Few Tears Shed Over Sissoko Departure

If there’s one golden rule that should be followed by all Liverpool managers, it is that they shouldn’t try to liken their players to more famous counterparts.

Gerard Houllier, for instance, loved doing this so over the years we had the new Marcel Desailly (Djimi Traore), the new Patrick Vieira (Salif Diao) and the new Zinedine Zidane (Bruno Cheyrou). Inevitably they all failed to meet the expectations set by Houllier and the tag that he had given them eventually came back to haunt the manager.

Rafael Benitez isn’t one to delve into similar frivolous comparisons, yet not even he could resist likening Momo Sissoko to Patrick Vieira when the Mali international midfielder was signed from Valencia.

Even though few doubted the manager who had just won the Champions League, many winced at this. It was quite a tag for a player about whom so little was known but who had just been bought for £5.5 million, not an inconsiderable amount particularly as he wasn’t even a regular for Valencia.

It was the desire to justify that outlay which led Benitez into using Vieira as an example, his way of relaying what he saw in Sissoko that made him agree to spend so much.

Within a few weeks, any pressure that Benitez might have felt was gone. Sissoko wasn’t the finished product, everyone could see that, but there was enough raw potential in him to indicate that the manager had got his comparison right.

His tackling was impeccable, tactically he gave balance to the side and he could run all day without even breaking sweat. Passing was a bit off but that would improve in time.

Or so we thought. Because Sissoko’s ability to find a red shirt with the ball never got better: if anything it got worse.

Particularly after Benfica. If there was a turning point in Sissoko’s Liverpool career, it came during that February night in Portugal. A horrific clash with Beto turned his life upside down as it looked as if he could lose his sight.

Sissoko eventually returned a couple of months later but he never seemed the same. His passing was as frustrating as always but this was compounded by his inability to be as effective in the tackles as before.

The arrival of Javier Mascherano was the final blow. Not only was the Argentine midfielder better in every single aspect but he was denying Sissoko the games that he must have needed to improve and regains some form. Departure became inevitable.

That Liverpool ultimately made a profit off of him perhaps says more of Juventus’ transfer inefficiencies – these are the same people who thought it a good idea to buy Jean Alain Boumsong – then the players’ real valuation.

His farewell record to the fans upon signing for Juventus was a classy touch by him but, even so, few will be those who miss him.