Cheyrou's rich vein of form no surprise to Houllier
By Jeremy Butler
LIVERPOOL, England, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier says he is not surprised that midfielder Bruno Cheyrou has finally hit form with four goals in the last five games.
Cheyrou, who has played twice for France, failed to shine last season and played just one match before January in the current campaign because of injury.
But the 25-year-old has now recovered his fitness and his goals in the new year have been important ones, including winners against Chelsea in the premier league and Newcastle in the FA Cup.
"I know what the player was like when we signed him. I knew he could score goals," Houllier told reporters on Friday.
"He scored something like 15 goals in the French League and scored against Manchester United in the Champions League. He can deliver and score goals for us."
Cheyrou has on occasions been singled out for criticism by the Anfield crowd since signing from Lille for 3.7 million pounds ($6.70 million) in July 2002, something which has surprised Houllier.
"If you play and don't play well, you can accept things being said about your play," he added. "But in this case people were saying he was a bad buy and he wasn't even playing games.
"Both on the physical and mental side playing for Liverpool is different from playing for Lille, but he can cope."
Cheyrou is certain to start in Saturday's Merseyside derby against Liverpool, but Norwegian midfielder John Arne Riise is set for another match as a substitute.
"Riise started the season in the team but he has had some dips," the Frenchman said. "But he is certainly a player that belongs to the future. He is in my plans. Maybe at the moment he can feel frustrated because he is not playing.
"There are a few areas of his game he needs to improve and he will do that in time."
Liverpool are fifth in the premier league, four points behind Charlton Athletic.
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