From Euro 2004 top scorer to being thrown out on his ear by Villa just two and a half years later.
Milan Baros has admitted to This is Anfield that he made a mistake in leaving Liverpool to sign for Aston Villa in 2005.
The Czech striker, who was top scorer at Euro 2004 with five goals, arrived in English football under Gerard Houllier two years prior and netted 19 times in 68 games for The Reds.
However, just a few weeks after lifting, and famously dropping, the Champions League trophy in Istanbul, Baros called time on his career at Anfield and made the switch to Villa Park, scoring within 10 minutes of his Premier League debut against Blackburn Rovers.
However, he soon fell out of favour once Martin O’Neill took over at Villa Park, departing for Lyon in the January 2007 transfer window before embarking upon a relatively nomadic career that took him from Portsmouth to Galatasaray and eventually to current employers Slovan Liberec.
And Baros has now admitted that he should have remained at Liverpool and waited for his opportunity rather than chasing immediate first-team football with Villa.
“It seemed an easy decision at the time, but if I could go back to that moment now, I would choose to stay,” the 35-year-old told This is Anfield.
“There are a lot of games in a season and I’d have got my chance again. Now I know it was a bad decision. I wish I had stayed and been patient.”
In truth, his stellar performances in Euro 2004 when he was just 22 years old ended up being the highlight of a career that never quite delivered on its early promise.
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