Liverpool’s worst ever strikers and where they are now from Voronin to Le Tallec
Goals tend to come with the territory when Liverpool rock up for an afternoon of Premier League action.
Jurgen Klopp is often smiling and who could blame him? He spends so much time celebrating Liverpool goals thanks to the likes of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino, Diogo Jota, and, of course, club record £85million man Darwin Nunez.
But Salah has not always been there to charge relentlessly beyond the defence, nor has Nunez been the man hurling his entire body onto the end of in-swinging crosses like a missile. And while Liverpool supporters may cower at the sight of some of their previous strikers, Daily Star Sport considers eight of Liverpool's worst strikers over the years.
Andriy Voronin
Read More: Jurgen Klopp shuts down transfer talk by insisting Naby Keita is Liverpool's solution
Andriy Voronin made quite the impression on ex-Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez when the pair first crossed paths. Benitez was impressed by the Ukrainian when he led the line for Bayer Leverkusen against Liverpool in 2005.
And the Liverpool boss, and the club as a whole, thought they had completed a bargain signing when they snapped Voronin up on a free transfer in 2007. But after a debut season plagued by injuries, the not so divine ponytailed Voronin was soon shipped off to Hertha Berlin on loan before departing the club for Dinamo Moscow in 2009.
After retiring at the Russian giants in 2014, Voronin returned to the club as an assistant manager to Sandro Schwarz in 2020. However, he left the club on the 1st march, one week after Russia began their brutal invasion of his homeland Ukraine.
Anthony Le Tallec
What other ex-Liverpool strikers failed to hit the mark at Anfield? Let us know in the comments section below
Anthony Le Tallec was regarded as one of the hottest prospects in Europe when he signed for Liverpool from Le Havre in the summer of 2002. But while he was officially a Red until 2008, a series of loan spells to Saint Etienne, Sunderland, FC Sochaux and Le Mans UC 72 reduced him to only 32 appearances for the club.
Over the course of his fleeting appearances for the Reds, he only managed to contribute one goal and two assists. But he did play a starring role in a famous Champions League win over Juventus in 2005, en route to Istanbul.
Perhaps informed by the pressures he endured as a prodigal youngster, Le Tallec is now a youth coach at French side FC Annecy. The man once likened to Zinedine Zidane officially hung his boots up at the same club in the summer of 2021, when his contract expired.
El-Hadji Diouf
Then Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier appeared to have pulled off a master-stroke when he signed the fiery Senegalese star in 2002. The Reds struck a £10m deal with Le Hans for his services and Diouf went on to fire Senegal all the way to the World Cup Finals, contributing three assists in five matches.
However, not only did Diouf fail to do the business on the pitch, he was always embroiled in chaos off it, whether it was his love of partying, falling out with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher, and even spitting at a Celtic fan during a UEFA Cup match in 2003. Diouf left the Reds two years later to link up with Sam Allardyce and Bolton Wanderers.
When he retired, Diouf surprisingly went on to advise Senegalese president Macky Sall as a 'goodwill ambassador' and special advisor for sport. He remains in Senegal where he is looking to harness the energy and goodwill, from their Africa Cup of Nations victory, to unearth the latest talents in his homeland.
Mario Balotelli
When Balotelli made the surprising move to Anfield in 2014, the Italian claimed he had returned to the Premier League as a more "mature" player. Unfortunately, the infamous "baggage" that always came with the Italian remained, as he only netted four goals in 28 appearances.
His spell at Anfield will likely best remembered by the time he reportedly allowed his friends to come and explore the Reds' Melwood Training Ground base. Another amusing moment from his time at Anfield is the occasion when he bizarrely told then Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers he didn't mark at corners. "He made an immediate impression when we were doing work on our defensive set pieces and Balotelli said to Brendan: 'I don't mark on corners. I can't,' Gerrard said in his book.
"I nearly fell into the goalpost. I was thinking, 'What are you? Six foot three, and one of the strongest men I've ever seen on a football pitch? And you can't mark on a corner?' Balotelli is now plying his trade at Turkish side Adana Demirspor.
Sean Dundee
Poor Sean Dundee. When you are often the but of a running joke amongst Liverpool fans you know your time at Anfield was not a good innings. Unfortunately, there's a reason why he is never far away from the discourse, despite leaving the club in 1999.
Dundee spent one season at the club after arriving from Karlsruher SC. Unfortunately, his miserable record of five appearances, zero goals, and zero assists saw him ushered out of the back door to Stuttgart barely one year after joining.
Similar to the other players on this list, Dundee is now looking to inspire the next generation of talented young players, educating them on the mistakes he admits he made when he was in their position.
Erik Meijer
Meijer arrived on Merseyside off the back of a very impressive campaign with Bayer Leverkusen. The Dutchman contributed four goals and seven assists in 26 Bundesliga appearances for the German giants.
Unfortunately, a record of two goals in 26 appearances for Liverpool was not enough to shift Robbie Fowler and Michael Owen from their starting berths. After a strange season long loan with Preston North End, Meijer returned to Germany to play for Hamburg, before eventually signing for second division side Alemannia Aachen.
His last involvement in football came when he was the assistant manager of MVV Maastricht, whom he departed in the summer of 2019.
Andy Carroll
When Andy Carroll initially broke onto the scene, many fans believed the Premier League had just unearthed the next Alan Shearer. He was tall, powerful, good with his feet for a man of his height, and he looked ready to tear English football apart. So it was little surprise when the Reds signed him from Newcastle United for £35m to help fill the void that would be left by Fernando Torres' departure.
While there were some memorable performances, his winning goal against Everton in the 2012 FA Cup semi-final and impressive display off the bench in the final versus Chelsea in particular, injuries and poor form prevented him from producing the goods on a consistent basis. Via West Ham United, a return to Newcastle, and brief loan moves to Reading and West Brom, Carroll is now a free agent.
He painfully saw a move to Anderlecht fail in the dying stages after he failed a medical at the Belgian giants. The former England international even cut his honeymoon short to try and secure the move.
Read More:
Premier League's most valuable XI includes one Man Utd star – and no Chelsea players
Ex-Chelsea star Willian responsible for Jurgen Klopp's favourite Premier League moment
Hero to zero – what went wrong for Chelsea flop Torres 15 years on from Liverpool debut
Source: Read Full Article