Player reveals majaor Rafa Benitez success at Liverpool – Full of praise after Anfield spell

Former Liverpool winger Albert Riera has praised manager Rafa Benitez and the “group dynamic” he managed to create at Anfield during his time in charge.

The former winger has been speaking to The Coaches Voice in Spain about his playing career and the various coaches he worked under.

One of those was Benitez, who he worked under at Liverpool after joining the Reds in a €9.8m deal from RCD Espanyol in 2008.

He would spend the next two years with Liverpool, making 56 appearances under Benitez in total, managing five goals and nine assists in that time before a move to Olympiacos in 2010.

Riera arrived to join a Liverpool squad that was very Spanish at the time, with Benitez as manager and players such as Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Alvaro Arbeloa and Pepe Reina making up the core of the group.

From the outside looking in it was often felt that the Spanish players must be in control at the club, particularly with Benitez as manager, but Riera has revealed the opposite was in fact the case, which was one of the manager’s greatest successes at Anfield.

“I arrived at Liverpool and what surprised the most was the group dynamic,” he said.

“Other Spanish players were already on the team: Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, Pepe Reina and Alvaro Arbeloa.

“The press, especially in Spain, talked a lot about ‘Spanish Liverpool’, but within the team there was nothing of that.

“In Melwood, Liverpool’s former sports town, there was only one group and only English was spoken. Without a doubt, another of Rafa’s successes. If you ask me about the coaches I have had, Rafa is one of the best, especially in the tactical part.”