The Spain international said Benitez did not speak to him and claimed he bore a personal grudge. However Hamann, who made 283 appearances for the Merseysiders and memorably came on for the second half in their Champions League final comeback against AC Milan in 2005, said Riera should look at himself. "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 September 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. "You have players these days who complain about managers and I think these players should look at themselves. "The first question you have to ask when you are not playing is have you done enough to be in the team. "These days it happens too often with players who can't get in the team and the first thing they do is blame the manager. "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 does some part-time coaching for Liverpool's youth teams, admitted Benitez had his own individual style of management but said he 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. "Every player is different and he does speak to players. If he didn't speak to Riera on this particular occasion there must have been a reason. "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." In his interview, Riera told Radio Marca: "When the coach says nothing to you and you are well, with no physical problems and training well, you cannot help but think it must be something personal." He also went on to say he felt Liverpool were a "sinking ship" after a poor season which has seen early exits from the title race, Champions League and FA Cup. Hamann disagreed, however, telling Radio Five Live: "I think Liverpool are far from a sinking ship. "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."
