Albert Riera blamed Rafael Benitez for his poor form at Liverpool

Former Liverpool midfielder Albert Riera has blamed Rafael Benitez for this poor form when he was at Liverpool. He stated that Benitez has never been able to solve a problem by talking and that he had poor man-management skills.

Albert Riera once said that Benitez was managing a sinking-ship and that he does not listen to suggestions. He argued that the Spanish manager has never approached him to tell him how he can improve his game. Instead, he left him on the bench without ever talking to him.

Albert Riera believes that he could have made something to help the Liverpool team during that period. Unfortunately, Rafael Benitez was not prepared to listen to any suggestions and that he thought that he was the only boss in the team.

Rafael Benitez ultimately heard about these comments in the press and suspended the Spanish midfielder from the team. This prompted Riera to seek a move away for the team and at that moment, he was considering moving to Russia.

At that moment, Albert Riera wanted to participate in the 2010 World Cup and the only way out was to go and play in the Russian league. There were rumors that Russian clubs CSKA Moscow and Spartak Moscow was interested in the player but these moves did not materialize. Instead, the midfielder made the move to Olympiacos in Greece where he would stay for one year before moving to Turkey.

Albert Riera had regrets that he could have done better with Liverpool if ever he had another manager than Benitez. He believed that he could have contributed to Liverpool results especially during a period where they were doing badly. Unfortunately, he was not given his chance by Benitez and this without any explanation from the manager.