Maybe it is a blessing that Reina had a bad season

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Pepe Reina has been exceptional for Liverpool F.C., in the seven years he has been with the club he has won the Premier League Golden Glove three times and was even voted LFC player of the season once by the fans. Over the last couple of summers there has been speculation of Pepe leaving us however he time and again committed to Liverpool and all the other clubs went away.

It comes to a surprise to me that there are some fans who think we should sell Reina following one bad season. You got to be kidding!! Yes he has made some mistakes but all the goals conceded weren’t all his fault, he was let down by defensive errors time and again.

We have seen some exceptional goalkeeping by our opposing teams this season however many of us just saw these keepers playing against Liverpool. We didn’t see them play every single game of the campaign like we did with Pepe. Anyone can be a hero for one game but how many clean sheets can they keep? Pepe’s record speaks volumes, his stats are right up there with Liverpool’s legend keeper Ray Clemence. If it wasn’t for the fact that Pepe had his worst season at L.F.C. all the rags will be littered with stories on who wants to sign him. So maybe for this reason alone it is a blessing that Pepe didn’t have the best of seasons.

Pepe Reina is World Class, we need to keep him, he is 29 years old and as a keeper he still can have up to another good 10 years ahead of him. Remember that form is temporary and class is permanent, goalkeepers don’t “just lose it”.

I don’t want to see Pepe leave, I know he will return better and stronger than ever.

YNWA

-Antoine

on Twitter @empireofthekop

PS. After writing the above I read Aldo’s column in the Echo and he echoed some of the same sentiments as I did.

25 Comments

    1. I totally agree with Antoine. Pepe is a world class keeper. Those who disagree seems to have just started watching football. In almost every of the matches that we have lost, many were due to defensive errors and most of them came from Carragher. Most of the matches that we lost were in the absence of Agger and then Skrtel had to be paired up with Carragher. Just go and watch those matches that we lost and then you talk!! Losing Pepe would be a huge loss to Liverpool!!

  1. selling him just like gambling, how many years wenger find decent repalcement for seaman.

    maybe when he is having bad game we need drop him n put doni in charge, just give him some pressure to realize that he need to do better work, just like fergie do with de gea.

  2. Reina is world class no one can argue with that. He has been magnificient for us but this eason was not good for the whole team not just for him.
    It would be a mistake to let him go.

  3. I disagree , he has been awful for a couple seasons now, a goalkeeper can win you league titles , ask a certain Sir Alex , with Peter Schmeical’s brilliance won a couple titles for Man U , so please i dont accept it , he is no longer good as he used to when he came to us, if he was that good why is he the 3rd choice for Spain?

    1. For as long as I can remember, Reina has always been 2nd or 3rd choice for Spain, never first, yet that did not stop him from establishing himself as one of the best keepers in the world.

      Selling players experiencing a poor run a form is not a formula for success. Nor is moving a player on and replacing him with one of lesser quality. Reina should only be moved on if a world-class keeper can be bought to replace him.

  4. Reina is in a core of quality players we need to build the team around. In this case a world class player as is Gerrard and Suarez. Then we have Agger, Skirtel and Johnson and Lucas who we missed badly.
    We are three or four players short in my opinion. I think Kuyt, Maxi, Aqualani, Cole and Spearing will leave. The first 4 for personal reasons.
    Carroll will improve (as he has recently) but we need a 20 goal a season striker maybe Defoe as he is proven and will be cheap and with Bellamy gives good options. We need to spend the big money we might have in midfield as this where we lack creativity. Henderson, Dowling and Adams should be squad players as Europa might add 20 games. Coates will play a bigger part as will Kelly. Enrique played well but lost form after xmas so a quality full back to apply pressure is also a necessity.
    As for Kenny i think he has done a good jo stabilising the team but needs to go back upstairs and i am not adverse to bringing back Benitez who only failed because he tried to play politics with poor owners and made a fatal error of trying to swop Alonso out for Barry. He, like Dalglish loves Liverpool and understands the passion and culture of this great club.

  5. Goalkeepers tend to improve with age but with Reina it has proven to be opposite. When Liverpool signed Reina, he was great shotstopper and was penalty save specialist but don’t think he has saved a penalty for a very long time. Also one thing about Reina is that he chokes in big games and if we look at most of his bad performances and all of them have been in big games.

  6. Reina has had 2 bad seasons on the spin, on current form Doni looks the better keeper by a mile. He is a real shot-stopper, when did Reina have a good game recently????

    I would sell him and put Doni in, I think he wants out anyway!!!!

  7. Typical reaction of the modern Liverpool (internet) fan. He’s not perfect, get rid of him. No such thing as perfect, and close to perfect costs a sh*tload of money which we don’t have. There are not many keepers better than him in the World.

