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The Curious Case of Oussama Assaidi

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Assaidi & Sahin at Liverpool FCLIFE at Liverpool for Oussama Assaidi started fast; unfortunately for him this was only because he was observing Ramadan.

What makes matters worse for him is that the time he’s been granted on the pitch since his move has also been particularly lean.

Recent rumours emanating from the Dutch transfer gurus at voetbalinfo.nl have suggested that Oussama Assaidi’s time may well be up at Liverpool with the club looking to trade him in for the Man City-destroying Siem de Jong.

Of course this is the nature of the January free-for-all where any player can be linked anywhere. I mean Andy Carroll to Liverpool for £35m? That will never happen and Remy to QPR? Don’t make me laugh! But there is something suspicious about Oussama Assaidi’s Liverpool career so far and it would not be a shock if he departed the club only 5 months after signing.

If his Anfield career were to be cut short, then it would not be without some level of disappointment. Although his appearances have been brief and intermittent, his actual levels of performance have been promising.

He may well be the most one footed winger to grace the turf at Anfield but the trickery with his right foot sees him get the better of his man far more often than not. Not only that, he has not looked a player who is all deception and no end product. He has put some menacing balls in not least the assist for Sahin, another man with a mystery behind him, against West Brom in the League Cup.

However, a move may well be in Assaidi’s mind given his paucity of minutes on the pitch, particularly in a position where so many have been given the chance to try their luck. It must wrench the winger to see Enrique deployed ahead of him and then still not be given an opportunity once the Spaniard suffered injury.
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There may well be mitigating factors to Assaidi’s plight. Raheem Sterling’s contract impasse no doubt encouraged Brendan Rodgers to play him as much as possible in an effort to ensure that the prodigy signed on the dotted line. Additionally, Fabio Borini was one of Brendan Rodgers’ first choice signings and was therefore preferred for the left forward role right from the start.

These arguments do not hold a great deal of weight though when one considers that Borini did not perform particularly well and then broke his foot; Downing was told that his future at Liverpool was under review and his other rivals to the slot were… Joe Cole and Jose Enrique? Surely Assaidi’s Herenveen record of 22 goals in 93 games was worthy of some sort of run in the team.

Assaidi did have injuries of his own, although they too seemed slightly suspicious, but to not even be tried ahead of Cole and Enrique appears an odd choice. That Enrique played so marvellously could not have helped Assaidi’s situation but there appears to be another issue behind the scenes as to why Assaidi has not even been afforded a single Premier League start.

To venture a guess as to why he has not seen more action would be pure speculation and while it is tempting to suggest all manner of ludicrous scenarios to answer the Assaidi puzzle, and privately I encourage everyone to do this, it is perhaps simply a case that he doesn’t quite fit into the Rodgers paradigm. Either way the mystery continues…
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78 comments

  • bob says:

    i said it when he first signed – this guy was never premier quality let alone liverpool quality , i have spent time working in holland and saw assaidi quite a bit , he is not good enough , 3m wasted

    i know pool fans saw him being speedy down the wing and a bit tricky ….. but never once was there a final ball or a decent shot at the end of it . thats why he is not top quality

    amazingly even rodgers figured that out quickly , if only he would do the same with allen

    • tommy says:

      yes bob , and it does baffle me how our club can keep blowing millions , even likes of joe cole , on 90k aweek , i just hope if the club do bring others in , which they will, that they are up to scratch , players who can go right into the team and preform , likes of sturridge and suarez , i really believe if we can get wesley sneijder or the brazilian lad countinho , his team mate , we’ll be really strong , we can push for a top 4 place now but with wesley we have real class a long side stevie G and lucas , we need champions league footy, players like assaidi could maybe get us there in years time , we cant afford to sit back and wait more years , i think allen will come right but he’ll need time , learning from likes of stevie and hopefull wesley ,,

      • Dave says:

        How much time do u want to give Allen ? Its not like he is a kid – He is 23 .

        Isnt 25 games enough ?

