With Brendan Rodgers set to snub first option on Aly Cissokho this summer for just £3m, it would cap what has been a dissapointing season for the Frenchman. Rodgers signed the loanee hoping to coax out the talent and potential that seems to have hidden in some dark hole ever since Cissokho left FC Porto back in 2009. Unfortunately, what we got instead was the reason why Valencia were so keen to loan him to us for a full season.
It’s not like Cissokho was the worst loan signing last summer – that title falls rather spectacularly to Victor Moses – nor was he the worst signing overall. Iago Aspas flattered to deceive and Luis Alberto rarely made the first team squad in 2014; both are expected to be sold after only a year with the club. Nevertheless, Cissokho left a lot to be desired, especially from his initial performances.
Injuries didn’t help. 20 minutes into his first start for Liverpool against Notts County in the League Cup, Cissokho was forced off with an injury that ruled him out for 6 weeks. That can only make things harder when you’re trying to adjust to a new league and a new culture. When he returned, he had even more ground to gain and it honestly didn’t look like he would recover. Despite providing an assist for Suarez’s second goal, he was pretty awful overall; a liability at the back and constantly giving the ball away when going forward. After a run of four games in the team, he was dropped.
However, a month later he was reinstated into the team for the 2-1 loss away to Manchester City. This sparked a run of 11 games in the side, where – whisper it quietly – he actually started to improve. He still remained shaky at the back, and you could argue the only reason he improved is because he set the bar so low for himself in the first place, but he seemed to gain confidence and began to look comfortable going forward.
He never assisted or scored any goals, but his pace gave opposition defenders something to think about when he ran forward. He played all the way through January and February and honestly, I thought he looked okay. For a player that had been so devoid of confidence and form for years, to fit into a team that would end up challenging for the title is no mean feat.
Before he was replaced by a resurgent Jon Flanagan, I thought Cissokho looked okay. Better than the clumsy mess that most fans believed he was, but at the end of the day we could do a lot better. Brendan Rodgers is looking for an upgrade on Enrique this year, and Cissokho is unfortunately not that man.
Most fans will remember Aly Cissokho for a poor solitary season in a Reds shirt, and for most of the time, it was. But he had some decent moments too. His future doesn’t lie with us, but really, he could have been worse. A lot worse.
He was a very underrated player, he played in about 16 game we only lost 2 and they were the ones that were robbed by the referee. he was nit a full back and was never played in his right position, – we should have kept him. he was gangly ungainly in movement so that’s all most fans see see.
I agree Cissokho wasn’t that bad . He was strong when in possession of the ball and rarely got tackled I noticed . I do think our defence needs a lot of upgrading . Our main defender now is Skrtel and he’s not the best defender around either . Scored a few own goals last season and if they clamp down on shirt pulling like expected then he could be in real trouble .
in my view good defensivly ok going forward. Gave his all every game. I Wish him all the best for the future
Yes he was cr*p