Danny Murphy names the biggest mistake Gerard Houllier ever made as Liverpool manager

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Gerard Houllier will always be remembered as a Liverpool legend in a lot of ways.

The Frenchman did some incredible work at Liverpool. He won the treble in 2001, and he got the Reds playing some incredible football at times.

However, Gerard Houllier did make a few notable mistakes at Liverpool.

Houllier arrived in controversial circumstances as he took over from Roy Evans through the back door, while Robbie Fowler fell out with Houllier.

Speaking to TalkSPORT, Danny Murphy has now shared what he thinks is the biggest mistake Houllier made at Liverpool.

Gerard Houllier’s biggest Liverpool mistake

According to Murphy, the biggest mistake Gerard Houllier ever made at Liverpool was not signing Nicolas Anelka permanently.

Anelka was an incredible player in his prime, and he spent the 2001/02 season on loan at Anfield after a £22m move to PSG the year prior.

Anelka only scored four league goals for Liverpool that year, but Murphy really rated him as a player.

The pundit says Anelka was the most talented player Liverpool signed during his time at the club, stating that Houllier really messed up when not signing Anelka permanently.

“The most talented, Nicolas Anelka who we signed on loan, my God.

“Gerard Houllier’s biggest mistake, when he was at Liverpool, was that he didn’t make the move permanent for Anelka, he signed El Hadji Diouf after the World Cup.

“That isn’t a slant on El Hadji, but Anelka was ridiculous, I couldn’t believe how good he was.”

Nicolas Anelka compared to El Hadji Diouf

Murphy says that Houllier made a big mistake with Nicolas Anelka, and he’s not wrong.

Indeed, the stats tell you all you need to know about the decision to sign Diouf over Anelka.

Remarkably, both players would end up becoming teammates at Bolton Wanderers at one point, but from there, their careers went in drastically different directions.

Anelka would join Chelsea after Bolton where he’d win the Premier League and a Golden Boot.

Meanwhile, Diouf would end up at Sunderland and Blackburn before dropping down the leagues with the likes of Doncaster Rovers and Leeds United before retiring.

Who knows what Liverpool’s trajectory would’ve been like had they signed Anelka, but it’s fair to say he’d have been a better addition than Diouf around this time.