Liverpool never quite lived up to their potential during the late 2000’s under Rafael Benitez.
The Reds kicked things off in spectacular fashion with Benitez as manager, winning the Champions League in 2005 and the FA Cup one year later.
However, the Spaniard’s best teams at Liverpool came during the latter part of the decade.
But despite possessing a talented Liverpool squad from 2007 to 2010, the Reds could not add any further trophies to their collection.
Part of the problem for Benitez was that beyond the terrific spine of that Liverpool team, there was not much else besides. The starting XI was strong, but the drop-off to the bench was far too big.
One player who typified this was striker Andriy Voronin. The step down from Fernando Torres to Voronin was cavernous. However, in an interesting twist of fate, the Ukrainian was actually once a teammate of Jurgen Klopp, who would go on to become a Liverpool legend long after Voronin had left.
Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Photo credit should read PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images
Andriy Voronin was key for Jurgen Klopp
At the time he joined Liverpool in 2007, Voronin was coming off the back of three decent seasons with Bayer Leverkusen in which he scored 37 goals in 119 games.
Prior to that, Voronin spent three years at Mainz after joining in 2000. Amazingly, the Ukraine international was signed as a teammate of Klopp’s with the legendary former Liverpool manager still part of the playing squad.
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Klopp spent half a season playing alongside Voronin before stepping up to lead the team in February 2001. As the German recalled in October 2021, though, he did not always play his former colleague as much as he would have liked.
“If Andriy had known just one day in his life how good he could have been, it would have been absolutely amazing,” Klopp told the official Mainz YouTube channel. “Andriy was an incredible player, an incredible talent.”
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“Actually, I was a little unfair. In my first year as coach, I think my first full season as coach especially, I would always only sub him on. And then Andriy came to my room during the training camp and asked, ‘Kloppo, why do I never start?’
“I said, ‘Do you want the honest answer?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ So I said, ‘Because you don’t complain when you don’t start!’
“He replied, ‘Fair enough!’ And he carried on not starting.”
Why did it not work out for Andriy Voronin at Liverpool?
Although Voronin was not initially a key player for Klopp, he went on to become one. During the 2002/03 season, the then 24-year-old top-scored in the Bundesliga 2, bagging 20 goals.
A move to the Bundesliga with Koln followed, before Voronin joined Leverkusen a year later and eventually ended up at Liverpool.
Stuck behind Torres, though, things did not go to plan for Andriy at Anfield. He played 28 times in his first season, scoring six, before leaving on-loan for Hertha Berlin in 2008. Voronin returned to Liverpool for 2009/10, playing a further 12 times without scoring before leaving for Dynamo Moscow.
The presence of Torres was an obvious problem, but it was also clear that Voronin simply wasn’t good enough for Liverpool. And, while speaking to GOAL in 2021, the forward also revealed that he had never fully settled after his move to England.
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Andriy Voronin at Liverpool 40 6
“Scouse. I understood almost nothing,” he said. “My English wasn’t good anyway. When Carragher and Gerrard talked, I asked them to repeat it in English.
“Liverpool didn’t suit me as a city overall, even though it has a lot of history to offer, such as the Beatles. My father is a big fan of the band. When I told him I had signed with Liverpool, he started crying.
“I also couldn’t cope with the weather and the rhythm of the games without a winter break,” Voronin added. “I was just traveling and playing, which was very exhausting.”