ALBERT RIERA is convinced Fernando Torres is on the verge of recapturing his goalscoring form after his subdued start to the season.
Riera and fellow Spaniard Torres started a game together for the first time on Saturday as Liverpool disappointingly drew 0-0 with Stoke City at Anfield.
The point was good enough to take Liverpool briefly back to the top of the Premier League – but they were overtaken by Arsenal and Chelsea over the course of the weekend.
And the good work of the previous week’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United was undone as Liverpool failed to score against a side that has conceded 10 league goals this season and lies in the bottom three.
Torres, back to full fitness after a hamstring injury, has failed to score in five games since his opening-day winner at Sunderland, which is still his only goal of this season – and on Saturday he missed three chances he would surely have buried during his 33-goal debut season last year.
The stalemate with Stoke also meant Robbie Keane’s wait to open his Anfield account extended to eight games as the strikers struggle to establish an effective partnership.
But left-winger Riera is convinced he can help supply the opportunities that will have Torres and Keane soaring up the scoring charts once again.
“The thing with Fernando and Robbie is every player has periods when they don’t score,” said Riera. “But they are fantastic players.
“The only problem is that the shots aren’t going in for them at the moment, but I’m sure they will score a lot of goals.
“But Stoke was a very difficult match for the forwards. Sometimes they had a line of nine men defending so it was hard to break through.
“We knew before the match it would be like that so it wasn’t a surprise. We tried many times to score but it was one of those typical games where if you don’t score quickly it becomes more and difficult because they just get more and more men behind the ball.”
He added: “I’ve known Fernando for a long time, I was with him at under-18s, under-21s and with the Spanish national team last year.
“I’m sure there will be a connection because we know each other’s games very well.”
Riera, who made his second successive league start following his transfer deadline day move, is also unconcerned by Liverpool’s failure to hit their stride.
They are still unbeaten with 11 points out of 15 and the former Manchester City loan star is confident that the team will improve as the season progresses.
“It’s still very early in the Premier League,” Riera added. “It’s only the beginning and we will have many more matches that are better than today.
“It’s a long season and we must be patient. I’m sure we will get better but the most important thing is how we finish.
Dirk Kuyt added his voice of support to Torres, who he partnered up front towards the end of the draw with Stoke.
“He did really well and he was a bit unlucky, just like me, with his chances today. We were all a bit unlucky,” said the Dutchman.
“But I’m sure he will start scoring goals really quickly because you can see the quality in every game.
“I’m sure he will be back to scoring goals – he played a really good game today but just didn’t score.
“Fernando is fit now and even if he doesn’t score you can see he is a top quality striker, so no worries.”
Riera and fellow Spaniard Torres started a game together for the first time on Saturday as Liverpool disappointingly drew 0-0 with Stoke City at Anfield.
The point was good enough to take Liverpool briefly back to the top of the Premier League – but they were overtaken by Arsenal and Chelsea over the course of the weekend.
And the good work of the previous week’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United was undone as Liverpool failed to score against a side that has conceded 10 league goals this season and lies in the bottom three.
Torres, back to full fitness after a hamstring injury, has failed to score in five games since his opening-day winner at Sunderland, which is still his only goal of this season – and on Saturday he missed three chances he would surely have buried during his 33-goal debut season last year.
The stalemate with Stoke also meant Robbie Keane’s wait to open his Anfield account extended to eight games as the strikers struggle to establish an effective partnership.
But left-winger Riera is convinced he can help supply the opportunities that will have Torres and Keane soaring up the scoring charts once again.
“The thing with Fernando and Robbie is every player has periods when they don’t score,” said Riera. “But they are fantastic players.
“The only problem is that the shots aren’t going in for them at the moment, but I’m sure they will score a lot of goals.
“But Stoke was a very difficult match for the forwards. Sometimes they had a line of nine men defending so it was hard to break through.
“We knew before the match it would be like that so it wasn’t a surprise. We tried many times to score but it was one of those typical games where if you don’t score quickly it becomes more and difficult because they just get more and more men behind the ball.”
He added: “I’ve known Fernando for a long time, I was with him at under-18s, under-21s and with the Spanish national team last year.
“I’m sure there will be a connection because we know each other’s games very well.”
Riera, who made his second successive league start following his transfer deadline day move, is also unconcerned by Liverpool’s failure to hit their stride.
They are still unbeaten with 11 points out of 15 and the former Manchester City loan star is confident that the team will improve as the season progresses.
“It’s still very early in the Premier League,” Riera added. “It’s only the beginning and we will have many more matches that are better than today.
“It’s a long season and we must be patient. I’m sure we will get better but the most important thing is how we finish.
Dirk Kuyt added his voice of support to Torres, who he partnered up front towards the end of the draw with Stoke.
“He did really well and he was a bit unlucky, just like me, with his chances today. We were all a bit unlucky,” said the Dutchman.
“But I’m sure he will start scoring goals really quickly because you can see the quality in every game.
“I’m sure he will be back to scoring goals – he played a really good game today but just didn’t score.
“Fernando is fit now and even if he doesn’t score you can see he is a top quality striker, so no worries.”
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