Steven Gerrard announced his retirement from football on Thursday, but not all of his former Liverpool teammates had nice things to say about him.
El-Hadji Diouf had his issues with the Reds skipper during his time at Anfield, and it sounds as though he hasn’t really forgotten about them.
The pair have exchanged digs at one another over the years, and Diouf was asked for his opinion on the 36-year-old on French TV and wasn’t exactly entirely complimentary about him.
“People told me at Liverpool, there were some guys you could not touch, but I touched them. That is why it is complicated for me,” he is quoted as saying by The Sun.
When pressed by fellow guest Emmanuel Petit on who he meant, he confirmed it was Gerrard: “I do. Stevie G and Jamie Carragher. The two scousers.
“When I arrived I showed him he was nothing at all. Nothing at all.”
Petit took exception with him on the Liverpool icon and defended him from any form of criticism, but Diouf remained resolute on the matter and went on to explain why he felt the way he did.
“I respect the player, very big player, but the man I do not respect. And I told him. I let him know that. That was the real problem. When Gerrard did that [spoke to the manager], we had an argument, like real men.
“That is why he does not like me. He knows I say what I think, that when it is not right, no problem, I am up for it.
“He could not – he was afraid of looking into my eyes. He was afraid of talking to me.”
Clearly the pair are never going to see eye to eye and if questioned on it, Gerrard will in all likelihood have a response of his own for his former teammate.
Diouf’s comments will also likely anger the Liverpool faithful given his own relationship with them during his time on Merseyside, and so it probably wasn’t the smartest idea to come out and say what he had to say on the day Gerrard hung his boots up.
