Cisse to prove he belongs in Premier League

Aug 31 2008 by James Hunter, Sunday Sun

DJIBRIL CISSE is a man on a mission after vowing to prove Liverpool wrong for letting him go.

Sunderland’s French hitman will make his home debut against Manchester City this afternoon and aiming to follow his debut winner at Spurs last weekend with his first goal at the Stadium of Light.

Cisse is on a season-long loan deal on Wearside from French side Marseille but just 12 months ago it looked as though his time in the Premier League was up for good.

The striker, who cost Liverpool £14 million when he joined from Auxerre back in 2004, claimed he was forced out of Anfield by Reds boss Rafa Benitez when he joined Marseille for a cut-price £6m last summer.

But now the 27-year-old is back in England and determined to make up for failing to realise his potential with Liverpool.

“I know I can play better than I did at Liverpool,” he said. “I didn’t fulfil my potential there because of injury and, when I was fit, I also played quite a lot of games out of position.

“I got injured just two months after I joined the club and that disrupted everything.

“I want to show that I can do more and that I am a better player now than I was when I was at Anfield.”

The injury Cisse refers to is the first of TWO broken legs he suffered in just three years with the Reds.

His horror break in October 2004 that resulted from an innocuous challenge with Blackburn’s Jay McEveley — that could have cost him not only his career but also the lower part of his left leg.

It was only the quick actions of the Liverpool medical staff that averted a possible amputation and, in fact, Cisse was back playing within six months.

He said: “I had a terrible injury when I was at Liverpool and when you suffer something like that, it makes you appreciate football more because you know that your career might be on the line.

“It was very hard to come back, but I did get back and I played in the Champions League final when we won the competition in 2005.

“I consider myself lucky because I have broken both legs in my career, but I am still playing football at a really good level at a really good club.”

Cisse also broke his right leg playing in a friendly for France two years ago.

He spent the 2006-07 season on loan at Marseille and that deal was made permanent last summer.

But now those injury problems are behind him and he wants to make the most of the Premier League lifeline Sunderland have offered him — and earn himself a permanent move to Wearside.

“This is a second chance for me in the Premier League and I will not let it slip away,” he said.

“Sunderland have given me a chance to play in the Premier League again and I want to repay them.

“I would like to come back to play in England full-time but it is up to me this season to show that I deserve to be here and earn a permanent move to Sunderland.

“I think there is a deal agreed between the clubs but all I can do is take care of what happens on the pitch and then let things off the pitch look after themselves.”

This afternoon’s opponents Manchester City were one of the other clubs that showed interest in Cisse this summer, but he chose Sunderland.

He added: “I heard that Manchester City were interested in signing me but I never went to Manchester or met with anyone from the club.

“When Sunderland came in for me, I decided that I wanted to come here because it is a good club and I wanted this challenge.

“I knew a few of the players here already — I played with Steed in the youth team in France, I knew Pascal [Chimbonda], Dioufy and of course I played alongside Teemu [Tainio] with Auxerre.

“Nobody expects us to win anything, so we don’t have that kind of pressure, but we know we have a good team here and we will surprise a few people.

“I think we can have a good season, cause trouble for the teams in the top six and I feel we can finish in the top 10 — that would be a good season for the club.”

After his dream debut, Cisse also played in Sunderland’s Carling Cup win at Nottingham Forest in midweek although he is the first to admit that he was not at his best at the City Ground.

He said: “I’m happy with the way things have gone for me so far and with the goal against Spurs.

“It was a good start because, when you come to a new club, as a striker the longer you go without a goal the more it can play on your mind.

“Sometimes you can get anxious and nervous if you go a long time without scoring, so to get a goal on my debut was just what I wanted.

“But I also know I could have done better against Forest on Wednesday — I should have got a goal.

“I am very hard on myself when I don’t score, and I know I will have to do better.

“I give myself a hard time when I don’t play well. I think it is the best way to improve.

“Every day and every game I want to score goals and show what I can do, so when things don’t go the way I want then I’m not happy with myself.”

Cisse suffered cramp in the 70th minute of the game against Forest but, with Sunderland having used all their subs, he had to play on for 50 minutes as the tie went into extra-time.

“Yes I was struggling towards the end,” he admitted. “I hadn’t started a game since August 9, so it had been more than three weeks since I had played for so long.

“I was a little bit stiff and sore at the end of the game, but I know I need to improve my fitness levels through training and playing games.”