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| Steven Gerrard claims El Hadji Diouf was his least favourite player during his time at Liverpool |
STEVEN GERRARD has been labelled a racist by former Liverpool team-mate El Hadji Diouf in response to comments made about him in the former England captain's latest book.
The pair played together at Anfield between 2002 and 2005, during which time the striker garnered a reputation as a controversial and unpredictable player.
He was notably banned by the FA for two games and fined two weeks' wages for spitting on a Celtic fan during a UEFA Cup tie in March 2003.
And in Gerrard's autobiography 'My Story' he reveals Diouf was the player he liked least during his 17 years spent on Merseyside.
"I don't really want to waste time thinking about El Hadji Diouf but it's worth highlighting his wasted seasons at Liverpool as an example of how it can all go wrong," Gerrard wrote in his new book, serialised in the Daily Mail.
"We had finished as runners-up to Manchester United the season before and a combination of Diouf, Salif Diao and Bruno Cheyrou was supposed to drive us to the title. It was probably the biggest waste of £18m in Liverpool's history.
"We finished the season in fifth place and Diouf had sealed his place at the top of the list of Liverpool signings I liked least.
"It seemed to me that Diouf had no real interest in football and that he cared nothing about Liverpool. For example, the way he spat a huge globule of gunky phlegm at a Celtic fan in a UEFA Cup match at Parkhead in March 2003 summed up his contemptuous and spiteful demeanour.
"A few people have since asked me if I saw any comparison between Diouf and Mario Balotelli – and I've always said no. I've got respect for Balotelli; I've got none for Diouf."
The criticism has not sat well with Diouf, leading the former Bolton man to hit back with the shocking allegation that Gerrard 'never liked black people'.
And the Senegal international has added that the former Liverpool captain's criticism stems from jealously over his performance at the 2002 World Cup in and Japan and South Korea.
"We all saw how he made life difficult for Mario Balotelli in Liverpool," Diouf told Senegalese radio station Radio Future Media, according to Le10 Sport.
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| The pair square up to each other on the pitch in 2010 |
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| El Hadji Diouf is spoken to by the ref after an incident with Portsmouth captain Arjan De Zeeuw |
Gerrard has never liked black people
"Gerrard has never liked black people. When I was in Liverpool, I showed him that I was black, I'm not English, but I will not let him walk all over me. All the time I spent there, he never dared to look me in the eye.
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