It has been eleven years since former defender Dominic Matteo left Anfield, and to this day, he still feels sadness over the way Gerard Houllier 'got rid' of him.
The arrival of Christian Ziege in 2000 was the beginning of the end for Matteo's Liverpool career; the Scot saw his first-team chances severely restricted, and he left for Leeds soon after. In his recently released autobiography, Matteo spoke of his 'shock' at being pushed out:
"I felt that me and Gerard got on fine but I couldn't help feeling that when he got rid of me it was the wrong decision.
"I had just signed a new five year contract a few days earlier, so for him to then tell me he was happy for me to leave was quite a shock to the system for a young player".
Matteo also argued that signing Ziege was the wrong decision:
"Personally, I just didn't think Christian Ziege was any better than I was, and Liverpool were paying a lot of money for him, and probably a lot more in wages.
"I always look at that and think the club might have made a mistake there. To this day, I still believe that.
In hindsight, Matteo is probably right; the German lasted only one season at Anfield after seemingly having trouble adjusting to life at a big club. He went on to captain Leeds United, but he'll always feel a little sad about his time at Liverpool:
"My main memories of Liverpool and me is that I always look back with a little bit of regret that I didn't get more opportunities in the same position, week in, week out"
Matteo played in the fabulous Roy Evans team of 1995-97, so I personally will always have fond memories of his time at Liverpool.
Jaimie Kanwar
The arrival of Christian Ziege in 2000 was the beginning of the end for Matteo's Liverpool career; the Scot saw his first-team chances severely restricted, and he left for Leeds soon after. In his recently released autobiography, Matteo spoke of his 'shock' at being pushed out:
"I felt that me and Gerard got on fine but I couldn't help feeling that when he got rid of me it was the wrong decision.
"I had just signed a new five year contract a few days earlier, so for him to then tell me he was happy for me to leave was quite a shock to the system for a young player".
Matteo also argued that signing Ziege was the wrong decision:
"Personally, I just didn't think Christian Ziege was any better than I was, and Liverpool were paying a lot of money for him, and probably a lot more in wages.
"I always look at that and think the club might have made a mistake there. To this day, I still believe that.
In hindsight, Matteo is probably right; the German lasted only one season at Anfield after seemingly having trouble adjusting to life at a big club. He went on to captain Leeds United, but he'll always feel a little sad about his time at Liverpool:
"My main memories of Liverpool and me is that I always look back with a little bit of regret that I didn't get more opportunities in the same position, week in, week out"
Matteo played in the fabulous Roy Evans team of 1995-97, so I personally will always have fond memories of his time at Liverpool.
Jaimie Kanwar
he was a fine player.
ReplyDeletewhat he said about ziege was true,one of many poor signings from houllier.
JK, can you add a "dislike" option to rate posts as well?
ReplyDeleteMatteo's departure always puzzled me
ReplyDeleteHe was similar to Carra in many ways
Ziege surely couldn't realistically have been considered a like for like replacement
Ziege was a lot more like Riise or Hitzelsberger
The only mistake GH made it was selling R FOWLER.I will never forgive that idiot for that.
ReplyDeleteMatteo was crap. That was the problem with Roy Evans' time - unstoppable going forward, crap defenders, Rob Jones aside.
ReplyDeleteChristian Ziege had played for both Bayern Munich and Milan before his move to English football. I don't see where 'adjusting to life at a big club' comes in. Some signing just don't work out that's all. The player shows good form for his previous club but it just doesn't pop off at his new club. That being said I do remember Matteo playing for us and I always liked him as a player. I don't fault Houllier for taking what he thought at the time was a better player
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't mistake to sell Fowler; that time £11M for Fowler was huge money and it was one of huge mistake which Leeds made before they went down...
ReplyDeleteHoullier's team won the CL for Benitez. Remember, Benitez took apart the team when he became disillusioned with the previous owners.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest mistake Leeds made was their chairman letting the rest of the players know exactly how much Fowler was earning every week. All of a sudden a promising young side turned into a team of "Big I am's" all looking for a pay rise.
ReplyDeleteWasn't there a court case or hearing over us allegedly "tapping up" Ziege? I reckon that the outcome of that probably had an adverse affect on his LFC career. He certainly had a good pedigree, like Babbel (Markus, that is, not the serial Tweeter).
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure Boro still don't let LFC Directors use their facilities at the Riverside, due to the fallout from that one.
I think Ziege could have been a fantastic signing but a number of things counted against him and he failed to bed in. Very talented player, certainly moreso than Matteo.
ReplyDeletehoulliers team should never have had a chance to win the championsleague. We can thank one man for making it true. Get off the haterade.
ReplyDeleteYou sure that was his only mistake?
ReplyDeleteChi Bai lu, you are right Dominic but Houllier didn't use Zeige to realise his talent. What a waste ?
ReplyDeleteFrom my memory Matteo was a clogging centreback, and Ziege was a highly reputed full back. I'm not sure that this gripe is valid at all...
ReplyDeleteRafa's tactics, approach, the signings of Xabi Alonso, Luis Garcia and recognizing that Carragher was a centre-half (something Houllier didn't know) won us the Champions League you arse. Houllier with his team would never had won the Champions League in 30 attempts, especially with the likes of Diouf and Daio on the pitch.
ReplyDelete"Houllier's team won the CL for Benitez" ???
Its a shame Houllier's so-called team didn't win the CL for Liverpool.