For most players who play for Liverpool, turning out at Anfield is the pinnacle. Even those who left for what they perceived as a bigger club like Philippe Coutinho often find that the grass is not always greener.
Former Liverpool striker Anthony Le Tallec has told L’Equipe that he regrets asking to leave the Reds in 2004. Signed in 2001, Le Tallec was on the Reds’ books for seven years in all and eventually left to sign for Le Mans. In all that time, some spent out on loan, he played a total of 32 times and scored only once.
Asked about the biggest regret that he had now he has retired, Le Tallec was able to pinpoint one moment. He asked to leave in the same summer that Rafa Benítez arrived from Valencia.
“For having asked Benítez to leave on loan [in July 2004], I was stupid and he was mad at me,” Le Tallec said. “I came back from Saint-Étienne in January because there were injuries at Liverpool and, at the end of the season, Benítez said to me: ‘For me, you are crazy. You were one of the three attackers, now I put you in 8th place’.
“I was young, but he didn’t want to know anything and loaned me every year. I blame him. My career could have been different, but that one thing was fatal for me.”
And that was not the only regret that Le Tallec has from his time at Anfield. Liverpool won the Champions League final in Istanbul in Benítez’s first season but the French forward was not involved.
“In 2005, Benítez didn’t include me in the squad for the Champions League final. It made me cry,” Le Tallec continued. “Harry Kewell came back from injury but was injured again after 20 minutes. I was in the stands during the final, but I didn’t celebrate the title in Istanbul or take part in the parade through Liverpool. I stayed at home. I was too sad.”
