Liverpool winger Albert Riera says his comments this week were not a direct attack on manager Rafael Benitez.
Riera made the headlines on Thursday after criticising the man-management methods of his fellow Spaniard to the media in their homeland and also described the Reds as a ‘sinking ship’.
He was quickly suspended by Liverpool until Monday meaning that he played no part in the 3-0 Europa League win over Lille on Thursday and also ruling him out of taking part in the Premier League clash with arch rivals Manchester United on Sunday. He has also reportedly been fined a fortnight’s wages.
However, the former Espanyol man – whose motivations for the attack seem to have been derived from his wish to gain a move to Russia and more regular football in a bid to seal a place in the Spain World Cup squad – says he is not interested in fighting with his manager.
"I do not want to make trouble with the manager," Riera was quoted as saying by the Press Association.
"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.
"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.
"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."
The player – whose future at the club is believed to not be a long one – added that he would ideally like to stay at Anfield and play in every game.
He said: “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."
Meanwhile, Benitez said of the fallout with the 27-year-old: “The timing was not the best for the team and we will deal with this internally.”