Anfield, despite being part of a squad that won five trophies in 2001!

The Euro 1996 winner signed in 2000 from Middlesbrough when Gerard Houllier activated a £5.5m clause in his contract, but left to join Spurs just one year later after falling out with the boss.

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According to the player, who actually made 32 appearances that season while battling with ongoing knee injuries, he’d have preferred to never have made the Merseyside switch and stayed at ‘Boro!

“Obviously it was to go and sign for Liverpool, a massive club with a massive stadium and history,” he told Four Four Two magazine, cited in the Star.

“But unfortunately I had some problems there, problems with the manager (Gerard Houllier) and I still don’t know what his problem was with me.

“He never talked to me.

“I realised it was a bad move because I really enjoyed my time playing for Boro.

“Liverpool were in the Uefa Cup, which we ended up winning that year. We won the FA Cup and League Cup and qualified for the Champions League, so it was a great season.

“However, it was the wrong decision football-wise. I didn’t play enough.”

Half of Ziege’s club honours were won during his time at Liverpool, so we’re really not sure what he has to complain about.

If you remember, Jamie Carragher had begun to develop during this season and was deployed at left-back, with Stephane Henchoz and Sami Hyypia in central defence.

Ziege did well whenever called upon from our memory, but he clearly felt he was worth more than a rotation role and having won titles in Germany and Italy. Houllier, like the man who came after him Rafa Benitez, was notoriously stubborn, of course.

 

 

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