AS a proud member of the goalkeeper’s union, I am institutionally biased towards our number 25. I think Pepe Reina is a top class goalkeeper. Confident, commanding and great with his distribution, the Spaniard has become a popular figure on the Kop with his length of the pitch goal celebrations and general all round enthusiasm for the club.
All is not rosy in our garden at the moment and of course when things go wrong, a scapegoat inevitably becomes a requirement.
And after his (harsh, but by the letter of the law correct) red card yesterday, phone-ins and the like have been inundated with people saying Reina isn’t interested, he hasn’t made a save in months, every shot seems to go in and he’s in a bad run of form. Meanwhile, I’m still waiting for Clint Dempsey to get a red card for his “headbutt” at Craven Cottage…
Actually, I can’t disagree with most of that, other than the “not interested” because I don’t see the logic behind that at all. I don’t think Reina’s form is anything like the required standard that it should be, and hasn’t been all year. Is that because he didn’t have a pre-season? Is that hernia operation that caused the lack of pre-season causing him bother? I don’t know, but he doesn’t seem to be that split-second sharper that he has been in previous seasons. And that is the sort of time frame a goalkeeper has to make a decision or react to a situation.
I think that an important point to mention is that Reina isn’t actually costing us games. He’s not making glaring errors that cost us results (the last one I remember vividly is Fulham away, but then again I don’t watch Match of the Day anymore! You could also argue Arsenal’s second goal a few weeks ago but when you miss the chances we missed how can that cost you a match?), or making massive confidence draining clangers. The problem he has, and the problem that a lot of people are beginning to have, is that he isn’t saving us in any games either. The last time I remember him making a great save of any note to save our skins was when he stood tall to stop Gareth Bale scoring a sneaky breakaway for Spurs at Anfield in the goalless league game.
That to me is what Reina is about – Bale was like a rabbit in the headlamps as the grey machine came racing out of his goal to make the block. But in recent games against Newcastle, Wigan and QPR, all of which have ended in depressing defeat, people are asking the question: “Why doesn’t Pepe Reina make saves anymore?”
I think a lot of it is down to bad luck as much as anything. I didn’t like how long it took him to shift his balance from right foot to left foot yesterday, but how freakishly good was Cisse’s header for his first goal yesterday? He could not have scored in any other way. I think Reina is capable of making that save, but I don’t see how the finger of blame can be pointed the way of the keeper there – but it is being.
Our defence is all over the place at the moment, and whilst Cisse might well have been 25 yards offside for the second goal, the fact remains that Reina was left horribly exposed by his defence. What is he meant to do when someone gets one on one? He was off his line quickly, but Cisse was very calm and took it well.
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I draw comparisons with Gary Caldwell’s winning goal at Anfield last week for Wigan – the defence, with the exception of Carroll who attempted to close him down, were stood stock still last week and allowed the octogenarian centre-half to waltz through them. Reina was again left horribly exposed. Maybe you can question whether or not he can make himself bigger, or whether or not he might save something that’s so close to him. But the keeper is the last line of defence. Caldwell should score from there – but the defence is what I would be looking at there, not the goalkeeping.
The truth is that I personally think Reina is suffering from what I call “Swiss Cheese syndrome.” This is a personal theory and something that I and all goalkeepers suffer with. He’s doing 95% of his job right, but that last 5%, which you need to be able to make a save, just isn’t going his way. He’s closing his legs a millisecond too late as the ball goes through them (QPR), he’s going the right way for a penalty but just doesn’t get there (Wigan) or he’s just beaten by a good finish after being left horribly exposed by defending (Newcastle).
I’m not saying that he’s blameless as he isn’t. The second Arsenal goal (and our season has imploded since then, in terms of results and performance) at the near post might be a tidy finish from van Persie, but a goalkeeper needs to question himself if he’s getting beaten at the near post. I also wonder if the fact that Reina has nobody to hold him accountable is something to consider. Doni (let’s make 2012 the year the world finds out about Doni #Doni2012) has sat on his backside all season and not been selected for cup ties against the lowliest of opposition. Though that run is soon to come to an end – he will be playing against Everton in 2 weeks. This is a testament to Kenny’s attitude towards all competitions and all opposition – respect, class and dignity.
