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Birthdate:
27.08.1986
Birthplace: Alès, France
Other clubs: Saint Etienne
Bought from: Saint Etienne
Signed for LFC: £200000 21.08.2006
International debut: 26.03.2008 vs. Belgium
International caps: 8/2 (19.11.2008) - unconfirmed
Liverpool debut:
29.11.2006
Last appearance: 09.05.2010
Debut goal: 31.10.2007
Last goal: 31.10.2007
Contract expiry: 2012 (July 2009)
LFC league games/goals: 21 / 0
Total LFC games/goals: 32 / 1
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Player Notes:
El Zhar was voted the 2nd best player of the 2005 Youth World Championships and is an attacking midfielder, who likes to play just behind the forwards. He plays for Morocco, as his parents are Moroccan. El Zhar was given his League debut by Rafa Benítez in a home match with Portsmouth on the 29th of November, 2006. He replaced Luis Garcia with about 20 minutes to go but made little impact as the game petered out into a tame 0-0 draw. The manager didn't pick him again until right at the end of the season, when he again came on as a second-half substitute in the final two away matches ... defeats at Portsmouth and Fulham. As with a lot of the younger squad-players, he knew his best chance of first-team action would come in the two domestic cup competitions rather than League matches. When Robbie Fowler came back to Anfield with Cardiff City in the League cup, El Zhar was given a place in Liverpool's starting eleven, played the full 90 minutes and repaid his manager's faith in him with a thunderous strike early in the second period that paved the way for an eventual 2-1 victory and progress to the 5th round. The draw took Liverpool to Chelsea and El Zhar was again used as a substitute, replacing Alonso with half an hour remaining. Although he was only called on to represent his club again once for the rest of the season (in the F.A. cup-tie at Luton in January), he did play and score for Morocco in a convincing 4-1 victory away to Belgium towards the end of March, 2008.
After making just three first-team appearances in both 2006-07 and 2007-08, El Zhar was called on 19 times in 2008-09, although only three of those appearances were from the start of a match ... the League cup ties against Crewe and Tottenham plus the Premier League match at Middlesbrough. The manager's confidence that the young Moroccan still had a part to play at Anfield was shown in mid-July 2009 when El Zhar signed a two-year extension to his contract that will tie him to the club until 2012.
2009-2010 didn't turn out to be a big breakthrough season for the young Moroccan either. He started just one match, the final Premier League fixture at Hull, and made six appearances as a substitute, most of them being in the closing minutes of games when he had very little time to make a significant impact. There must now be serious doubts about El Zhar's ability to become a first-team regular at Anfield. |
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