Luis Suarez and eight more snubbed by new boss…

Sarah Winterburn
<> at Old Trafford on October 5, 2014 in Manchester, England.

New bosses bring new ideas, new methods and don’t always see eye to eye with established players. Sometimes, they don’t even look them in the eye (See Ronald Koeman/Luis Suarez). Here are eight of the toppest examples…

 

* Michael Owen v Rafa Benitez
Back in 2004, Michael Owen was on a pre-season tour of America trying to impress new Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez, who had taken over from Gerard Houliier. In one game against Celtic, he played a blinder. Or so he thought. Owen recalls: “I chipped the keeper, my link-up play was great and I thought I’d really impressed the gaffer.”

Unfortunately, Rafa showed the cold-as-ice streak that had left Steven Gerrard craving more. While Gerrard’s aim was to get a “well done” off Benitez, Owen got a clear “you’re done”. The Spaniard apparently told Owen ‘you’re doing too much of this, too little of that. You need to get in behind more’.

With only 14 months of his contract to run and no new deal, Benitez absolutely did not get behind Owen, who was shipped to Real Madrid for eight million quid that August.

 

* Emre Can v Maurizio Sarri
Emre Can was an important part of Juventus’ Scudetto-winning squad under Massimiliano Allegri. The German joined Juve from Liverpool in the summer of 2018 and achieved immediate success, winning the Italian Super Cup too. But new boss Maurizio Sarri ejected Can from the Champions League squad when he arrived from Chelsea the following year and he was limited to eight league appearances.

“Sarri told me with a 20-second phone call that I would not be included in the Champions League list. After that phone call, I was denied any chance. I thought it was unfair and that’s why I decided to move (to Borussia Dortmund) in January.”

Twenty seconds? That makes Koeman’s chat with Suarez seem like a lengthy conversation…

 

* Andy Carroll v Brendan Rodgers
Andy Carroll claimed he lost respect for Brendan Rodgers before his departure from Liverpool; the wee big man was offloaded to West Ham soon after the Northern Irishman took the reins at Anfield in 2012.

The £35m man’s goals (all six of them) cost the Reds almost six million a pop. However, injury-prone Carroll blamed Rodgers for not making things clear: “He would say: ‘You’re going to play every week, you’re going to play every game up front with [Luis] Suarez’. I’d leave and get home and he would ring me and say: ‘Fulham and West Ham want you and I think it’s best you should go.'”

Carroll maintained it was mixed messages while Rodgers insisted: “I was very open and honest with Andy and said ‘Look I won’t be playing with the two up front in that sort of way of working’.” On the head, son? Not for Brenda.

 

* Kevin de Bruyne v Jose Mourinho
Midfield maestro Kevin De Bruyne says he only spoke to former manager Jose Mourinho twice during his time at Chelsea. Well at least he’s done better than Victor Moses, who never got a word out of the Portuguese.

De Bruyne scored 10 goals for Werder Bremen on loan before returning to Stamford Bridge in 2013, when then Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign him.

De Bruyne said: “Mourinho texted me, ‘You are staying. I want you to be part of this team’. So I thought, OK, great. I’m in his plans.”

But then…

“Jose called me into his office in December…and he said, ‘One assist. Zero goals. Ten recoveries’. Then he started reading the stats of the other attacking forwards – Willian, Oscar, Mata, Schürrle. And it’s like – five goals, 10 assists, whatever.

“Jose was just kind of waiting for me to say something, and finally I said, ‘But… some of these guys have played 15, 20 games. I’ve only played three. So it’s going to be different, no?'”

No. It wasn’t. He was sold to Wolfsburg the following month and never looked back after becoming Manchester City’s record signing in 2015 when he agreed a £55million six-year deal. He’s been quite good.

 

* Rafael v Louis van Gaal
The once unreliable full-back gained cult status at Old Trafford, enjoying three title successes with Sir Alex Ferguson. When Louis van Gaal moved into the post, Rafael was reminded of rumours that the manager was not a fan of Brazilian players; when he was in charge of Barca in the 90s, Giovanni called LVG “the Hitler of the Brazilians”.

Rafael was more rounded in his view: “Van Gaal is not a bad coach, but I didn’t like his character. One day, I was in the canteen waiting to eat. (Van Gaal) used to speak to us after we’d eaten each day. I had a head injury after a game at Yeovil — one of the few games I played in that season — and I was touching my injury. After three or four seconds, he touched my head and said: ‘Why don’t you respect me?'”

It could have been worse – Van Gaal pulled Luca Toni up by his ears at Munich in an attempt to make him sit up straight.

Rafael was sold to Lyon by the Dutchman in 2015, a year after his appointment at Old Trafford.

 

* Mamadou Sakho v Jurgen Klopp
Despite scoring a vital goal in the titanic 4-3 Europa League win over Borussia Dortmund in 2016, Sakho fell out with new Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp over numerous disciplinary issues, including the small matter of almost missing the outbound flight to America in pre-season.

When visiting Alcatraz on that same tour, the central defender decided to interrupt his manager who was giving an interview. Not wise. Klopp’s anger was all too clear despite smiling through the tension: “Only one of us came late last night….” Ouch. After skipping a rehabilitation session. being late to a team meal and using SnapChat to voice frustration about being left out, the Frenchman’s days were numbered, and he was loaned to Crystal Palace in January 2017 with the deal becoming permanent seven months later.

 

* Joe Hart v Pep Guardiola
When Pep’s Bravo new world took shape in 2016, Joe Hart found himself surplus to requirements. Hart actually handled the subsequent furore with a quiet dignity, considering he had just suffered from a pretty awful Euro 2016. Claudio’s greater distribution skills were deemed to be more in line with the Pep ‘pass out from the back’ philosophy.

“He didn’t even necessarily not like me, he just had a certain aspect which he didn’t feel I was up to, and it kind of dropped from there.” As it transpired, Bravo was the exact reverse of Hart; great with his feet but hopeless with his hands. Call us old-fashioned but…

 

* Oumar Niasse v Ronald Koeman
The Senegalese striker was signed by former Toffees manager Roberto Martinez for a reported £13.5m. But after seeing him play for 45 minutes in a friendly, new boss Ronald Koeman said: “If he likes to play football then he needs to leave Everton.”

Niasse was stripped of a squad number, banished to the under-23s and even refused a locker. He was eventually loaned to Hull City.

When Koeman’s plight became increasingly uncertain at Goodison Park, he had a sudden change of heart based on expedience, recalling the forward as a desperate measure to save face.

The striker scored twice as Everton came from behind to beat Bournemouth in one of only two league wins at the beginning of the 2017 season. Koeman was suddenly smitten: “The boy has that kind of quality and with his aggression and direct play he can create a lot of problems.” A month later, Koeman was sacked and Niasse got it all out of his system.

 

Tim Ellis – follow him on Twitter

 

F365 Features Luis Suarez

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