But where is the pressure on Reina to play well? There’s none. Doni gets his paycheque (I’m not criticising him for that) and Reina plays every week whether he makes a mistake or not. And of course, these theories wouldn’t be flying about if he was playing at the top of his game. Complacency?
Reina is being made the scapegoat after his red card yesterday. I personally think the club should appeal and use the Clint Dempsey footage as their evidence as to why it’s not a red card, even if just to point out how bad Kevin Friend is.
Now, we know the FA don’t deal with evidence and in all “probability” the ban won’t get overturned. But we won’t because Kenny has accepted it was a red. It probably was, though it sickens me that James Perch will have slept very soundly last night.
I’m not going to call it “fighting spirit” because it was stupid. The red mist descended. But it doesn’t stack up with the theory of some that Pepe Reina doesn’t care about playing for Liverpool anymore.
Does he need to improve his form? Absolutely. But would I still have him in our goals? No question. Because 2012 might be the year we find out about Doni, and I fear it could be for all the wrong reasons…
In the unlikely event you want to hear more from Dan, you can follow him on twitter (@TLW1Dan) and you can also catch him as a regular writer in The Liverpool Way fanzine and on TLW forums. Please be aware that any content from Dan may contain sarcasm.
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He really isn’t interested anymore. He has his eye on leaving in summer.
Wake up, when you all gonna get a life the guy was and still is one of the best goal keepers in the world. Its not his fault we have spearing, henderson, adam, downing and carroll playing infront of him…that is enough for any good player to get demoralised and deep down he knows no matter how hard he tries it will make no difference. We humans have a shorter memory then a gold fish only until agar got injured we conceded the least goals in the premiership and since carra (love the guy) came back its been all wrong. We have missed lucas so much this year and ll those midfielders i listed above are not good enough to tie lucas’s shoe laces….but the bigest problem we have is KK can’t see what he is doing by playing these jokers all the time at best midtable. He really should give stirling, suso, and morgan a good run in the first team.
This is misinterpreting. “Doni” blames Reina for poor form?? Bad journalism.
When read correctly it says Doni blame reina, no s in blame. See its a play on words easy really
Now this is why we, liverpool supporters, boycott “the Sun”. It was such poor journalism that lead to the famous boycott.
Dear, oh dear. I wish some people would read things properly before deciding to comment. As kindly pointed out by ‘Roy’ it is a play on words. In not one place does it say ‘Doni blameS Reina…’, which would indeed be bad journalism considering he hasn’t said anything of the sort. Have the decency to read properly before commenting. Tut Tut.
The title has nothing to do with the content. You said it all. Not in 1 place, Doni blames Reina in this article. For the title of an article must be highlighting the contents. Here it’s the contrary. It has been done only to attract attention of readers. Its very cheap and now, i will never another article by this guy, Daniel Thomas. He’s an apprentice journalist. This is indeed very bad journalism.
Once again, instead of judging others you would do well to judge your own sense of basic reading. As Editor, it is I, not Dan who came up with the title. And for the FINAL time, in NOT ONE PLACE does it state “‘Doni’ BlameS Reina…” – it states “‘Doni’ BlamE Reina…” – NOTICE THE LACK OF PLURAL for the word ‘BLAME’. You have invented the letter ‘S’ on the end of that word. It states a singular term that is also a play on words, as EXPLAINED to you by other readers already. If you got the wrong end of the stick due to your incompetence in reading properly then that is your business. And do not be as pathetic to compare it with anything from The Sun and what they have peddled about our club and its supporters in the past – that is disgracefully poor from yourself. Go and give your head a shake and have a word with yourself…
blame reina for never leaving his line, blame the idiot who has stopped us putting the full backs on the posts at corners, blame the coaches who obviously dont watch replays or they would see the faults, like carroll going backwards when suarex was heading for the biline / suarez crossed and carroll should have been there – blame the coaches.
may reina never come back againg and again…
For liverpool’s poor form blame: KD,A Caroll,J Henderson,Ch Adam,S Downing,J Carrager. NOT PEPE REINA. When J Henry sits down to talk to KD I’m sure he will talk about the crap he bought for over 100 million and not P Reina.
