All Rafa Benitez 45 signings for Liverpool ranked!
By David Gate
Number 21: Albert Riera
Another player who arrived as the missing piece. Like Mark Gonzalez and Harry Kewell before him Albert Riera was brought in to be Liverpool’s first choice left midfielder and solve a problem position we had since John Barnes’ heyday.
While he did not light up Anfield with goals and assists in his first season at the club he was a very reliable player. He did everything the manager wanted and was never wasteful in possession or shirking his defensive responsibilities.
Another player who suffered during the sour season of 2009/10 as the Anfield crowd became frustrated with a poor year of results. Riera was one of the players labelled to be not good enough and indicative of the weaknesses in Benitez’ management. That was harsh. He left in for Olympiakos at the end of that season during the Hodgson clear out. @davidgatesports
Number 20: Jermaine Pennant
Jermaine Pennant came to Liverpool as a player with unfulfilled talent. His arrival in 2006 was to bring some pace to the side. His first season and a half at the club was reasonably successful. While never wowing the Liverpool crowd he proved himself to be dangerous from time to time.
He played a key role in the Champions League run of 2007. Many think he was Liverpool’s best player in the final loss to AC Milan in Athens.
After Torres arrived he found it harder to get games. The Spaniard took the number 9 role and Dirk Kuyt shifted over to right midfield essentially booting Pennant out of the first team.
He was loaned out to Portsmouth for the second half of the 2008/9 season before being sold that summer to Real Zaragoza. @davidgatesports