29 Aug 2012

Reds legend blasts: 'Complacent' LFC star is making 'too many errors'. Agree...?

Most objective Liverpool fans would probably concede that Pepe Reina didn't have the greatest season last year. The Spaniard's errors and half-hearted attitude led to a number of goals being conceded, and this contributed to the club's terrible 8th place finish. For some reason, Reina always seems to escape criticism from the club's ex-players, but Reds legend Steve Nicol has now criticised the keeper for becoming 'complacent'

Reina was arguably at fault for Man City's equalising goal at Anfield last Sunday, and his poor communication with Skrtel also led to a penalty being given away against West Brom on the opening day of the season. Discussing the City game last night, Nicol said:

"Reina is consistently making too many errors, and he hasn't played well for the last 6-8 months.

"If you know you're going to be automatically on the teamsheet, sometimes you can get complacent, and that's what's happening with Reina.

"He needs a real quality backup to put him under pressure, and that's not happening at the moment".


The reality is that Reina has *never* had a legitimate challenger for his position at Anfield, and that is arguably part of the reason for the Spaniard's decline over the last 18 months.

Is it truly possibly to have a quality backup, though? What top class goalkeeper is going to come to a club and perennially warm the bench? First choice 'keepers tend to be everpresent in the team, and barring injury, never seem to miss games.

It doesn't have to be that way though. For example, last season, Kenny Dalglish played Reina in comparatively minor games in the Carling Cup, games that would've been perfect for the likes of Doni and Brad Jones.

We rarely see goalkeepers subbed off in games, even when their team is winning by a comfortable margin. I personally would like to see that change; where possible, why not give back-up keepers 20-30 minutes in games where the team is winning?

For me, there were four recurring problems with Reina's goalkeeping last season:

* Constantly being beaten at the near post.
* Half-hearted attempts at making saves.
* Poor on coming for crosses.
* Negative, dissatisfied demeanour on the field.

Kevin Keegan also highlighted Reina's poor form recently. He told ESPN:

"Pepe Reina had a poor season last year, [but] he is a world-class goalkeeper".

It seems that Reina has continued from where he left off last season, and going forward, this is a major concern for Liverpool.

Jaimie Kanwar


70 comments:

  1. totally agree...hasnt been the same since Torres left...

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  2. Reina one his day is a great keeper. However he has had no real competition for years. And our managers have not given other keepers a chance to compete.

    A goalkeepers job is a hard one but we know what he can do, I've seen a certain un-bothered attitude from him at times, especially when it comes to diving for balls.

    Doni is a pretty capable keeper mind you. If he makes too many mistakes, drop him so he can feel that competition again.

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  3. why do you keep reporting on the rants of steve nicol.....he always seems to be bashing some liverpool player....reina is one of the best keepers in the world...

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  4. Not recently. He has been very inconsistent.

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  5. Agreed. The changes you suggest would take quite a culture change, and would take a bashing if they went wrong, but why not? Players in all positions need to know that, while they may be the best in their position, there is someone snapping at their heels.

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  6. Nicol is entitled to his view, just like you.  Having grown up with LFC's 80s teams, I have lots of time for Nicol, who was a superb player for Liverpool.

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  7. HA! 'Legend' AGAIN!!!!

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  8. yeah he could have done better to prevent Toure's goal

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  9. Does Nicol do anything other than slate current Liverpool players? 

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  10. Yes, and every Nicol article, or Keegan/Aldo/Molby/Fowler etc will all be called legends on this site because that's what they are (IMO)

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  11. I agree that Reina is having a bad 18 months. I agree that Nicol was a great player for us. 

    But Reina will probably gain confidence as the defence in front of him improves.

    Sadly, Nicol will always be a kn0b.

    Seriously though, Nicol is sadly indicative of the measures ex-footballers have to go to in order to make themselves stand out as noteworthy pundits. If Liverpool somehow managed to miraculously discover Barcelona-esque degrees of success and style, Nicol would be out of a job. He'd have nothing to be controversially angry about. 

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  12. Lets be honest though, pretty much everyone had to many bad games last season. The problem is, is that when you are a goalkeeper, your bad form is exposed so much more (for obvious reasons). But it is hard playing in goal, ive done it for a number of teams for a number of seasons, and sometimes you just cant do anything but watch the ball fly past, its not because you cant be bothered, it just happens. I think also if your team arent performing in front of you, it will eventually affect everyone all the way back to the keeper, so maybe that explains his apparent lack of interest. I think he will be back on it this year. Its only been 2 games so far, and he saved a (poor) penalty in one of them. What is it they say, "Form is temporary, class is permanant"

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  13. Can we perhaps compromise here J-Dog? Like, Nicol could be 'Irrationally Angry Legend'; Keegan could be 'Emotionally-Crippled Legend'; Aldo - 'Tashy Legend'; Molby - 'Elasticated-Waistband Legend'. 