        It doesnt even matter if the guy gets all his passes right – he still slows our attacks by passing sideways all the time – and he is too light weight anyway , too easily pushed off ball

        There is NO hope for Allen – Simply not good enough

        • facts says:

          Allen has been great at winning the ball back once we lose i just check the stats i think you’ll find he has won the ball back more times than any other player in the league!!
          Bet you didnt know that! Yes he plays it simple but if he keeps winning the ball back then passes it simple to a more attacking player then in turn makes an assist then its an important part of the way we play! Also hes only young, just moved to one of the biggest clubs in world football and has plastic fans on his back already give the lad a break and get behind our team.

        • simon says:

          stats ? what idiot mentioned stats ? that must be you Tim , no one else is such a moron as to believe in stats and Allen. LOL GET A LIFE

          Allen is not young , 23 yr old international
          Allen is not good , backwards backwards sideways
          Allen is lightweight , dominated every game
          Allen is rubbish offensively

          Im not exaggerating when i say Allen is the most useless player i have ever seen wear a pool shirt

          That is you Tim Williams , use your real name u fool

        • Scoobsie23 says:

          Allen the most useless player to don the red shirt? Nay, nay and thrice nay. Lest we not forget the amazing talent which was Bruno Cheyrou, Salif Diao, Paul Konchesky, Sean Dundee, Neil Mellor, Antony Le Tallac…. and there is a litany of other characters who would be ahead of Allen on this list. Allen was brought into the team to provide another safe player who could break up play and distribute efficiently. He has not been asked to be offensive, but with Lucas out of the team he was the one required to hold it together at the back. Now ask if he was worth £15mil, and then we could have a good discussion of which we would both probably agree that the answer was ‘probably not’….

        • meh says:

          This has Lucas Leiva written all over it.

        • The King says:

          Allen might not be technically the worst , but for what he contributes i would say YES he is the worst
          At least all the other grunts ran around and got stuck in

          Allen is the shy kid in the playground afraid of the bullies

          When Allen plays , Liverpool play with 10 men
          At his age physically he wont improve

    • deane fitzpatrick says:

      Are u fooking mad,if joe Allen lost a leg an his sight den Rodgers wud stil play him.its getn embarrassing,how can brenda back him,I’d rather Sean Dundee was playing again.Allen is not gud enough,how can d club pay over d odds on these less then average players but when quality like sneijder comes available at half the fukn money we spent on muck like Allen and borini,less then a third of wat we paid for downing the owners say no.

      • tommy says:

        HA!HA!, yes ive been known to be mad at times deane

      • j m s says:

        Henderson and Lucas OUT NOW!!!

      • Lfc4lifer says:

        Stats fail to mention Allen is only tetrieving the ball he lost!

        Backwards sideways backwards and again and again and again and again.

        Hey look I type like Allen plays lol

        At least Hendo plays the ball forward.

        Against the mancs there was 3 occasions where Suarez made splitting runs down the middle and allen acknowledged the run and still decided to play the ball sideways…..

        He only knows one way…

        We have our samways :/

        • Stan says:

          Totally right
          Allen is beyond redemption
          Just too weak , something he CANT improve
          its embarrassing for Liverpool having weakling in midfield
          doesnt defend – doesnt attack
          anyone can pass ball 5 yards sideways – anyone

  • John says:

    He is cover. That is all, and all he ever was going to be. A 3m wide signing to fill holes from injury and small cup ties. Pull your heads out of your *

  • Sean dundee says:

    I still got my old boots and they are like new

  • Dave says:

    Assaidi is too light-weight for the PL – dont know why Rodgers wasted our money on him

    And speaking of light-weight – Yes Dundee or Poulsen or Istvan Kozma would do better than Allen

  • Istvan Kozma says:

    I still got my old boots too Sean

  • marcus says:

    Crikey you guys must be bored.

    I always look forward to your comical articles about LFC, whatever is happening you will always try to find the negative.

    How about the 5-0 win yesterday? How about the fluid flowing dominating football BR has the team playing? How about the resurgence of Jordan Henderson? How about Daniel Sturridge?

    There is so much you could choose from, but as per usual you print this negative sh*t. But this really is scraping the barrel.

    • Carl says:

      delusional fool . One excellent performance and u think everything is ok .
      Wake up and stop dreaming .

      Liverpool have some very serious problems ,you stay in cloud cuckoo land and pretend everything is ok if u want

      • oliver says:

        One excellent performance? Whatabout 3-0 over Sunderland, What about 3-0 away to QPR, what about 4-0 over Fulham, what about 3-2 away to West Ham?