You obviously do not watch Pepe closely enough during games. For the past 15 or so he appears disinterested and no longer applies the skills he once did. Hovers on the line when it is easier to come out and prevent the shot in the first place. More often than not punches rather than goes for catching to remove the threat. Heno longer shows that encouraging enthusiasm for telling throws out that he was famous for. All in all he displays the manner of a man who is looking for a way out of the club without causing any acrimony. He simply is not the keeper that once he was.
For our poor form, a huge chunk of it goes to KD and DC followed by their flops like Carroll, Henderson, Adam, Downing and yes Carragher. Reina had shown consistently high standards over the last few seasons, this season the players in front of him should be blame.
When you play in a team that can’t score or defend and barely able to pass it puts unnecesary pressure on the keeper.
All this crap we are going through can be trace to only 2 blokes KD and DC.
Sack them and see us fly. Except for relegation (which is a real possibility if KD is still around) we can’t go any lower.
Chi Bai lu, Reina. He reminds me of Sander Westerveld. Dudek was sacrificed because of him. This guy no loyalty. Burit Busuk
No loyalty? What in the Devil’s name are you talking about, you idiot? The guy has been one of the best ‘keepers in the world for the past 6 years and has played average – at best – sides for a couple of years now, whilst maintaining his best form, saving us on numerous occasions. He’s been off the boil a bit recently and people are only noticing this because we’ve conceeded more goals than usual, so there is more to blame him for.
At any point in the past 2 years he would’ve been entirely justified in seeking a move to a club with more prospects but he stuck with us and – was also no doubt made promises which I’m sure we’re failing to keep – helped more than anyone. We should be glad that we still have at least one top class player turning out for us week after week, because God knows we’ve got a shortage of those at the moment.
Lastly, do any of you think his poor recent form may have coincided with Carragher’s return to the side? Because it certainly seems to have affected Skrtel. I don’t remember us being this nervous at the back while Agger was in the side and while Coates has been nervy at times, it hasn’t affected the whole side to the same extent. But short of blaming Carragher, I think it’s a team and management issue. Reina is lacking confidence at the moment, that much is clear. His only problem is that, when he makes mistakes they tend to be terminal, as he is guarding our bloody goal!
I for one do not blame Pepe, how can I?
Six years at LFC, and what does he have to show for it? He has not been at his best recently, agree with the point of Carr being back, Carr is not what he used to be. A midfield of Hendo, Spearing (Downing to some extent) will not make a keeper of his class situp every time he takes a look out there. ESPECIALLY when TOP sides across the world would love to have him as their custodian.
Ashfah Hussain,
I have seen several posts by you over the last few days and have come to the conclusion that which ever Mental health service lets you near a computer should really ban you, inane rambling, clueless about football and anything LFC
Here are the major problem in Liverpool. Carragher, Adam, Henderson, Downing, Carroll and the King of them all is Dalglish. But Reina has not done too well too this season and he really deserve to rest.
quite ironic that ‘supporters’ that follow a team with a anthem like you’ll never walk alone call for heads after we lose a few games.
Sorry, but just not a ‘few’ games. Relegation form in the year 2012, specially when we should be marching on from a cup victory which for all means and purposes for a club of our stature should act as a catalyst. 40 odd points from 31 games….for the sake of the club this can not be accepted being Liverpool, not in a thousand years. I love Kenny, and his dedication for the club, and I am not strictly calling for ‘his head’, but we have to hold people accountable.