    Robbie could just be 'God'. Naturally. 

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  14. Reina too slow to react never did have
    CAT like reactions even in early days

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  15. i wonder about steve nichol aswell this is the only site that ever quotes him, but i agree on pepe he isnt the keeper he was he is to ready to berate the defenders almost before the ball is in the net

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  16. if as you say you really are a kopite, why is almost every post you do is negative and depressing, lighten up man your killing our club, making  bullets for others to fire at us

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  17. your a clown, and a not very funny one.

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  18. I would do as you suggest but, alas, the labels would make the headline too long. LFC legend is succinct, and it fits.  If you can find a synonym for 'irrational' that's about 4 letters long then I'll be able to use it.

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  19. Why is it 'slating'.  Does he not speak the truth?  Has he personally insulted Reina?  No. Fans have such a massive fear of anyone telling it like it is, especially when it comes to players they love. Predictably though, when an ex player criticises a player they don't like, that criticism suddenly becomes fair and warranted, as opposed to 'slating'. Funny that.

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  20. Nobody has mentioned he made a few quality saves against hearts. For the Toure goal it all depends on if he shouted or not, only Skrtel and Pepe know that. If he shouted an Skrtel hit it, he's not at fault. A lot of poor players last season. Does Nicol EVER have anything positive to say though? Just because he is a legend it doesnt mean he can constantly berate.

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  21. Hmmmm.... How about 'twAt'?

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  22. I can think of a couple of four-letter words we could use for him...

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  23. Agree with Nicol here. I would also accuse him for lack of communication with defenders. 

    In First game of season, he should have shouted to Skrtl of Shane Long chasing from behind to avoid second penalty which Reina failed to do.

    Against Man City, it wasn't 100% Reina's fault but he should have shouted about Tevez's presence when Skrtl turned towards him and did a back pass. 

    With Reina, Skrtl is also a big let down in both of the games defensively. His lack of concentration cost goals in both games.

    Liverpool defence needs to step up. There are too many individual errors.

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  24. Every time the ball went anywhere near Reina against City my heart was in my mouth,he now seems so unsure what to do, wether to stay on the line or come out if he comes out he usually flaps at the ball. To me he
    looks to have piled muscle on & this has made his reactions slower,
    ironically it started v Arsenal last season at Anfield when he gifted them
    the undeserved equaliser very similar to the City game.I reckon that is why BR is after  the Wolves GK. Next Summer it will be Vorm for us.
    Reina is no longer the keeper he was. 

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  25. I agree 100 percent. I have been saying for the last 3years that Reina's performance is on the decline. If you look at his opta stat you will see that since he joined LFC his performance went down from low 80% to low 70% in the last 5 years. He is over rated and he conceded goals in both games where he shouldn't have. His errors are fatal and not allowing LFC to compete against the top teams. LFC needs a top stopper to win the league. I go for Vorm.

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  26. Personally, I would have sold Reina this summer and bought Robinson from Blackburn.  Reina is overrated and has been living on his reputation for far too long. If you aren't sure, just rerun Cardiff's last minute equaliser in the Carling Cup final - the ball is there to be dived on, but the big girl's blouse just spreads himself and hopes it will hit him.  Could you really imagine Schmeicel doing that?  Not good enough and does not help the defence.

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  27. Nicol was an outstanding player for us. Nobody can take his contribution to the club away. That said. As a former player and a man of his expertise in the game, his view on the matter is spot on. 
    Reina has become complacent and must be replaced or a capable backup keeper to keep him on his toes.

    JK I am with you on this article 100%. Pepe flapping at crosses is heart wrenching at times watching games. Every time a cross is made from the flanks, I miss  a heart beat. And for fcuk sake I am not alone for sure

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  28. Opts stats! Arrrggghhhh I hate opts stats! That's how we ended up with downing, Carroll et al. Reina is quality. Always has been and always will be. He hasn't been on top of his game for 12 months or do- but I'm sure he would admit that himself. Top players, and he is just that, a top player will regain their performances. Confidence is a major facet of football and if the team you're in only score 47 goals in a season and play poorly, then every player struggles, which is what happened last season. Stop slating players that have been great servants to lfc. Yeah reina isn't on it at the moment, but that's not to say he can't rediscover his form. Support the club and the team! FFs

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  29. Go support another team holearse. you must be a 5 year old LFC fan.

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  30. au abt toures goal? Admit it, the guy kips jumping when he ist certain he can get 2 the ball, didn't u watch that match at all, his unwarranted adrenaline almost made tevez score that first goal. I agri with nichol n JK, he needs some competition.

