Morientes happy with Liverpool switch

Fernando Morientes is delighted he took the decision to join Liverpool from Real Madrid and is confident his best form is yet to come.

The 29-year-old returned this week to the Spain squad for the friendly with Uruguay after 12 months in the international wilderness, partly because he spent the first half of last season on the Madrid bench.

Although he also had a quiet closing half to the season after joining Liverpool, stability has given him the chance to force his way back into the Spain reckoning.

“The truth is that I have had a period with continual changes in my career and you need time to adapt to play in France and England,” Morientes, who spent the 2003-04 season on loan at Monaco, told newspaper Diario AS.

“It was also hard for me to get going at Liverpool because of physical problems.”

Morientes believes his style of play has changed slightly since joining the European champions but he feels that his experience so far in England, and previously in France, has made him a better player.

“I learned to move a lot better when I was at Monaco,” he explained.

“Now at Liverpool, I drop back a lot less and play more as a traditional centre forward as high balls are still vital in England.

“I think that in the last three years I have made the right decisions and bit by bit things are working out as I expected them to.

“Playing in France and England has enriched me as a person and as a player and it has re-opened the doors of the Spain squad for me in a World Cup year.”

Along with Morientes, there are three other Liverpool players in the Spain squad – Xabi Alonso, Jose Reina and Luis Garcia – which the striker sees as positive for football in his homeland.

He added: “It shows that Spanish players have the quality to succeed when they are given the chance in other countries.”