Ex-Liverpool defender Steven Caulker believes he was not fairly treated during his loan spell at the club in the 2015/16 season.
Arriving at Anfield as an emergency loan signing in January 2016 after injuries to key centre-backs left Jurgen Klopp scrambling for options.
The 31-year-old was largely unused during his short stay, appearing late on as a substitute in three Premier League games, and made his only start in an FA Cup fourth round tie at home to West Ham United.
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Set to feature in the replay at Upton Park ten days later, Caulker was forced to pull out of the match after suffering from back spasms in the build-up to this fixture. He failed to feature again for the club in the following four months and is of the view Klopp formed a false impression of him after declaring himself unavailable to participate against the Hammers.
“Things did change for two months. I’ve gone there, it’s the chance of a lifetime, I was white-knuckling it," he said on the Under The Cosh podcast when reflecting on his time at Liverpool.
"I didn’t know how to deal with my addiction (drink/gambling), I was somehow dealing with it because I wanted the opportunity. But the opportunity never came. I had a couple of run outs up-front, played one game as centre-halve, did alright, against West Ham.
“We then had the cup replay against West Ham and I’d done my back in, horrible spasms, I couldn’t get rid of it. The morning of the game I’ve had to tell him I can’t play. I was due to start but I said I actually can’t play. I was devastated, and from that moment on he wrote me off. I think he wrote me off as one of those guys who didn’t want to play or who was scared to play. It couldn’t have been further from the truth," continued Caulker, who currently plays for Wigan Athletic.
“That was it, my moment was gone. As soon as that went – and I felt it go because then he started putting me in the U23s to play every week – I was like ‘nah that’s not on.’ You see it all the time, the manager just goes ‘you’re not for me, out you go, get down with the kids.'”
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