Diouf : Gerrard is egostitical

Leeds striker El-Hadji
Diouf has hit out at
former Liverpool team-
mate Steven Gerrard,
labelling him
"egotistical''.
Diouf, 31, played alongside Gerrard, 32,
for three seasons
before departing for
Bolton Wanderers in
2005.
And the Liverpool
captain did not take a
liking to the Senegal
international, criticising
his attitude and work
rate in his 2007 autobiography.
"I wasn't Diouf's number one fan," Gerrard wrote.
"Being around Melwood
and Anfield I knew which players were hungry, which players had
Liverpool at heart. Diouf was just interested in himself.
"His attitude was all
wrong. I felt he wasn't
really a***d about
putting his body on the
line to get Liverpool
back at the top.''
However, Diouf has now hit back at Gerrard five years down the line,
claiming that the England international has his own detractors at the
club.
"What he said is only of
interest to him," he told
L'Equipe. "All I was
worried about was the
Senegal team, I took
them to the World Cup
quarter-finals in 2002.
"I was in Pele's 100
players of the century.
Not him.
"I respect him as a
footballer, but there is
nobody more egotistical
than him.
"He does not care about
others. I spoke to the
major figures at
Liverpool and nobody
can stand him. And I am not talking about (Jamie) Carragher.''
Diouf's career in
England, that has seen
him move along to
Sunderland, Blackburn,
Rangers, Doncaster and
now Leeds, has been
plagued by controversy.
He was embroiled in a
series of spitting
controversies while at
both Liverpool and
Bolton, while his time
with Blackburn saw him
accused of taunting
Queens Park Rangers'
Jamie Mackie as he lay
on the ground with a
broken leg.
The latter incident saw
then QPR boss Neil
Warnock, now Diouf's
manager at Elland Road,
infamously compare the player to a rat.
Yet Diouf feels he has
been treated unfairly
during his time in
England and has
defended himself against the 'bad-boy' image he has been given.
"I have done things but
others have done
worse. I am an easy
target, people talk about me no matter what," Diouf said. "Okay, I have
hurt people and I regret
that. But I have never
been to prison, I have
never injured anyone
on the pitch.
"After people gave me
the 'bad-boy' image, I
had to deal with it. Bad
boy? It makes me laugh.
It doesn't bother me. I
prefer that people talk
about me, whether good
or bad. I leave my mark
wherever I go.''
Information from the
Press Association was
used in this report.

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