Source: Telegraph
Albert Riera suspended for remarks against Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez
The Spanish international has made just one first team start since January after the Liverpool manager was informed of a clash with a team-mate after a training session at the club's Melwood base. [LNB]Riera was fined and excluded from the first team as punishment for the incident, but it is his withering outburst on Spanish radio on Wednesday which will mark the end of his Liverpool career, certainly while Benitez remains in charge. [LNB] Related ArticlesGiggs keen to erase Liverpool from history booksPepe Reina: Anfield crowd will help Liverpool beat LilleBenítez cites Reina as example to followAquilani ready to help salvage Liverpool seasonGerrard in the clear with FASteven Gerrard avoids FA punishmentThe Liverpool manager contacted Riera's agent to inform him of the club's swift sanctions, instructing the player to stay away from the club until Monday. Riera is also likely to be fined two weeks' wages for his comments despite his attempts to defuse the situation in a second radio interview in his homeland. [LNB]'I do not want to make trouble with the manager,' he told Cadena Ser. 'I am not interested in making Rafa my enemy in the slightest, quite the opposite, but ultimately it is about playing, and if I am not, we have to talk about why not. [LNB]'We have not had any talk about why it is. I played all of last year, and sometimes if I did not play so well in one game, I would still play the next week. But this season I have not played at all. When that starts happening, you have to assume it is something personal, rather than professional. [LNB]'I believe in these situations it is better to talk about it and try to fix it, or at least make sure everyone knows where they stand. I have no problem talking to people. [LNB]'I am delighted to play for Liverpool and if I was playing, I would love to stay, because it is a brilliant place to play football. But if I am not playing I have no chance of going to the World Cup, so I am trying to solve the problem so I at least have a small chance.' [LNB]That solution is likely to be Riera's immediate departure for either CSKA or Spartak Moscow after the Russian transfer window was extended to April 8. [LNB]
