Anthony Le Tallec has levelled criticism at Rafa Benitez, holding his former Liverpool boss responsible for hindering his progress. Gerard Houllier was the one who originally brought the forward and his compatriot Florent Sinama-Pongolle to Liverpool from Le Havre in 2001.
The pair remained on loan at their French club for two years before making their move to Liverpool official in the summer of 2003, both at the tender age of 18.
Le Tallec’s first season at Anfield saw him make 23 appearances and score just once. Following the arrival of Benitez as manager, succeeding Houllier, he was loaned out to Saint-Etienne in the summer of 2004.
Benitez responded to Le Tallec’s plea, disclosing that he had previously attempted to sign him and Pongolle while he was managing Valencia. “We tried to sign Sinama and Le Tallec for Valencia,” Benitez revealed.
“My scout said that he had seen two very good players – but Liverpool paid a lot of money for them so it came to nothing.
“We knew Le Tallec was the best player in the Under-17 World Cup, and Sinama was the top scorer. There’s definitely the potential there – they are both good players. They need to play at this level and then they will get more confidence.”
Despite acknowledging their potential, Benitez was nonetheless unimpressed with Le Tallec’s desire to leave. The striker, who was recalled by Liverpool in January 2005, expressed regret over his earlier decision to leave Anfield. “Looking back now it was the wrong decision for me to have made,” he admitted.
“I should have stayed here and fought for my place. I’m young and I just wanted to play. I have taken over the number 13 shirt – hopefully it won’t be unlucky for me!”
Despite making a mark with seven appearances for the Reds in the latter half of the 2004/05 season, including setting up Luis Garcia’s memorable goal against Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals, the now 39-year-old has disclosed that his request to leave Liverpool caused a rift with manager Rafael Benitez, which he feels had a detrimental impact on his career.
For having asked Rafael Benitez to leave on loan (in July 2004),” he revealed to L’Equipe as his biggest career regret. I was stupid and he was mad at me.
“I came back from Saint-Etienne 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 eighth place.’” He lamented, “I was young, but he didn’t want to know anything and lent me every year. I blame him. My career could have been different, but that one thing was fatal for me.”
