Pepe Reina

The Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has said that he expects the goalkeeper Pepe Reina to once again be competing against the best goalkeepers in the world after suffering a slump in form in recent seasons.

During the time of Benitez, Pepe Reina became one of the best goalkeepers not only in the Premier league, but also in the world. However, since the managerial changes at Anfield over the last few seasons, Reina’s form has suffered significantly. He is now in a position of losing the number one jersey to the substitute goalkeeper Brad Jones.

The 30-year-old goalkeeper arrived at the club for a transfer fee of £ 6 million back in 2006. Since then, he has been the first choice goalkeeper at the club. However, the hamstring injuries that has kept him out of action for more than a month coupled with the good form of Brad Jones means that his first choice position is under threat from the first time since 2006. However, the manager Brendan Rodgers has expressed his faith in the form of the Spaniard by saying that he would once again be known as the best goalkeeper in the world shortly.

“I have absolutely no qualms about Pepe. He is intent on making himself a better keeper and when we have that, we have one of the best in Europe. It’s all about confidence and losing confidence happens to every keeper — look at Joe Hart against Sweden. Pepe is our No 1 keeper and I know that he’s committed and determined to continue at the top for the next nine or 10 years,” said Rodgers ahead of the visit by Wigan during the weekend. This match will see him come up against Wigan manager Roberto Martinez, who came extremely close to securing the Liverpool job before it going to Rodgers.

Liverpool FC might put Pepe Reina on sale during the mid-season transfer window in January. The Spaniard didn’t manage to perform well in the ongoing season so far and the manager of Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers, is said to be unhappy with the performance of Reina.

Reina made a number of mistakes in the matches against Arsenal and Hearts. There are two other goalkeepers in the Liverpool squad in the form of Alexander Doni and Brad Jones. If the Spaniard keeps making mistakes in the further matches, Rodgers might think of replacing him with Doni or Jones.

Reina has been with Liverpool since the last seven seasons. He had joined the club in July 2005. Liverpool had to pay 6 million pounds for buying Reina from Villarreal. Reina played his first match for Liverpool against The New Saints. That was a Champions League qualifier and Reina performed quite well in his debut match. In his very first season for Liverpool, Reina caught everyone’s eyes by making some brilliant saves. He didn’t take too much time in cementing his place in the Liverpool’s first XI. He has been an integral part of the Liverpool’s first team since the last 7 years and he always delivered for the club. But, in this season, he is looking completely out of touch. He is looking rusty and hasn’t yet managed to show his class in the ongoing season.

During the pre season transfer window, there were rumours that AC Milan was interested in Reina and the Spaniard might think of joining Milan. But, Reina had ended all those rumours by saying that he was totally committed to Liverpool and he didn’t want to leave the club. But, it seems that Reina would have to leave Liverpool if he doesn’t show improvement in his performances before January.

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Despite seeing many of his rivals splash the cash over the summer, Brenan Rodgers says that he will still maintain a cautious approach in relation to transfers. The Reds manager has also said that he is only interested in players who will work for the cause and not those who are simply after a quick pay rise.

Even though the Reds have been linked with countless players over the summer, Rodgers has currently only brought two players to Anfield in the form of Joe Allen and Fabio Borini. Having worked with the duo before, Rodgers signed the players based on his past history and at least knows they aren’t the prima-donna individuals that hinder so many of Europe’s elite.

The former Swansea chief has warned supporters that insolvency can happen to any club and for this reason, every transfer he makes is based on a strategic approach. Speaking to the media, Rodgers said, “You may think (insolvency) will never happen to your club. But who would have ever thought that could happen to a team like Glasgow Rangers? In professional and social life, I like to get value. That is just my nature and my upbringing. I won’t pay anything at all costs. Absolutely not. There have to be certain factors to make a player want to come and play for you. I prefer the hungry player, those that want to succeed.”