        Have you not been paying attention or are you a closet Manure supporter?

        I think Marcus is right

        • Terry Mac says:

          sunderland ,fulham and QPR (lol) ???. 1 decent away win v west ham . WOW .

          This is Liverpool you dummy not Wigan

          Havent beaten 1 good team the whole season

          LOL , you think this is acceptable for LFC ?

      • pablo says:

        go and support everton you pathetic idiot, this time last season we were heading south, now we are building a solid foundation and heading north with still possibly 1 or 2 more players to come in, sick of you crap supporters who do not see the bigger picture.

        • Scouse Ed says:

          sick of totally delusional supporters , who like to fantasise that everything is all right rather than face up to our problems . You just dont understand football . Typical internet supporter !

        • pablo says:

          what is the point with people like you? completly and utterly thick, i will come back at the end of the season and make my point then when we have qualified for europe and won another trophy, thats what i see anyway, i know what you see…. finish 12, no trophys, rogers sacked and suarez sold, so glad im me and not looser ed!!!

        • fotheringham says:

          you would rather dream than face realism ? what are u pablo ? 8 years old

          Grow up kid

        • Scouse Ed says:

          @pablo . Kiddies like you make me lol.

          Win a trophy and qualified for europe ? Is that all ?
          Surely its not too late to win the league and both cups ? Rodgers to get manager of the year , Allen player of the year .

          If your going to live in your own sad little world , you might as well have it all .

          lol

        • pablo says:

          how is qualifying for europe and winning one of the 2 cups were still in dreaming?? how bad do you negative fools think we are? SUPPORT YOUR TEAM DRIP

        • Scouse Ed says:

          When was last time you were even at anfield you fool , if ever .If you think a team who cant beat anyone decent , with over half season gone is a good team ,then you are as dumb as you sound

          What are you ? american or aussie ?

        • pablo says:

          iv seen enough my friend to suggest that liverpool are on the way up and if you have not seen that in games this season then you are the exact kind of supporter we dont need at anfield whilst we have 20 year kids on the pitch sh*ng themselfs because of people like you lashing abuse at them so hit the road sonny. what did shankly or sir purple nose achieve in there first 5 years? like your whole life they achieved nothing, were are you from?

        • Harvey says:

          Sorry Pablo , you should stop talking nonsense now , this is like a playground

  • Assaidi is good player give him more time

  • Igor Biscan says:

    I think I still have unfinished business at Anfield!

    • steve O says:

      Igor , id have you over the welsh wally any day .

      or what about Jean michel Ferri ? anyone remember him ?

  • Carl says:

    Assaidi was never good enough for LFC – NEVER .

    I can only imagine FSG thought they might sell a few more shirts in North africa , no other reason for buying him

  • jimmy says:

    Well Sahin is gone , Assadi is on his way soon . That only leaves the other 2 summer flops

    If he has any brains Borini n Allen will be flogged in summer for a loss . 30m of complete sh*te . The summer of madness 2012 . 4 useless players and 1 useless manager !

    • pablo says:

      you really have not got a clue about football have you!!!

    • Scouse Ed says:

      It was 30m spent on rubbish . Sooner all 4 are gone , the better we will be

      • pablo says:

        you have seen 8 weeks of borini and you want him out the club!! enough said!!

        • fotheringham says:

          I agree with ed , how long can give a underperforming player at Liverpool ? Borini never looked Liverpool class , but he has his chance to prove wrong now

          Allen and assaidi are defo not good enough

        • Scouse Ed says:

          This is Liverpool FC not Doncaster Rovers . No player should get 14 games if he is not doing it

          Give me your address , ill send u a book about Liverpool to try and educate you .

          Dumb troll

      • pablo says:

        pretty sure ian rush didnt score in his first 8 or 9 games, good job you were not manager then, read your own book fool, whats your next insult mr ed?

  • armchairlfcfan says:

    This is my observation. LFC does pretty well when coming to recruiting talents for its academy or purchasing young talents. However it failed miserably when coming to grooming them for the first team or EPL action. Tome Ince, Sebastian Coates, Ousama Assaidi, Samed Yesil,Suso, to name a few, have either been sold, loaned out or left to languish in the club. When they are allowed so little playing time in the first team, how are they expected to perform??

