Riera

[6TimesaRed]

He is shit this lad ain't he?, he had a mare when he came on. Wtf has happened to him ?

Why Rafa took babel off was beyond me, he actually had a decent game.

I was screaming for Kuyt to be taken off instead. He did eventually with 3 minutes left.

I'd say Rafa has a touch of the Avram Grants..

 

[SaintGeorge67]

I like him actually. He's not been great this year, but who has? (Other than reina and masher)

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

[quote author=jono@home link=topic=39258.msg1068095#msg1068095 date=1268350623]

Wtf has happened to him ?

[/quote]

Stayed average like he's always been?

 

[Oncy]

Its massively unfair to judge a player playing 15 minutes once every three weeks.

 

[6TimesaRed]

[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=39258.msg1068107#msg1068107 date=1268350922]
Its massively unfair to judge a player playing 15 minutes once every three weeks.

[/quote]

i'd say their is good reason why he does not play much, every time ive seen him play lately he has looked distinctly average

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

[quote author=jono@home link=topic=39258.msg1068114#msg1068114 date=1268351315]
[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=39258.msg1068107#msg1068107 date=1268350922]
Its massively unfair to judge a player playing 15 minutes once every three weeks.

[/quote]

i'd say their is good reason why he does not play much, every time ive seen him play lately he has looked distinctly average
[/quote]

Yeah but his distinctly average is a lot better than Babel's distinctly fucking shite.

 

[SaintGeorge67]

If you watch when their warming up, EVERY time he hits a humdinger in from 20 yards. Yet when the game starts we see no such thing...

 

[SaintGeorge67]

*they're

 

[6TimesaRed]

[quote author=Sheik Yerbouti link=topic=39258.msg1068116#msg1068116 date=1268351429]
[quote author=jono@home link=topic=39258.msg1068114#msg1068114 date=1268351315]
[quote author=Herr Onceared link=topic=39258.msg1068107#msg1068107 date=1268350922]
Its massively unfair to judge a player playing 15 minutes once every three weeks.

[/quote]

i'd say their is good reason why he does not play much, every time ive seen him play lately he has looked distinctly average
[/quote]

Yeah but his distinctly average is a lot better than Babel's distinctly fucking shite.
[/quote]


I thought babel did well tonight. one of his better games. At least he was prepared to have a go.

 

[franklyfrank]

Yeah he's pretty shit and always has been.

 

[Ryan]

Hmmm...

I think criticisms of him based on 18 minutes on that pitch are a touch unfair. He hasn't played since Blackburn (and I'll get to that in a minute), so to come on tonight and expect huge contributions are quite extreme. His first touch was on the halfway line, saw two Lille players confront him hassling him into passing backwards. There's only so much you can do if that's what you're confronted with. I did like how he didn't hide, he was constantly looking for the ball and attempting to break forward quickly. He did two bits of fuck all, but wingers always come in for huge criticism the second they either don't beat a man and get to the byline, or conjure up a chance.

Still, he's only got so many excuses. He hasn't played since Blackburn for a reason. He was dog fucking shite that day, and has rightly been amde to sit on his arse ever since. He's got a World Cup squad to make, and if he doesn't that's not Rafa's fault folks. He was in that Spanish side, and he's played himself out of it. I've banged on about this before, but his attitude irks me. If he was half as good as he thinks he is, we'd have a white John Barnes out there. Look at the way Michael Carrick's bucked up his ideas after being told to fucking sort his attitude out by Ferguson early in the season. A case could be made for Carrick to start in South Africa for England off the back of his current form. Right now Albert faces a fight to get into a struggling Liverpool side, never mind going with his country to the World Cup. Whatever happens from here is all down to him.

 

[ILD]

Riera had forced his way onto the national squad but that ship has sailed for the world cup i'd say. I like him and I think he is suited to our style of play when we are on form.

 

[vikas]

Back when we signed him:

[quote author=vikas link=topic=26445.msg657357#msg657357 date=1219762166]
The opinions of a Spaniard at work for anyone who cares (a bit of a La Liga fanatic):

-Riera is VERY talented, but has an attitude problem
- He is technically superb, quick, strong, and very accurate with his crossing/passing
- Last year Espanyol were doing great, but Luis Garcia and Riera fecked it up with some sort of conflict going on between them as the club's best players, leading their coach to resign, and the fans to dislike him
-He's definately not slow, but not turbo either, his speed is comparable to Giggs at about 28 years old (decent!)
- Usually starts well, but fucks about and messes everything up
- Whether he succeeds at Liverpool is down to Rafa sorting out his head

[/quote]

 

[Fallon]

Riera has and always will be an average player who is a decent option in the squad. Our problem lies in that he is the only out and out left sided player we've got, that's not the lad's fault though.