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  31. Doni is a decent keeper or at least was, so would like to see him given the Europa League games to illustrate what he can do (and can't do!). Reina does need to step up his game, as he hasn't been on top of his game or near it for around two seasons now at least. It wasn't a great season for most players last season but with Reina, this dip has gone on for longer than that. Needs to have his position questioned, by Rodgers giving Doni more games.

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  32. Another thing that annoys me most about Reina is that his blunders always come in big games.

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  33. Sell him and buy two young and hungry keepers for the future. 

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  34. may be in your little world but not in the real one sell him asap hes crap

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  35. Well, i think Nicol has got this one spot on, been brushed under the rug for too long, dismissed as a blip blamed on other defenders but as everyone knows....a strong and dominant keeper inspires confidence in his defence....puts fear into attackers....marshalls his area like he OWN'S it....doesn't panic and flap around when crosses come in....i could go on but whats the point the proof has been there for all to see...

    What really pisses me off about Reina's decline in form is his body language/attitude like he's been wronged... or maybe more to the point that he isn't actually enjoying being at the Club.....

    For me IF a player doesn't want to be here then he should grow some balls and stand up for his conviction, put in a transfer request...of course people will say that Pepe wants to be at the Club and blah blah his tweets and whatever prove as much but i'll never buy that in a million years, lost a lot of respect for Pepe and really couldn't give a damn if we bought in an immediate replacement.

    Can't be allowed to continue in this fashion, far too much at stake for us to rely or hope that he will sort his ISSUE'S out....without bringing in a quality replacement, i'd have done it a long time ago, Pepe would not have played at all last season if i had my way, i could go all the way back to Roy Hodgson as well where he first started displaying this negative side to his game, the first home game against Arsenal where we were heading for a win.....and he let one roll into the net....

    It's been pretty much downhill from there really, and tbh Reina is very much a culprit in my eyes along witha few others...

    Anyway, suffice to say im happy that we are finally acknowledging his "error" prone ways and complacent attitude, he has been under performing and if i was FSG i certainly wouldn't allow it to continue....

    Hope to God we bring someone else in, we really need to shake things up at the club IF we want to achieve any consistency and winning momentum.....

    Cracking article JK, could be a VERY interesting couple of days in this transfer window...

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  36. he couldn t hold apair of gloves

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  37. just been readin the echo gary neville about his worst nightmare against york city 0 3 in 1995 was at the game as a guest of the linesman .a good  kopite!! was brilliant when he awarded a penalty for york!! happy days great memories

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  38. he was (sigh) we could do with him now

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  39. have a look at last seasons games if I am kind Reina directly cost 16 points with silly errors (unkind 20 points) so we can slate carroll and co but without those mistakes we could have finished 5 1 point off CL Nicol is right

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  40. ive heard some crap before that blaming Reina for sunday is a joke, if you listen to video he clearly called for ball and Skrtel ignored, dont make him a scapgoat for Skrtels mistakes. he is loyal and the best we have had for a long time, look at skrtel not reina

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  41. to be fair to Reina - i wouldnt blame him for any of the goals this season. However the reason he is getting stick is his body language isnt inspring confidence at all and I dont know why that is. There are better goalkeepers out there for example Vorm, Robinson and Ali Al habsi.  In the current scheme of things and the buying british policy Robinson might be a good buy.

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  42. Think he has certainly cost us some valuable point's over the last 12-18 month's,not sure he is the keeper he once was. I am sure that BR will have noticed this as well as he has with other member's of the squad, too many under- performer's on exhorbitant salarie's,but I will say it look's as though BR has the where with all to get rid of the over-paid average player's, I would like to see him raid Swansea again for Vorm.

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  43. Yes Nicol was a fine player,(took size 12 1/2 boots) I think. 
    He is a legend,

    Definition of legend:
    "a nonhistorical or unverifiable story handed down by tradition from earlier times and popularly accepted as historical". 

    I think that about sums up his punditry.

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  44. People constantly say that Petr Cech is one of the best keepers in the world too, but since his head injury at least, he has been pretty mediocre, not even in the top 5 keepers in the EPL let alone the top 5 in the world, yet people constantly say he is up there with the best

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  45. He wouldn't be out of a job actually as he is the manager of New York Red Bulls

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  46. How about supporting players that are at the club, that's what us Liverpool fans do, we are the 12th man of the team, but a lot of people on this site, like yourself have seem to have forgotten the Liverpool way

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  47. I do think he was a big part to blame in that goal, he came out and would have gotten it if not for Skrtel going for it and getting a piece of it and taking it off course and then Kelly should have done better with his positioning, if he had been facing more toward the byline, he could have knocked it out for a corner, instead he was square and he knocked it straight into the path of Toure. And what a lot of people seem to forget that it was Gerrard who lost the ball in the first place, had he not have played a sloppy pass on the edge of the 18 yard box, then we wouldn't have been in that position to begin with

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  48. Has Nicol ever criticised Gerrard's poor run of form? I honestly don't think so and was it not Gerrard's wayward pass that led to the sending off of Agger against WBA and this goal in question as well? But no one is coming out to say sell Gerrard. Maybe what we should do is get behind each and every one of our players and maybe if they could see that they have the fans' backing, they will have that confidence to go out and perform 

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  49. Seriously, if you are going to post, especially disagreeing with someone else's post, make sure you can actually spell.

