Liverpool, Premier League
Costly Riera a gamble for frustrated Benítez
Albert Riera is heading to Anfield in a multi-million pound deal, but is the former Man City flop really the answer to Liverpool's left-sided woes?
At £9m, and with a previous failure in England to his name while at Manchester City, Rafa Benítez’s decision to acquire Albert Riera from Espanyol is a surprising one.
The 26-year-old left-sided midfielder has proved a diligent performer for his Spanish club, including playing an integral role in their run to the 2007 Uefa Cup final, in which he scored a goal against Sevilla and acted as the inspiration behind the underdog’s courageous performance. Yet his value seems to have been subjected to a gross inflation.
Everton have also attempted to sign the winger but despite offering considerably more than their rivals, Riera informed his employers that only Liverpool interest him. Just two years ago, when Manchester City took him on loan, Riera was available for purchase at a mere £3.5m but Stuart Pearce rejected the opportunity after observing the Spaniard for five months. Now, a more mature and consistent player, his value has soared despite an obvious desire to leave a middling Espanyol side.
In May, he stated his yearning to quit the club, “I do not want to be part of a club that does not take care of or protect its players. I do not know if I will go to Liverpool or any other team. “It would be best for everyone concerned because I know that my transfer would clearly be beneficial. I do not want to cause any problems.”
Like with the Dimitar Berbatov saga, a player’s longing to leave means it’s a buyer’s market - and Espanyol may be forced to lower their asking price if nothing has been agreed by the weekend. Keeping an unhappy player at a club can be like shooting yourself in the foot, especially with four months between now and the next opportunity to sell, meaning Espanyol are likely to negotiate with Liverpool though a sum much below £7m appears improbable.
Riera will be the likely face on Liverpool’s left-side this season, but for so long it seemed an Englishman would be filling that position. However, Benítez’s attempts to sign Gareth Barry have never progressed despite four months of waiting, wrangling with the owners and rows with Aston Villa putting a stop to all negotiations. The eventual negotiation was actually made by Benítez - he was forced to quit his pursuit of Barry because of the over-sized price tag and instead he had to compromise for a player who still has much to prove.
Espanyol finished 12th last year and Riera has never been a prolific goalscorer, having netted just eight times in 72 games in La Liga, totaling 12 in 94 matches while overall he has a disappointing record of 28 in 229 matches.
Benítez’s gamble is one he could blame on the thriftiness of Liverpool’s owners but nonetheless if and when Riera signs, he becomes the responsibility of the manager. And to justify the hefty fee, his second spell in England must be far superior to his first back in 2006. Having made a solid start to the new campaign the effectiveness, or not, of a new left-winger might prove crucial in Liverpool’s title drive.
Tags: Albert Riera, Espanyol, Everton, Gareth Barry, La Liga, Liverpool, Manchester City, Rafa Benitez
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Superb article mate,
Riera is a gamble but it might just pay off.
Your research and knowledge is refreshing, compared to the junk that is on here most of the time.
Keep up the good work brother, inform me of any more of your articles. ravdhillon7@gmail.com
I AM AFRAID THIS MIGHT JUST BE ANOTHER COSTLY MISFIT FOR THE REDS.WE HAVE HAD GONZALES FROM SPAIN AND REIRA IS VERY SIMILAR IN THAT HE LOOKS LIGHTWEIGHT WHEN IT COMES TO THE PHYSICAL SIDE OF THE PREMIER LEAGUE.IF HE COULDNT HACK IT WITH MAN CITY THINGS DONT BODE WELL AS I AM SURE HE HAS NOT IMPROVED TO THAT DEGREE.
WE WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER PAYING A LITTLE MORE FOR DOWNING WHO HAS A FEW YEARS ON REIRA AND IS PROVEN IN THE PREMIER LEAGUE.
HOWEVER I DO AGREE WITH THE OWNERS THAT BARRY IS OVERPRICED AND WE DONT WANT TO BOW DOWN TO ONEILS BLACKMAIL.
If this price is a big gamble, you should open your eyes and look around the league mate, nothings certain. SWP, Shevchenko, Bent to name a few. At half the price of this lot and with virtually no cheaper alternatives, I dont know you wouldn’t call a ‘gamble’.
I have doubts about Riera but I´m hoping for the best. I remember that Mascherano wasn´t all that good in England either before he came to Liverpool.
i hope we dont buy this joker there got to be better options than riera
Your article is not well researched and basically consists of media clips about the player over the last few months.As a liverpool supporter I do admit Reira is not a great player but is it not clear we cannot afford one.Porto wants 4o million euros for quaresma.We cannot afford Barry without selling Alonso and Boro do not want to sell Downing.
I would like the author of this article to suggest a feasible left winger who we can afford and who would be the answer.
Kirk, before criticising, try figuring out how to spell Riera.
also, in answer to your question to te author, Liverpool could and should go for Milner.
isnt fabio aurelio a left sided player? ditto dossena? we could theoretically have both of them in the game at the same time cant we? i have a really bad feeling that riera is going to be a bust. the only good thing to come out of this bust is that rafa will pay the price and get fired for it. to which i say good riddance.
Kirk - since when has Milner been a left winger?
sorry, MAX - Milner is not a left winger! Let’s give Riera a chance. He’s a big strong player with good skills, not the quickest, but better than anyone else for this price. Still think we need another option for the right though. Milner would be ok-ish, but I’d rather we put bid for Kuba or SWP
It doesnt really matter what he was like for Man City. Look at Mascherano, wasnt even given a chance at WHU, so to judge a player who isnt suited to 1 particular system is unfair. Its obvious that we need width, I’m please Downing isnt coming, he had 1 assist in the premiership last season, and is vastly overrated, based mainly on his being english.