    • Stan says:

      Its not supposed to be easy to get into Liverpool team . Only players who can meet and perform the highest standards (not allen ) should get in

      If they are not getting chances , they r not doing it , in reserves etc

  • David Aris-Sutton says:

    It seems that Liverpool’s once loyal and well informed fan base is being over-run by people who want success NOW, at any cost and if it doesn’t come then they abuse the manager, the players and even the owners.
    Too often do these so called fans, believe the press speculation about this or that player and with no real information call for them to be signed up immediately.
    BR and Ayre do know what they are doing, they have more information than all of you put together, they see the players in training every day, they know what potential transfers are asking for, and offering. I trust them to do what’s best for the club more than I would trust some of you

    • The King says:

      Only a fool trusts a fool . I wouldn’t trust Rodgers to hang my washing out

      Liverpool fans dont expect success now , not at all . We are however not happy with the direction the club has been taken and the people entrusted with taking us there

      Most fans i know think Rodgers is not up to it , and is making us worse . If we had a proper manager i would be happy even with the current position ,because i would trust him to get it right – but we dont

      As for Ayre , what a american asskisser , he is FSGs dog boy , and their intentions are not good

      Give us a decent manager , and we will all be supportive and patient . I for one wont support a fool who is taking us backwards

      • pablo says:

        how is he taking us backwards? 7th now and with sturridge for the run in we will defo be in the top 6 which is an improvement on last year, he has also knocked 20 million off the annual wage bill, oh and were still in 2 trophys!! go away fool!!

        • Scouse Ed says:

          LOL what a plonker u are . havent beaten one top half team after 7 months , and after 3 games muppets like you think one player ( sturridge) will turn the whole team round . delusional fool

          and ‘defo top6 ‘ ? you think top 6 is something to be proud of ?
          open your eyes , and stop being such a biased clown

        • Tommo says:

          Top 6 wont keep Suarez next season

        • pablo says:

          were should we be then scouse ed? at the moment we ca’nt compete with city,utd,chelsea or arsenal which means were playing for 5th with tott and blue *, now you open your eyes and see the reality of todays football and start supporting the club or just do one because your comments are pathetic.

        • pablo says:

          top 6 this season, maybe an fa or europa cup, thats better than last season, not were lfc should be but on the right path, 20mill knocked off the wage bill, 60,000 seats at anfield on the way, young manager,very young squad, surely the only way is up?

        • fotheringham says:

          Now i know you are a moron ‘pablo’ , or is it oz ? You believe anything your told , probably still believe in santa

          Grow up , live just isnt something you read in a book , fantasising about something doesnt mean its going to happen

        • pablo says:

          answer the questions honestly, 1, will we finish top 6? 2, have we got a chance of lifting a cup? 3, is anfield getting redeveloped? 4, will a young manager and squad only improve with time? if you have a brain you probably answered yes to all 4 so how the f*”k can i be dreaming??? next question idiot.

        • Scouse Ed says:

          You are braindead Pablo . whats life like with the fairies ?

        • Red Barron says:

          Ignore Scouse Ed, he’s obviously upset, his mum probably grounded him so he couldn’t go to the match…. down at the rec with his mates on a Sunday morning! He’s better off there, knows nothing about football!

          You make plenty of daft accusations Ed but none will wash with me. I have supported LFC for 48 years, go to Anfield plenty, have been to European Cup finals, have cheered Kenny Dalglish from the Kop…. I am as Red as they come.

          So, what about our team? We got a new manager who plays things differently and who we all knew would need at least a season to get the team clicking and doing it his way. In less than that we are seeing the team play flowing and attacking football and now we have more than one option to get on the end of it to put the ball away.

          we can get 4th this season if we keep pushing. Get the win over Arsenal and we’ll be right up there in the mix. One or two more players and we’ll start giving every team a game, no matter who they are.

        • pablo says:

          praise the lord, there are supporters who know football and have belief.

        • simon says:

          ‘praise the lord’ ? Your so dumb you believe in that nonsense too , ha ha ha ha

          You make yourself look more stupid with every comment

          See below > Bobs comment shows how ignorant you are about football
          Well done

      • DannyA says:

        Think back to late 2010. Liverpool under Roy Hodgson were in the bottom three and 48 hours away from administration, not to mention a subsequent 10-point deduction. Make no mistake, we were a whisker away from certain relegation. That my friends is what going backwards looks like.

