Anthony Le Tallec has revealed how a disagreement with Rafa Benitez proved to be the beginning of the end of his Liverpool career
Anthony Le Tallec has hit out at Rafa Benitez and blamed his former Liverpool manager for derailing his career.
Gerard Houllier signed the forward alongside Florent Sinama-Pongolle from Le Havre in 2001, with the highly-rated pair remaining on loan with the French club for two years before officially joining the Reds in the summer of 2003 when still only 18 years old.
The Frenchman would make 23 appearances during his first season at Anfield, scoring just once, before leaving for Saint-Etienne on loan in the summer of 2004 after Benitez had replaced Houllier.
Le Tallec had asked his new manager if he could leave temporarily, with France Under-21s coach, Raymond Domenech, unimpressed with the attacking duo’s progress during their first season at Anfield.
“It is abnormal for boys of their age to play so rarely. It is a true problem,” he said at the time, as quoted by LFC HIstory. “When I think their coach is a former coach from the national team! He is not allowed to sign them and not play them. It is a mess.”
Benitez granted Le Tallec’s request, and revealed he had tried to sign both him and Pongolle during his time at Valencia.
“We tried to sign Sinama and Le Tallec for Valencia,” he said. “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.”
However, that did not stop Benitez from being unimpressed with Le Tallec for asking to leave.
Recalled by Liverpool in January 2005, the forward admitted at the time that he should have stayed put at Anfield.
“Looking back now it was the wrong decision for me to have made,” he said. “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!”
But while he would go on to make seven appearances for the Reds during the second half of 2004/05 season, most memorably assisting Luis Garcia’s spectacular strike against Juventus in the Champions League quarter-finals, the 39-year-old has now revealed how asking to leave Liverpool led a breakdown in his relationship with Benitez and believes it proved fatal to his overall career.
“For having asked Rafael Benitez to leave on loan (in July 2004),” he told L’Equipe when asked what his biggest regret in his career was. “I was stupid and he was mad at me.
