Liverpool hero Hamann slams Riera over Benitez blast

Didi Hamann has slammed Liverpool winger Albert Riera over his disparaging interview criticising the club and manager Rafa Benitez.

Ex-Reds midfielder Hamann blasted the 27-year-old for looking to shift the blame from some mediocre personal performances in the current campaign.

"I didn't read too much into the comments because he's a player who has not played too much football over the last six to eight months," said the former Germany international.

"He is clearly frustrated but you have to say since he signed for Liverpool (in the summer of 2008) he has not done enough to really have an opinion on the manager. If Riera is not in the team it is probably because he is not doing enough in training or in games.

"The first question you have to ask when you are not playing is have you done enough to be in the team. It happens too often with players who can't get in the team and the first thing they do is blame the manager. They should look at themselves. I can honestly say I have never had a problem with a manager in 15 years of my career and I would never blame a manager for not playing."

Hamann, who has done some part-time coaching for Liverpool's youth teams, admitted Benitez had his own individual style of management but did not have an issue with it during his two seasons under the Spaniard.

"Every manager has his different styles and he may not talk, as other managers do, to his players, but at the end of the day I always had a professional relationship with him," he added. "I never really needed much conversation with the manager because his team selection told you everything most weeks.

"I think he was always pretty honest in terms of his team selection, he always did what he thought was best for the team."

Hamann also disagreed with Riera's assessment of the club's current situation.

"I think Liverpool are far from a sinking ship," he told BBC Radio Five Live. "They are having a bad season by their standards but not all hope is lost and there are eight or 10 weeks ahead of them so it is all to play for. It (Riera's outburst) is very disruptive and I don't know whether he will play any further part in the rest of the season.

"If he didn't it would be understandable from the manager's point of view."