Football - Liverpool FC: Injuries and poor form are driving us mental, Albert Riera

Nov 11 2009 by Ian Doyle, Liverpool Daily Post

Football - Liverpool FC: ALBERT RIERA admits Liverpool are suffering from a mental block as they struggle to overcome their poor run of form and a crippling injury list.

The 2-2 draw with Birmingham City on Monday means the Anfield outfit have won only one of their last nine games to fall 11 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea.

Rafael Benitez’s side are also three points off the Champions League qualification places behind Tottenham Hotspur, Aston Villa and Manchester City.

While Steven Gerrard marked his return to fitness with the equaliser against Birmingham, Liverpool entered this week’s international break grappling another injury crisis.

Riera and Yossi Benayoun hobbled off with hamstring problems and are today expected to discover the extent of the damage, with Liverpool fearing the midfield pair could be out for up to a month.

Daniel Agger aggravated a back problem that has forced him to withdraw from Denmark’s forthcoming friendlies against South Korea and the United States.

And Fernando Torres missed the game after beginning a three-week course of rehabilitation aimed at ensuring he does not require an operation on a niggling groin injury.

It means the striker is already a major doubt for the visit of Manchester City on Saturday week, the Champions League clash in Hungary against Debrecen four days later and the Goodison derby on November 29.

And Riera reckons the relentless succession of setbacks is beginning to chip away at Liverpool’s brittle self-confidence.

“We need everybody, not just on the pitch but off it, too, helping each other to be stronger because now our problem could be mental, because we – I don’t like saying this – are untidy,” said the Spaniard.

“I don’t like to use this word, but it’s true we are not used to being in this position.

“We are in a difficult moment but I think we still have plenty of time and we have to be calm. The first thing is that we want to win every single game, every set of three points and be at the top of the table but at the moment we have to stick together.

“In games like against Birmingham you could see we were trying to do everything, playing wide, between the lines, always going forward, defending with two centre-backs only, full-backs going forward, and we were trying to do all we could to win the game.

“But the other team, with one free-kick and one shot from a long way out, it’s really unlucky because we had a lot of opportunities to kill the game before as well.

“This year, we are really unlucky. I don’t like saying that either, because it’s not only bad luck in football, but it’s true we are trying to change this position and whatever we do is not working.”

Riera had missed the previous six games with a hamstring problem before being forced off with a recurrence of the injury just before half-time against Birmingham.

And the winger said: “It is the same as before, the same feeling, so we will see in the scan but if it’s like the other one it will be three or four weeks.”

Meanwhile, former Liverpool midfielder Vladimir Smicer has been named as Czech Republic manager only a day after he announced his retirement from playing at the age of 36.