Liverpool FC Forum

[bigmick]

Am I alone in becoming a fraction concerned about his actual contribution to games? Now this is not some lame attempt by me to re-visit my extreme reservations about us initially signing him, I've already said I was totally wrong on that score. He is a far better player than I remember from his City days, and has proved already that I was talking nonsense pre his signing.

I've said a few times though that despite providing obvious balance to the team, he has a tendancy to kind of run in snatches. Often he starts games brightly before fading, and whether thats as a result of tiredness or the full back getting into him a bit I'm not sure. I do feel though that his actual meaningful contributions to games, not counting nice flicks on the half way line and the rest have lessened over the last few weeks.

My view is he's becoming a bit ornamental, and needs a rocket up his erse. If Dossena wasn't quite so bad, I'd advocate Aurelio moving to left midfield for a game or two and giving Albert a bit of a rest. I just get the feeling that we need to see a lot more from him. Kuyt on the other side is a quarter of the footballer, but this season has contributed far more and my hunch at least is that Riera is on a bit of a downward spiral.

[Ciggy]

I think the same Mick but many dont agree

He was like a breath of fresh air when he arrived, seems to have gone a bit stale, but he is not alone we have quite a few players out of form, Mascherano has also gone off the boil the last few games aswell.

November is nearly over we always play bad in this month for some reason. Roll on December.

[andy_g]

i'm thinking along the same lines. maybe he's playing exactly the same and the novelty of seeing him has worn off, or more probably he's not contributing as much as we hoped. the first signs were great but he hasn't really kicked on from there and seems like he's playing within his comfort zone.

[DanAn]

I disagree. I suspect he's starting to struggling with the work load at liverpool and definately tires during games. Still he's holding his spot on the left IMO and looks like a good signing. Could need a two week break though.

[Scottbot]

Did people not think he was one of our better players last night? I was dissapointed when he went off.

[Avi Cohen]

I'm not doubting his quality but I get the impression that he doubts it. Maybe it was the dodgy time at City but he seems to lack belief in himself. Saying that, there tends to be two defenders on him every time he gets the ball.

I like him: he gives us width and another option but he tends to disappear from time to time. Ten minutes would go by without him touching the ball. I don't know what the story is.

[tubby]

He definatley has some fitness issues. How many games has he done the full 90 mins?

[lakes10]

he was good for 50 mins last night then once again come almost to a stop. i would say that he needs to get fitter but i just feel he will only ever be a player that has a first half in him.

[NiftyNeil]

I know where you're coming from Bigmick, but I think it's harsh to single out Riera. If we are being honest, the whole team has took a dip in form in the last few games. I'm with Scottbot in saying he was one of our better players last night. When he went off, Benayoun seemed to add nothing.
You've criticised his contribution. I imagine you're talking about goals and assists, which on paper, he appears not to contribute. But you've also got to take into consideration what he's doing on the rest of the pitch. His nice flicks on the halfway line, while not contributing to any goals, will take him beyond the his opposing midfielder, that then leaves him to attack the fullback. In doing this, the ball is higher up the pitch and the team is higher up the pitch - pressing, pressing, pressing. You've suggested that Aurelio could be a possibility in that position. Aurelio has a better final ball that Riera, but can he get into those danger zone? No. Not as frequently as Riera anyway.

[Bam]

Did people not think he was one of our better players last night? I was dissapointed when he went off.

I thought Kuyt again was one of our better players amongst a pretty mediocre bunch.

In saying that, thank f.uck for Stevie !

[Rockthekop]

Riera had a poor game last night, Rafa made the correct substitution for a change.

He's definitely been on the slide the last month or so but I'm hoping it's just a fatigue issue.

It's not just Riera though, we aren't playing as a team with confidence.  We've been playing poorly and getting a lot of luck.

[stmichael]

I've said for a while now that he needs a rest and Babel needs a run out. Ok I know Babel's not everyones cup of tea but at least he'd stretch defenses more.

[Bad Bob]

I still think Riera's been one of our consistently better players over the last few weeks but I agree that perhaps a bit of the novelty's worn off, as one poster put it (or the honeymoon period's drawing to a close, as Sabre would say).  He's still doing fantastically well to get into good positions and keep possession in tight, tricky spaces.  His distribution can be a little hit or miss and his final ball isn't always the best option but I wouldn't single him out necessarily.  In fact, I think a few of our lads could use a rocket up the a.rse at this stage as a few seem a bit comfortable playing well within themselves at the moment.  I'm thinking the likes of Agger, Arbeloa, Benayoun, Lucas and even Masch (who looks strangely tired these days), in addition to Riera.  Dossena, of course, has not been included because I'm fair certain that Rafa could launch NASA's entire space program up his not insubstantial posterior and still not turn him into a footballer worthy of the red shirt.

PS - Resting Riera for Babel would not be my choice because any misgivings we have about Riera coasting go triple for the Dutchman

[stmichael]

I love how he creates space but a lot of times we don't have enough forward runners so he just has to play a sideways ball. If we had more people bombing on in the box at times he would be more effective imo.

[Quadrophenia]

Personally I think Riera has been poor for a run of games now. He played well against United and Everton when he first arrived, but since the middle of October he's been nothing more than average. Disappointing in possesion, tries to do too much and looks like the Riera from Man City. He's in the comfort zone already and the only reason people still think he's top notch is because he's an improvement on what we've had down the left recent years.