How Riera talked his way out of Anfield AND the World Cup

What must Albert Riera be thinking now? Frozen out at Liverpool and his move to Spartak Moscow stalled over wage demands, the Spanish winger has alienated practically everyone at the Merseyside club, and there is certainly no going back for the player. Everyone could understand his frustration at not playing but no one could understand the ferocity of his attack on Rafa Benitez and the timing. Rafa has not minced his words on Riera in a recent interview:

“On the day before a massive game [against Lille], it was very disappointing that he was talking in the way he did. Especially because the things he was saying were not true. He also said he wants to play and that is why he had to go, but our fans are not stupid, so they will know what is going on.”

No doubt the comments were timed specifically for maximum effect to manufacture a move away from the club. He knew he needed games to get into the World Cup reckoning for Spain and so he criticised the manager before an important match to ensure a move away was possible. A selfish desire which consequently damaged team morale at an important time and an unforgivable oversight which Rafa could not forgive. He effectively burned all of his bridges at Anfield with those statements and Benitez is willing to wait “some time” to offload the player.

Now that no move away from Liverpool looks possible, Riera has retreated back from his statements and praised Liverpool as one of the best clubs in the world. Certainly he is trying wriggle his way back into the first team reckoning but Rafa is just not having it, and rightly so.

The irony is that Riera would be in with a great chance of starting some important games in the run in for fourth place and in the Europa League but his outburst means he will most likely not play another game for the club. Especially in Europe, he would have had an excellent case for starting the second leg of the quarter final against Benfica next Thursday with Ryan Babel suspended and the Reds needing a goal, but he has talked himself out of any involvement in the first team for the foreseeable future.

Perhaps he felt the outburst was worth the risk to manufacture a move away from Anfield to get first team action so as to be in with a chance of a World Cup squad place for Spain. However, it has plainly backfired spectacularly and he now has no real prospect of going to South Africa. He will be sitting at home watching it on TV like the rest of us. There was a real chance of him going as a second choice left winger as manager Vicente Del Bosque had picked the Spaniard regularly in the squad, but with no first team action on the horizon, he is unlikely to be picked and he will have to kiss goodbye his World Cup dreams.