 

[Squiggles]

[quote author=vikas link=topic=39258.msg1068177#msg1068177 date=1268356335]
Back when we signed him:

[quote author=vikas link=topic=26445.msg657357#msg657357 date=1219762166]
The opinions of a Spaniard at work for anyone who cares (a bit of a La Liga fanatic):

-Riera is VERY talented, but has an attitude problem
- He is technically superb, quick, strong, and very accurate with his crossing/passing
- Last year Espanyol were doing great, but Luis Garcia and Riera fecked it up with some sort of conflict going on between them as the club's best players, leading their coach to resign, and the fans to dislike him
-He's definately not slow, but not turbo either, his speed is comparable to Giggs at about 28 years old (decent!)
- Usually starts well, but fucks about and messes everything up
- Whether he succeeds at Liverpool is down to Rafa sorting out his head

[/quote]


[/quote]

I stopped reading at "quick".

Sorry

 

[LarryHagman]

I quite like Riera but I've given up on the idea of him. He should leave.

 

[Squiggles]

I quite like Riera.

I drool over his first touch and technical ability, but his lack pace is hugely telling and why he's a 7M winger instead of a 27M winger. I'd like to keep him as a squddie, but as fucking if his ego could cope with that. In fact he'll only stay if Montse looks like:

 

[manwithnoname]

'The pace of a 28 year old Giggs'

 

[Whitey85]

Hes crap. Even when he was playing week in, weekout he offered few assists and goals. Oh he gave us balance, whoopee.

 

[ILD]

[quote author=Squiggles link=topic=39258.msg1068227#msg1068227 date=1268370642]
[quote author=vikas link=topic=39258.msg1068177#msg1068177 date=1268356335]
Back when we signed him:

[quote author=vikas link=topic=26445.msg657357#msg657357 date=1219762166]
The opinions of a Spaniard at work for anyone who cares (a bit of a La Liga fanatic):

-Riera is VERY talented, but has an attitude problem
- He is technically superb, quick, strong, and very accurate with his crossing/passing
- Last year Espanyol were doing great, but Luis Garcia and Riera fecked it up with some sort of conflict going on between them as the club's best players, leading their coach to resign, and the fans to dislike him
-He's definately not slow, but not turbo either, his speed is comparable to Giggs at about 28 years old (decent!)
- Usually starts well, but fucks about and messes everything up
- Whether he succeeds at Liverpool is down to Rafa sorting out his head

[/quote]


[/quote]

I stopped reading at "quick".

Sorry
[/quote]

Yep the Blackburn game really highlighted his lack of pace again. The full back just stood in front on him and Albert had no where to go. I did like his first season though. He made up for his lack of pace with movement of thought and intelligence. We were firing on all cylinders and he was contributing nicely on the left. Nice touch, ball retention, balance, guile and more importantly an outlet. Gerrard and Torres we're on song thus compensating for his lack of pace. He also provided much needed cover for Insua in bigger games.

 

[Delinquent]

The thing with Riera is he can't make things happen on his own. In a team as static as ours, it needs someone to do something a bit special to open things up a bit. That usually involves a dazzling piece of skill, or an electric burst of pace, neither of which Riera can offer.

For Spain, he has the luxury of options. Firstly, they have an abundance of top class players, meaning defenders are far too preoccupied with the superstars to be paying close attention to a plodder like Albert. More importantly however, EVERYBODY wants the ball. Riera has excellent touch, good awareness, and retains the ball well. He doesn't need to do something special to find a bit of space in that team, he just needs to keep it simple. Pass and move. For Liverpool he's completely outnumbered most of the time. With Masher and Lucas occupying the same space in the middle of the park it's largely left to Gerrard to occupy the massive space between our midfield and attack and Insua to provide an option on the overlap. Very predictable and easy to defend against.

Ultimately, I don't think Riera is good enough to hold down a starting place in the long run but I think if we were playing with a bit of ambition and movement, he would probably be our best option on that side. Given that we're playing like cunts and only committing a handful of players forward at a time, I'd suggest that Babel (based purely on the fact that he's marginally more likely to create something from nothing) is probably the better option. And it pains me to say that to be honest.

 

[ILD]

[quote author=Delinquent link=topic=39258.msg1068336#msg1068336 date=1268391637]
The thing with Riera is he can't make things happen on his own. In a team as static as ours, it needs someone to do something a bit special to open things up a bit. That usually involves a dazzling piece of skill, or an electric burst of pace, neither of which Riera can offer.

For Spain, he has the luxury of options. Firstly, they have an abundance of top class players, meaning defenders are far too preoccupied with the superstars to be paying close attention to a plodder like Albert. More importantly however, EVERYBODY wants the ball. Riera has excellent touch, good awareness, and retains the ball well. He doesn't need to do something special to find a bit of space in that team, he just needs to keep it simple. Pass and move. For Liverpool he's completely outnumbered most of the time. With Masher and Lucas occupying the same space in the middle of the park it's largely left to Gerrard to occupy the massive space between our midfield and attack and Insua to provide an option on the overlap. Very predictable and easy to defend against.

Ultimately, I don't think Riera is good enough to hold down a starting place in the long run but I think if we were playing with a bit of ambition and movement, he would probably be our best option on that side. Given that we're playing like cunts and only committing a handful of players forward at a time, I'd suggest that Babel (based purely on the fact that he's marginally more likely to create something from nothing) is probably the better option. And it pains me to say that to be honest.
[/quote]

Yep, he needs others around to show constant movement so he can pass to them as he doesn't has the running power to beat them on his own. It worked a treat last season when a number of our players were on song, constantly moving and providing outlets for a pass.