Why does everyone judge players before they have even worn the shirt. Many players have come and gone through the great Anfield doors over the years who never lived up to expectation, e.g Stan Collymore to name one. When the man puts on a Liverpool shirt support him and judge him on his future performances.
Lets not forget, the Barry issue was about over-valuation, NOT lack of funds. I would nt be surprised now that Milner has handed in a transfer request that Rafa uses the 18 million he did have available to buy both and maybe sell Pennant.
Max,It seems I made an error in spelling Riera but by the same token you should pay attention and realise that I did not mention Milner in my article.I am still waiting on a decent suggestion for a left winger.
Max=Rob
Riera is rubbish - he has no pace, skill and cant shoot. Another typical signing from Rafa, how many average players has he spent big money on, face it he doesnt sign many good full backs or wingers. Pennant, Gonzalez, Nunez, Aurelio, Arbeloa, Josemi, Benayoun, Dossena, Leto, (Kuyt who he is trying to make into a winger) and now u can add Riera to that list. I dont see any of the other big clubs knocking on the door for this guy, i wonder why.
To those mentioning who should he sign, well if he wants a winger - why doesnt he go and give Man City the 8m they paid for Martin Petrov, we were linked with him but yet again Rafa did not follow through, just like when he chose to sign Kuyt instead of Berbatov.
Hes signed over 10 young players who are in the youth ranks yet none of them are breaking into the Team, surely there must be a winger there.
i remember torres being a gamble at £26.5m, seems funny now does’nt it! just wait and see.
i don’t know what u all being talking about.rafa wants to buy a good player,u all showed u’re angered when he want to buy a bad player u all showed u’re angered.
i think it would be better if rafa don’t buy any player..then the team would be a fit team..
n i think the rotation role is not a good role to play in the premiere leage..
All I can say is we are way too predictable. Benayoun is not a winger; neither is Kuyt. Kuyt really does a lot of good things for the team, but he is out of position. We need a true winger. I would rather see Babel or El Zhar on the right, for Pennant looks like a foregone conclusion. Riera will have to do something on that left wing. But aside from Riera, what about Gerrard? Everybody has been whining about Alonso being sold for the purchase of Barry, but now look. Masch will move in to the DM role, and we have no one to fill Gerrard’s boots. Lucas is still young, and Barry could have been slotted right in. I am angry because we have Alonso who can’t score, can’t take corners, and plays miserably on defense. I guess some of you didn’t think about that, did you? Yes, I am glad we’re getting a winger, but we play Villa and Man U without an attacking midfielder. The only hope there is, Kuyt,Babel, or Benayoun because he always ends up there anyway. I hope Rafa has some answers, and all of you who feel Alonso is so wonderful need to reexamine your footie IQ. We had a chance to get some decent cash for a player who isn’t even in Spain’s top 11 anymore, and everyone’s whining was heard loud and clear by our incompetent owners.
im sorry guys there are to many average players at liverpool, and riera will be another, maybe if rafa stopped wasting money on quantity instead of quality we could have world class players on the wings.
dossena
arbeloa
kuyt
benayoun(how this guy starts a match beggars belief)
pennant
all not good enough for liverpool
rafa must be on something
kuyt is ‘amazing’
rafa must be watching a different player cos all i see is a player who cant pass a ball 5 yards, cant beat a man and besides last night his goal record is woeful.
over 80 goals in 3 seasons in holland….28 goals in 99 games for liverpool.
i think it would be ‘amazing’ if rafa sold this dud.
Sid, Rafa didn’t choose Kuyt over Berbatov. A sale with Dortmund or Leverkusen (can’t remember who)was agreed then we got drew against them in th CL so they wouldn’t sell to us.
Riera is not as bad as people are making out. He is very technical. Is great at keeping the ball and sends over a mean cross. He is not a goalscorer by any means. But he will improve us. If you look at Babel’ woeful performance last night (not counting the cross which was badly defended anyway) its not hard.
Petrov is a lazy bugger. He won’t track back and messes up more than he succeeds. Stop watching MOTD highlights.
let’s give Riera a chance. He should fit in as there’s aleady a pub near the ground named after him (NO its not The Riera!).If he can hold the ball and has close control that weould be a fantastic asset. Benayoun is our weakest link. How he stayed on so long last night baffles me!
That article is far from well researched and as usual the internet Jesters are jumping on the bandwagon because they’ve never heard of the player.
Two City fans I know were dissapointed they didn’t sign him permanently and lets face it Stuart Pearce hardly had the best track record did he?
Reports would suggest Riera has also improved a lot since he was at City but everyone is writing him off before they’ve seen him kick a ball. Laughable.
Quaresma? Have you actually seen that guy play - you should have considering he played twice against Liverpool in the Champions League and stunk the house out. He’s an utter show pony and would be the worst possible signing.
I can’t for the life of me see how you think this artice is not well researched?
how much more info can you get on a player of his status?? we all know he is a gamble … but what player isn’t? Benitez has got it right more often then wrong .. his hands are tied ,, he has no money without selling good players .. he brought Torres for a hefty price which proves he knows how to buy big. This is our budget this is who we are going to get, so lets show the lad some support.
Stuart Pearce is not Benitez,
Man City are not Liverpool.
Ask West Ham and Mascherano
yes he’s having an awful season for us isn’t he!!
The problem with writing an article like this is that you leave yourself open
It would be interesting to see what this guys thoughts are today.
Agree, I think they had forgotten they gave such comments