Happy birthday Nuri Sahin, the no.10 that never was

Happy birthday Nuri Sahin, we will never get to see you out in the wild as nature intended.

Happy birthday Nuri Sahin, the no.10 that never was. Happy birthday Nuri Sahin, the man who arrived from Real Madrid but you looked like you’d arrived from a pub team.

And as we wish you many happy returns, we’re also slightly happy that you’re not celebrating them on Merseyside. But, oh how it could have all been so different.

Sahin arrived at Anfield in 2012. It was the middle of the Brendan Rodgers revelation and a technical midfielder from one of the best teams in the world seemed like a really good idea at the time.

Except after seven league appearances it was all done and dusted. It happened so quick you could have blinked and missed it. You might have been pleased.

So where did it all go wrong? Well (and this is straight from the horses mouth), it was all the manager’s fault.

“Brendan Rodgers wanted me to play as a No 10. But I do not play behind the forwards,” the Liverpool Echo reported that Sahin complained.

“I spoke with him and asked him why I was playing there. It is not my real position. The boss could not answer me… But I have left Brendan Rodgers, thanks be to God.”

That’s pretty damning stuff, and it seems to be backed up with some sort of evidence. The Turkish international thrived back at Borussia Dortmund, at least for the first year. As soon as he touched down in Germany, Sahin played 31 league games and he played them very well.

Even Jurgen Klopp was a fan, and This Is Anfield reported that he raved: “It was the wrong position [for Sahin to play]. If you are a No. 8 or 6 and you have to as a No. 9 or 10 – it’s not possible.

“For some guys of course it’s possible, but Nuri’s a brilliant player – not nine-and-a-half and not 10 – and I don’t know why Brendan Rodgers would do this.”

However, consequent evidence points to a player who peaked early in his career and struggled to hit those heights again. Since those 31 starts in 2013/2014, he’s made only 18, although a long series of injuries can be seen as mitigation towards those poor numbers.

Next: Picking an alternative Liverpool player of the month

There is definitely a good play in there somewhere and maybe he was misused, but maybe some blame needs to be laid at the player’s door.

But that’s all in the past now. So happy birthday Nuri Sahin, the no.10 that never was.