 

[keniget]

Ive been saying the same for years del. Our team is full of cogs that rely on the machine being well oiled and in perfect nick to function.

The moment anything goes wrong the team can suddenly begin to look very average. Thats why I have always said we would do well to buy players with a bit of pace and skill. Sure, itd be great if we could get the team playing intelligent pass and move football, but what would be easier to implement?

 

[Ryan]

[quote author=Delinquent link=topic=39258.msg1068336#msg1068336 date=1268391637]
The thing with Riera is he can't make things happen on his own. In a team as static as ours, it needs someone to do something a bit special to open things up a bit. That usually involves a dazzling piece of skill, or an electric burst of pace, neither of which Riera can offer.

For Spain, he has the luxury of options. Firstly, they have an abundance of top class players, meaning defenders are far too preoccupied with the superstars to be paying close attention to a plodder like Albert. More importantly however, EVERYBODY wants the ball. Riera has excellent touch, good awareness, and retains the ball well. He doesn't need to do something special to find a bit of space in that team, he just needs to keep it simple. Pass and move. For Liverpool he's completely outnumbered most of the time. With Masher and Lucas occupying the same space in the middle of the park it's largely left to Gerrard to occupy the massive space between our midfield and attack and Insua to provide an option on the overlap. Very predictable and easy to defend against.

Ultimately, I don't think Riera is good enough to hold down a starting place in the long run but I think if we were playing with a bit of ambition and movement, he would probably be our best option on that side. Given that we're playing like cunts and only committing a handful of players forward at a time, I'd suggest that Babel (based purely on the fact that he's marginally more likely to create something from nothing) is probably the better option. And it pains me to say that to be honest.
[/quote]

Cheers del, decent analysis.

In a thread of 20/30 odd replies, about 2 people actually bother (or have the nous) to analyse him. Everything else is just a fucking smorgasbord of "he's fucking crap" written 10 different ways.

 

[Whitey85]

Ok i'll have a go at polishing a turd since this seems to be the theme of the day.

Riera is tall and helps us out when defending set pieces.

 

[WhyAlwaysMe?]

I like Riera. He's an excellent 'squad option' and has been below-par this season - but who hasn't? He hasn't got much pace but makes up for it with his excellent touch and usually pretty decent passing/crossing. A 'proper' winger rather than Kuyt/Babel/Yossi.. Last night I wanted Albert on for Kuyt and to move Babel to the right but Rafa knows best I suppose.. or not as most on here believe. I'd give Rafa another season purely because there're fuck all else replacements out there and we can't afford to sack him.. I have every confidence we'll qualify for the Champions league next year with less injuries to Fernando/Stevie..

 

[the count]

[quote author=Brendan link=topic=39258.msg1068251#msg1068251 date=1268381909]
'The pace of a 28 year old Giggs'
[/quote]

Give the guy a break.
He's dyslexic

 

[Mistadobalina]

[quote author=Ryan link=topic=39258.msg1068371#msg1068371 date=1268396192]
[quote author=Delinquent link=topic=39258.msg1068336#msg1068336 date=1268391637]
The thing with Riera is he can't make things happen on his own. In a team as static as ours, it needs someone to do something a bit special to open things up a bit. That usually involves a dazzling piece of skill, or an electric burst of pace, neither of which Riera can offer.

For Spain, he has the luxury of options. Firstly, they have an abundance of top class players, meaning defenders are far too preoccupied with the superstars to be paying close attention to a plodder like Albert. More importantly however, EVERYBODY wants the ball. Riera has excellent touch, good awareness, and retains the ball well. He doesn't need to do something special to find a bit of space in that team, he just needs to keep it simple. Pass and move. For Liverpool he's completely outnumbered most of the time. With Masher and Lucas occupying the same space in the middle of the park it's largely left to Gerrard to occupy the massive space between our midfield and attack and Insua to provide an option on the overlap. Very predictable and easy to defend against.

Ultimately, I don't think Riera is good enough to hold down a starting place in the long run but I think if we were playing with a bit of ambition and movement, he would probably be our best option on that side. Given that we're playing like cunts and only committing a handful of players forward at a time, I'd suggest that Babel (based purely on the fact that he's marginally more likely to create something from nothing) is probably the better option. And it pains me to say that to be honest.
[/quote]

Cheers del, decent analysis.

In a thread of 20/30 odd replies, about 2 people actually bother (or have the nous) to analyse him. Everything else is just a fucking smorgasbord of "he's fucking crap" written 10 different ways.
[/quote]

I think thats pretty much nailed on and a good post but i cant agree to put Babel in the team, his ability to loose possession in a top 4 side? nah its not possible.

 

[Fallon]

[quote author=JimmyK link=topic=39258.msg1068576#msg1068576 date=1268417622]
I'd give Rafa another season purely because there're fuck all else replacements out there and we can't afford to sack him..
[/quote]

If we sacked him in the summer and he got another job for next season then it would cost less than £5 million, and most of that would be on paying off his back-room staff rather than Rafa himself.

 

[SaintGeorge67]

There's always a replacement.