Sunday, April 01, 2012

Pardew: Enrique Missed Bigger Picture

Alan Pardew says Jose Enrique failed to see the "bigger picture" when he left Newcastle for Liverpool last summer.

The defender made the move to what he felt was a bigger club, but finds himself returning to St James' Park on Sunday with Liverpool trailing the Magpies by eight points in the Premier League table.

Pardew says the Spaniard's exit was very different to that of Andy Carroll who also made the move to Anfield, albeit one transfer window before Enrique.

"When a player looks you in the eye and says he wants to go like Andy did, and the fee was what it was, there is no going back," the Magpies boss told Journal Live.

"Jose was different. I had many conversations with him and we couldn't even get down to finance.

"The scars of the previous regime were deep and he definitely wanted to go. Jonas (Gutierrez) and Colo (Fabricio Coloccini, Enrique's closest friends in the dressing room) have signed since and perhaps they weren't secure at the time.

"Maybe Jose felt it was all falling apart but sometimes there is a bigger picture. Sometimes players can't see that. Jose couldn't see it."

No comments: