http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/139615/Riera-Liverpool-crisis-is-all-in-the-headALBERT RIERA has highlighted the full extent of Liverpoolâs crisis of confidence after admitting that Rafa Benitezâs underachieving squad is suffering from âmentalâ problems.
Spain winger Riera became the first player to acknowledge the pressure of a wretched run that has yielded one solitary victory in the last nine matches, is taking its toll on Benitezâs depleted squad.
Riera added to Anfieldâs litany of injury problems by aborting his comeback in the 2-2 draw with Birmingham at Anfield on Monday after suffering a recurrence of a hamstring injury. He is likely to be out for a month, while team-mate Yossi Benayoun limped off with the same injury and faces a similar spell out, while Daniel Agger aggravated a back injury.
But Liverpoolâs problems are as much psychological as physical according to Riera, who laid bare the problems.
He said: âWe 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 â and I donât like saying this â are untidy.
âI donât like to use this word, but itâs true. We are not used to being in this position. But we still have plenty of time and we have to be calm. At the moment we have to stick together.
âWe have a lot of injured players and we can see how unlucky we have been this year, not just because of injuries but because we have conceded a lot of goals from free-kicks.
âYou didnât see that last year and we are the same players.â
Injury problems continue to pile up. Steven Gerrard scored the equaliser from the penalty spot following David Ngogâs dive, but otherwise made a tentative comeback from a groin injury, while Fernando Torres rested a hernia problem.
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