Who could possibly hate El-Hadji Diouf?
A snippet from Steven Gerrard's upcoming book revealed that while the talismanic ex-Liverpool skipper had a strange respect for Mario Balotelli, he had absolutely no time for Kop flop El-Hadji Diouf.
Diouf responded to Stevie G with some disrespect of his own, claiming that, "Liverpool isn't a team that accepts black people unless they are English. It’s common knowledge. Gerrard has never liked black people. When I was at Liverpool, I showed him I was black, that I wasn’t English, but that I'm no pushover."
Diouf's long career in British football started at Liverpool in 2002. His time spent in there was largely disappointing and, at times, controversial (that's being kind).
We've looked through some pivotal moments in his career in order to work out whether there could possibly be another reason that somebody would dislike him.
He was friends with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi
During the conflict in Libya that saw dictator (and Liverpool fan) Muammar Gaddafi ousted and killed, Diouf expressed his sympathies for the ruthless and unpopular leader.
Diouf told French magazine La Buteur that he had "always admired" Gaddafi, and that the war must have been "very hard on him and his family".
He spat at Celtic fans
https://youtu.be/VCYU9V-MXE0
Celtic fans had to be restrained by stewards after Diouf spat at them in 2003. Spitting is one of the most reviled acts in football and Diouf made a regular enough habit of it which was enough to put pretty much everyone off him.
For Diouf to spit at the Celtic fans was the ultimate disrespect.
... then spat at an 11-year old Middlesbrough fan
https://youtu.be/RFjgtMEiLKw
Not content to confine his spitting to crowds of people, Diouf was also charged by the police for spitting at a
child while playing for Bolton.
... THEN spat in Arjen De Zeeuw's face
You might be starting to notice a pattern in Diouf's behaviour. Only a month later, Diouf spat in the face of Portsmouth player Arjen de Zeeuw, fined two-weeks wages and officially disowned by football as a whole.
He was absolutely rubbish
https://youtu.be/2ZGc5RsrqGk
If his repeated spit-shows weren't enough, Diouf was absolutely awful.
Something tells us that Gerrard would have forgiven at least some of his antics or attitude if he had managed to score more than 3 league goals in 55 games for Liverpool.
Verbally abused an Everton ball-boy
https://youtu.be/Qh2sWSVRrmo
Leave the kids alone, El-Hadji!
Diouf allegedly said "f**k you, white boy" after the he didn't like the way a ball-boy threw a ball to him. Looking at his track record with kids, we're on the ball-boy's side.
Taunting an injured Jamie Mackie
This incident is what prompted then-QPR manager Neil Warnock to call Diouf "lower than a sewer rat."
Diouf had allegedly taunted Jamie Mackie as he lay on the ground with a broken leg. At this point there's pretty much nothing to like about the man.
He was a serial diver
https://youtu.be/RiBXMPkYfXI
Okay, maybe Stevie G can't have much to say about this one...
But all things considered, we're forced to draw the conclusion that Steven Gerrard may well have had very good reasons for (supposedly) not liking El-Hadji Diouf.
