Jurgen Klopp is overtaking a major overhaul at the club and is the perfect man to lead the club forward and bring back it’s lost glory. Bringing the German in was the best business that the owners did and that will benefit in the long term. The future will hopefully be a lot better than the present and recent past and with rivals getting stronger with each passing season, Reds have to work on bringing players of right mentality who can thrive under Klopp and can really make a difference.
Liverpool have had a rich past considering the biggest talents to play the game, but also have their fair share of flops who though arrived with huge expectations but failed to create an impact of any measure. Many arrived having world class potential but failed to live up to their billing. Let’s take a look at a team consisting of eleven over rated players at Anfield during the Premier League era who were just not right for the Club :
Goalkeeper: Chris Kirkland
Arriving under Gerrard Houllier, there was a lot of fuss around him in 2001 and was labelled as the next England international, but sadly could not live up to the expectations. He was at the club for 5 years but could not make the goalkeeping spot his own and bad run of form and injuries made the club to sell him.
Left back: Jose Enrique
After two great left backs for the Club in recent years, John Arne Riise and Fabio Aurelio, came Enrique from the Magpies and became a decent player for the reds at the beginning of his career, but his form gradually deteriorated and for the past couple of years, he was more active on social media rather than on the field.
Center back: Phil Babb
Arriving as the most expensive British defender in 1994 at a sum of £3.6 million, Babb could not excel at Anfield and made over 150 appearances for the Club but never became the standout player that he was projected to be.
Center back: Sotirios Kyrgiakos
The Greek arrived with a big reputation and had a brilliant first season at the club and was even voted as Player of the month in his first campaign. After that, his form went on a downhill and from a solid defender, went down as an error prone defender who was rightly sold to Wolfsburg in 2011.
Right back: Bjorn Tore Kvarme
The Norwegian who was signed by Roy Evans in 1996 took the league by storm in his first season with his bursting forward runs, but soon went out of form as fast as his pace and though at first the supporters predicted a bright future for him but was ultimately a flop signing for the Club.
Left wing: Joe Cole
The man who was compared to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo by the great Steven Gerrard and who was the first signing of the infamous Roy Hodgson, failed miserably at the club and though he had a brilliant tenure at Chelsea and West Ham, he was an overrated flop and did absolutely no good for the Club.
Central midfield: Alberto Aquilani
The Italian nicknamed as the Little Prince arrived with a big reputation, but injuries cut short his Liverpool career and was a definite mistake on the club’s part.
Central midfield: Christian Poulsen
The Dane was signed by the club after his successful spells in Germany, Spain and Italy and the experienced midfielder was touted as the one to bring stability in the center of the park. He failed miserably and was another mistake from Roy Hodgson.
Right wing: Stewart Downing
The England international arrived at a fee believed to be £20 million and was one of England’s best wingers at that time. He was believed to have a big impact for the reds but became just another big money flop for the Club.
Striker: El Hadji Diouf
The Senegalese arrive at £10 million before the 2002 World Cup and made it into the tournament’s All Star team and much was expected of him at Anfield. He made a bright start to his Liverpool career by scoring a goal on his debut, but sadly that was it and his antics later became a burden to the club. Jamie Carragher labelled him as Liverpool’s worst ever no. 9 and there are no facts to suggest otherwise.
Striker: Mario Balotelli
Andriy Voronin, Iago Aspas, Fernando Morientes and even Robbie Keane were some of the disappointments for the Club but none can beat the mercurial, Mario Balotelli. The Italian’s signing was a huge risk and it failed which was totally avoidable. He was supposed to be Luis Suarez’s successor, which was impossible, but turned out to be one of the club’s notable mistakes.
