Fulham and Sweden winger Alexander Kacaniklic claims he made the right decision to quit Liverpool for Fulham at the start of the Roy Hodgson era, ahead of tomorrow’s friendly international with England at the Friends Arena.
Current England head coach Hodgson had only been in charge at Anfield for a few weeks when Kacaniklic moved to Craven Cottage as part of the deal which saw Paul Konchesky head in the opposite direction.
It is a move which has proved beneficial for Kacaniklic, who came through the youth ranks with the Reds, and on Saturday he scored for Martin Jol’s team in their 3-3 draw with Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium.
He is also regarded as one of Sweden’s more exciting prospects as they look to rebuild after their Euro 2012 exit, which came partly at the hands of England after a 3-2 defeat in Kiev.
Kacaniklic said: “I didn’t speak to Roy Hodgson that much at Liverpool. I was only there for a month or two when he was manager.
“It was my decision to leave and go to Fulham and he let me go. It was up to me if I wanted to go.
“I had to move to develop my career. It has gone very well at Fulham and it feels like I made the right move and it was a good decision.
“I am not out for revenge. Like I said, it was my decision and Roy is a good coach. He’s done a lot of good things in football and is well respected throughout the game.”
Kacaniklic is looking forward to a reunion with Steven Gerrard, who is poised to win his 100th cap in the Friends Arena providing he is fit enough to play after his knee setback against Chelsea.
He said: “When I was young I trained with the first-team squad at Liverpool, with people like Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard.
“Steven was a great help, passing on good advice about things like passing. He is one of the players I look up to.
“It will be nice to meet him again and to get to 100 caps is a fantastic achievement.”
Kacaniklic has been part of two memorable comebacks with club and country in the past month.
He helped Sweden recover from a 4-0 deficit to draw 4-4 with German in Berlin in a World Cup qualifier and then aided Fulham in fighting back from 2-0 down to earn a point against the Gunners.
Kacaniklic said: “Everything is going well for me at the moment and it was a fantastic feeling to score against Arsenal.
“That was one of my biggest games so far – although I played in the 4-4 draw with Germany last month after we had trailed 4-0, which was also a pretty big game! I can’t really explain what happened.
“The last few months have been a bit of a whirlwind but I am enjoying myself at the moment.”