        Contrast that with 16 goals in 6 games and you see a team that is finding its feet again. Remember back when there were those who moaned that Liverpool struggled to beat the minnows? Where are they now? No doubt pointing out that we haven’t beaten anyone above us yet.

        • Scouse Ed says:

          Liverpool were never ever , with the players we had , even near relegation . Even Hodgson would have got us up to 8th or 9th minimum

  • James says:

    I guess all you negative guys are the ones who said the same as about Lucas and then the same about Benitez! I bet you all wish Benitez was back so with limited budget he can get us in the champions league again, and if you don’t then I guess ur just too stupid to realise what we had!

    • pablo says:

      i remember all the fools wanting rafa out, now they see how hard it is to stay top 4 year after year with limeted funds, now here they are again wanting rodgers out!! never never happy, some of them probably even whinged when we had paisley for christs sake, i ca’nt take it no more, im off to watch loose women!!

      • Brian says:

        Having seen all your many comments , you dont understand football and should stop telling fans how to support their team , its a bit cheap from someone who has probably never even watched Liverpool live . What you are doing is ranting aka trolling

      • bob says:

        when idiots like you ‘pablo’ come on here shouting the odds , giving out to other people for their opinions , is kind of ok when you understand football and have a knowledge of the game , but you dont .

        you asked what did shankley or ferguson do in their first 5 years ??????? really , are you THAT uneducated , you dont know ?

        shankley won 2nd division in his 2nd full season and the league title in his 5th . are you such an idiotic fan you dont even know your own clubs history ?

        i hope you are just a kid , ive rarely seen any adults know so little
        come back and comment in a few years after you learned a bit

    • pablo says:

      bob shankly took 4 years to win the title! purple nose took twice as long, whichever way you look at it my point is correct so what are you on? br is getting crucified after 6 months, give the man time is the point im making, every comment i make is justified and positive, thought id just have a laugh today winding some negative heads up and obviously you are one. cheerio old timer!

      • Harry86 says:

        Your point , like all your other points are rubbish , Bob just proved you lack football knowledge . Fergie got Utd 2nd in his first full season , after taking over team 2nd bottom
        You dont have a clue mate , your just being ignorant
        But keep it up , your givin everyone a laugh at how dim u are

      • Asam says:

        ha , pablo u dont know your stuff . ignorant no mark

      • massive says:

        pablo ur coments are stupid . armchair lunatic

  • Paul says:

    English football is not just about speed and skill, you also need the strength to overcome the aggressive style of English football. Perhaps, he needs more time to build up his stature and strength. He could be a secret weapon for liverpool towards the end of the season when we are pushing for top 4 spots in the league. You never know. YNWA

  • Tommo says:

    Dont think Assaidi is good enough at all . We had damn all players in his position and he couldn’t even get on bench most weeks

    Rodgers thought with his system he could use cheaper lower quality players and get away with it . he found out the hard we you cant . Allen , Assaidi and Borini are all complete wastes and will be sold in summer

  • shibashis says:

    I like you Red Baron, rather like the points that you make, and Pablo I do share your optimism, but sometimes displays like the first half at manure’s can be pretty life-sapping!

  • vin says:

    There is no point being unrealistic thinking we are great because we were superb in one game . We are a long long long way away from where Liverpool FC should be . If you think everything is rosy in the garden ,you are being immature

  • redrum says:

    Some of you supporters are so dumb , we just hammered Norwich at home .. Norwich not utd or city … Norwich , who were dire . And what happens next , predictably we have fools coming out sayin ‘ yaaay were going to finish top 6 ‘ and “were going to win a cup” and next year we will do this and that …..

    FFS last week we were the worst team ever , now we are great . Grow up people

  • sirmax says:

    why do i always read about some swap deals between players ??? how many times do they actually happen ?
    almost NEVER,, really tired of reading rumors about swap deals.

  • michael says:

    Real fans would support brendan rodgers and relise he hasn’t got the budget to buy world class players if he was given a chance we could win the fa cup and be back in the champions league then get some talent and challenge for the title but only if brendan rodgers is given time to develope the club

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