Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Reina believes criticism of his team-mate Fernando Torres (14/1 to be Premier League Top Goalscorer) has been unfair and has blamed the rest of the team for his lack of goals.
Torres scored just his second goal of the season as Liverpool eased the pressure with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers on Sunday, a result which still sees them languishing in the relegation zone.
The Spain international has been a peripheral figure so far this term and has been unable to replicate his previous goal-scoring feats for the Anfield club, which have seen him garner 74 goals in 127 appearances in all competitions since moving from Atletico Madrid in 2007.
With the off-field problems now seemingly sorted out, Liverpool can concentrate on the task of climbing away from the drop zone and making a move to the right end of the table and Sunday’s much-improved display will have given the Reds fans and management renewed hope.
A fit and firing Torres will be central to Liverpool’s resurgence and Reina believes that the end to the striker’s goal-scoring drought can be a catalyst for the player to make a regular appearance on the score sheet.
“All strikers are about the goals,” he said. “They want to score them and they want to score the winners like Fernando did against Blackburn. I think he can build up now to what he was like of old.”
The Reds shot-stopper drew a comparison with another high-profile Spaniard, David Villa, who has struggled to find the back of the net for Barcelona in La Liga, after moving from Valencia in the summer.
Reina believes the fault does not always lie with the striker but with those who provide the service.
“They are both great players but when strikers are not scoring people are always disappointed in them,” he added. “It’s not fair. I don’t think we have been assisting him like we should, particularly in the last few weeks.
“He has not been able to do anything at all. We know he is the type of player that can win a game just like that, but we can’t expect him to keep doing it on his own. We have to feed him in. That’s the point.”
Liverpool’s next outing is a trip to the Reebok Stadium to pay Bolton on Sunday and another three points could see Roy Hodgson’s side (8/5 to finish in top six) make a significant move up the table, with so many clubs separated by just a few points.
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Jose Reina has asked for patience in Liverpool’s pursuit of a top-four finish this season (13/8 with totesport) following their disappointing start to the Premier League campaign.