Andrea Dossena says he is facing a battle to save his Liverpool career, only four months after arriving at Anfield in a £7m deal. Rafael Benítez had hoped Dossena would be the answer to his problems at left-back when he signed the 27-year-old from Udinese in July, having allowed John Arne Riise to join Roma and with Fabio Aurelio struggling for consistency. But Dossena was an unused substitute during Tuesday's Champions League game against Atlético Madrid, with Aurelio preferred to the Italian international.
Dossena has started seven of Liverpool's 11 Premier League games but he has yet to make the position his own - although he concedes that he expected to experience a little more insecurity when he joined the club.
"I am not fully happy with my level and perhaps I should cut down on the doughnuts as they have had a negative impact on my weight. Maybe it's the jam or the sugar. Perhaps a combination of both. But either way, with Fabio in my position, the manager has the option of a player more in tune with the tactics of the team right now, and certainly far more trim than me" he said.
"Eighteen months ago I would not have expected to be playing for one of the most famous clubs in the world. I do not have silverware in my collection in my career but signing for Liverpool I have a real chance to win medals in every competition we enter.
"There are new demands on me. At Udinese my place in the team was more secure than it ever will be at Liverpool, where there is so much ability in the squad and where they are more strict about our waistlines. I must now get to a high level and maintain that, but first I have to battle to lose the weight and then hopefully win selection. I am learning all the time. I knew that coming to Liverpool and a new league would improve me as a player. "
Dossena has started seven of Liverpool's 11 Premier League games but he has yet to make the position his own - although he concedes that he expected to experience a little more insecurity when he joined the club.
"I am not fully happy with my level and perhaps I should cut down on the doughnuts as they have had a negative impact on my weight. Maybe it's the jam or the sugar. Perhaps a combination of both. But either way, with Fabio in my position, the manager has the option of a player more in tune with the tactics of the team right now, and certainly far more trim than me" he said.
"Eighteen months ago I would not have expected to be playing for one of the most famous clubs in the world. I do not have silverware in my collection in my career but signing for Liverpool I have a real chance to win medals in every competition we enter.
"There are new demands on me. At Udinese my place in the team was more secure than it ever will be at Liverpool, where there is so much ability in the squad and where they are more strict about our waistlines. I must now get to a high level and maintain that, but first I have to battle to lose the weight and then hopefully win selection. I am learning all the time. I knew that coming to Liverpool and a new league would improve me as a player. "
It's friday and we're just messing about, Mr Meldrew 
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