    He may have had a bad season by his high standards, but we were still one of the best defences in the league in a very disappointing season. For the service he has given us he deserves loads of time to get back to form. Now the attacking part of the team, that’s something else. :-(

    If you were shipping people out for a drop in form, then we wouldn’t have many players left, and a certain Mr Gerrard would be one of them on the last couple of years form.

    At least Reina has admitted his form has dropped, not something that can be said for anyone else.

  8. The problem is not Reina. Since LFC sacked Benitez together with the goalkeeping coach, they have leaked quite a number of goals.

  9. He’s a very ordinary keeper who is getting more and more ordinary with each passing season. Here in Barcelona the fans were very pleased when he left, they never rated him. Comparing him to Ray Clemence is simply laughable – he’s nowhere near as good. In fact, he’s not fit to wash Clemmo’s jockstrap. No wonder he doesn’t make the Spanish team and when he does he makes one laughable cock-up after another. The first goal against Chelsea was typical of his incompetence and he didn’t exactly cover himself with glory for the second one either. Of course, against West Ham in 2006 he did the same.Sling your hook, Pepe.

  10. Yes , Reina is world class goalkeeper. But this season he playing below par. King Kenny should rest him and give Doni and Jones more games.

  11. He has cost us more games then he has won for us over the last 2 years. Unfortunately he looks like he wants out and has done so for a long time. The last few games especially have been diabolical. As sad as I am to say it… If he wants out.. Let him go.. Otherwise he better suck it up and stop looking around to blame others when he makes silly mistakes. YNWA

  12. Truthbbe told, reina is really world class n won’t trade him fr anoda bt n recet times,he is Jus nt at dt level nymore. That s becos he s nt gettin enuff competition.if its about experience doni has got more experience than him.he is way too comfortable nd Kenny has made it so.dropping him after two consecutive fumbles is one way to make hum have time to consider his mistakes.Kenny u really shld learn to play players when they have good games it builds up their confidence nd I mean d whole team as well as new reserve players too.

  13. HAHAHA, i totally agree with the article and for who critics Reina, meh, you just understand a **** about football. Reina is clearly one of three top goalkeepers in the last decade, our disgraces in those last years are managers, and bought players (by a manager), if there’s one person that we really can’t criticise, well, that person is Reina since he’s also still here…and dears Yunus and Pele, Reina is the second choice for Spain just because Casillas (that is a little bit weaker than Pepe) plays for Real Madrid if you don’t know…and Lion Heart…you’re ridiculous, you’re clearly not a Liverpool fan if you say that Reina chokes in big games since (even this year) we’ve won more games with top teams than with weak teams…Martin Badger, there, in Barcellona, you lef him wen he was a kid, now you surely regret that since this year you’ve lost Liga and Champions only for unluck and because you’ve the worst goalkeeper of european top teams (with a top contract like Xavi, Puyol ecc…so, LOL)…

  14. I keep hearing the expression “Form is temporary and class is permanent” You can not stick with a player who’s form has slumped that badly that they cost you games! How many times have I seen Reina just flap his arms around when beaten? How many times have I seen Reina NOT pull off a tremendous save? The last couple seasons he has gone from bad to worse! When the Torres fiasco was happening, it seemed to have affected Reina! If he doesn’t improve next season he must go!

  15. pepe have to leave it been along time l said this that pepe is nt a world class in term of big games can anybod y tell me what we call world class?A keep that can not save when it matter most,look at chelsea lfc fa cup final jose enrique make an error just for reina to save and keep lfc back into the game he allow ramires to chip in the ball beside him.Now talk about world class peter czech he is a class cos if not his save lfc would have book a draw but he denied us.Remenbr some year back that we are title contender he reina make different kind of error then we lose the title to man utd.Check out this games/lfc 4 vs 4 arsenal arshavin/sunderland vs lfc bent balloon/chelsea 4 vs 4 lfc from behind,Infact reina has done us more harm than good in summarize.man utd win trophy when they realise that onward and carrol are not good then change to van der save. *van der save 7 to 8 trophy period of 3yrs. *peter czech more than 7 trophy period 6yrs.Now reina fans list reina trophy 4me.

  16. His head hasnt been right this season but then you can say that about a lot of players. Belief is lacking and i hate to say it but psychologically Kenny has been too soft on the lads. Its like they arent fighting tooth and nail, they seem to have the attitude of ‘just go out and enjoy it and see what happens’.

  17. this idiot cost lp top 4 finish, can’t dive can’t catch a ball can’t can’t can’t…a goalie is where is at you must have confidence in him or you’ll play with fear.

  18. I agree with Antoine on this one fully. In my opinion, the best thing that happened to Pepe this season was his Red Card. It forced a break in his consecutive games run, and now will make it easier for Kenny to sit him out every 5th or 6th game to rest, and give the back-up some playing time. I beleive part of his drop in form can be turned around with some rest. Even Bayern Munich sits Maqnuel Neuer a few games during the season.

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