Rodger’s prudence can perhaps be associated with his interest in season-long loans. While the club have completed permanent deals for both Allen and Borini, it is widely speculated that he is chasing other players on temporary deals. Such an approach would have been ridiculed at Liverpool several years ago, yet with Rodgers and the board desperate not to put the future of the club in jeopardy, it looks as though there has been a change in financial approach.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has said that he expects the former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres to help the national team win the Euro 2012. The former Liverpool striker is currently with Chelsea after having completed his £ 50 million British record move almost 2 years ago. However, he has been in extremely poor form since signing for Chelsea.

Even though he managed to lift the FA Cup and the Champions League title in his first full season with the club, it has been regarded as a major disappointment in terms of the personal numbers. As a result, he has found it hard to get into the first-team of the national team as well.

The Spanish national team manager Vicente del Bosque has been using Barcelona midfielder Cesc Fabregas as a false striker in most of the matches. However, Fernando Torres showed his quality in the 4-0 win over Republic of Ireland by scoring two goals. He was hugely responsible for Spain winning the Euro 2008 after he scored the only goal in the 1-0 win over Germany in the final. Pepe Reina has backed Fernando Torres to help Spain lift the Euro 2012, despite his ongoing problems on the pitch.

“Everyone has ups and downs in his career and surely his is coming up again. I think he was in good form, in good shape. He’s looking really sharp in training and that’s the Fernando I know – I’m glad for him,” said Reina. Even though Torres was largely used as a substitute by Chelsea this season, the departure of Didier Drogba is expected to make him the undisputed number one within the Chelsea team next season. The signings of Eden Hazard and Marko Marin is further expected to help him score the goals because they can supply the ammunition that he deserves.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has said that this has been a much better season than in the last couple of seasons for Liverpool. Despite spending more than £ 100 million on new players in the summer, Kenny Dalglish has been able to get the team just above the 10th position in the table.

Many expected them to be challenging for a top four finish this season, but it has never materialised. However, they have just won their first trophy in six years after the Carling Cup win over Cardiff City a few months back. Liverpool also have the opportunity to claim the FA Cup at the new Wembley when they take on Chelsea.

Due to the fact that the possibility of lifting two major cups a one single season remains, Pepe Reina has said that this has been a good season for Liverpool compared with the past few seasons. It is highly unlikely that Kenny Dalglish will be retained as the Liverpool manager if they do not finish in the Champions League next season as well. Due to the fact that they have not finished in the top four this season, there have been a number of reports linking Liverpool players with a move in search of Champions League football.

“There’s no doubt we’ve improved from last season already. We’ve won the Carling (League) Cup, with the possibility of a second, while also qualifying for Europe (albeit the second-tier Europa League). The target of the club is still to get back in the Champions League. But before the start of the season, if someone had said we’d win the Carling Cup, reach the final of the FA Cup, as well as getting seventh, probably most people would have taken that,” said the Spaniard ahead of the FA Cup final on May 5.

Pepe Reina produced a rare case of misjudgement in the match against Fulham, which was quickly taken advantage of by Fulham midfielder Clint Dempsey to give their team a famous win. Liverpool came into the match against Fulham having seen most of the title rivals win during the weekend, and manager Kenny Dalglish probably knew that they had to win in order to remain in the challenge. However, Liverpool were frustrated for most of the night, as they struggled to create clear-cut chances. Usually, Luis Suarez is in the thick of things when it comes to creating chances, but he was extremely poor in the match against Fulham.

To add more misery to the situation, Liverpool also had to lose a player through a red card. Jay Spearing was sent off in the 72nd minute and it meant that Fulham now had the advantage in the match. Up until now, Fulham had been outplayed in most of the areas of the pitch, but the man advantage meant that the final few minutes belonged to the home team. They made full use of it with a number of chances, although they were unable to take any of them. The pressure finally paid off late on in the match when Pepe Reina spilled a shot from Danny Murphy.

Clint Dempsey was quick on hand to take advantage of this mistake by the ever-reliable Pepe Reina. His shot provided the unlikeliest of winners in the match, as Fulham moved clear of the relegation zone. Liverpool, though, could have taken something from the match had Andy Carroll been more clinical with his finishing. Liverpool once again struck the post after Stewart Downing’s fine effort was deflected by the Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. Clint Dempsey also hit the crossbar for Fulham.