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  50. Are you serious? Reina has always been known for two excellent qualities, his distribution and his shot stopping, and shot stopping means cat like reflexes

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  51. How do you know he didn't shout? Skrtel is known for his lack of concentration at times. You are making assumptions when you don't know the facts. When you assume, you make an "ass" out of "u" and "me".

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  52. So overrated that he won the golden gloves the 3 of the first 4 years the award was in existence? Yeah sure.

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  53. You would have sold a world class keeper and bought a crap keeper like Robinson? Yeah good one

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  54. The problem with Reina is that when Benitez was in charge, in the cup games, he gave him a rest, so when he game back, he looked sharp. With Hodgson and Kenny, they played him in all the games including the cup games and so he wasn't refreshed and looked jaded. No player, not even a keeper can play 100% of the games. Doni is a pretty good keeper with a fair bit of pedigree, he is a Brazilian international, that has to say something, give the cup games to him

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  55. But yet he holds 3 golden glove awards.

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  56. Ok, so while we are at it, sell Reina, and also sell Gerrard who has been in poor form for around the same period of time. But no, no one wants to sell Gerrard, but they make Reina a scapegoat. Gerrard was the one that lost possession at the edge of the 18 yard box that led to the Toure goal, so the goal was in fact his fault, yet everyone is blaming Reina.

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  57. I will go one further, Gerrard was the one that gave the ball away and set up the goal, so blame Gerrard for the goal

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  58. Robinson was good when he was at Leeds and then Tottenham, he is crap now though, why do you think he isn't in the English squad? Hell, Robert Green even got ahead of him

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  59. I haven't seen him get beat near post this season so it's not constant. R would of caught the ball for city's first goal if Skrtel didn't head it away from him. You know the same player that gave city the second goal to?

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  60. totally agree with nicol Reina hasnt really made good of our confidence in him like before we have a very good defence nad when there rarely beaten then u know its got to get in...wanted LLoris to join Lfc maybe it would have been awake up cvall for Rina we all know how good he can be but we also know how awful he can be ..we want our trust back JOSE 

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  61. Some absolute clowns on here. Jamie K pretty much sums it all up with his comments which i agree with. Selling him as some suggest is not even laughable its that ridiculous! There is now a bigger issue of how Reina can regain his confidence though with the back four becoming an increasing liability in the full back areas this season and on the ball. It will come good eventually though.

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  62. horrorfilmshirts.com11:58 am, August 30, 2012

    The trouble is that the perception of Steve Nicol is that he is always criticising players because that is what you publish. I don't recall many articles that start "Nicol full of praise for Liverpool star." There may be one or two but it is 95% criticism from Nicol which is fine if it is balanced

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  63. What do you mean 'defence infront improves'?Skrtel and Daggerman were the best pair CBs in England and Reina wasted their record with silly mistakes.
    Your the knob, probably have one the same size as well.

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  64. What we need here is evidence.  It's no good saying Reina is poor at this and that without evidence.  Evidence over judgement every time.  There is only so much a keeper can do if his defence and midfield leave him exposed.  Keepers will also not stop everything.  It's easy to use hindsight to criticize, but this is not always warranted.  

    Also remember that Hodgson brought in a totally unsuitable goalkeeping coach in Mike Kelly, who instructed Reina to be 'more English' (i.e. hoof it upfield every time).  Could this have had an impact on him?  And the new GK coach when Kenny took over....... and is there a new one now BR has come in?

    The guy is quality keeper, and I actually thought he looked sharper this season.  Neither of the goals against City were his fault.

    Also, surely you need to look at more games to say his form from last season has continued.

    So, look at the evidence - do we have footage of all these can't do things.  And do we have mitigation?  Are there reasons for this real or perceived lapse in form.

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  65. i think thats what nicol wants to.What he's saying is he's in bad form and if there was another top keeper about at lfc it might make him snap out of it and pick it up.Not saying that it would work but it's a game of opinions and that's what make football great and us all post on here

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  66. Reina has been a liability for the last two seasons. The majority of the goals conceded last season were because of errors from him, Johnson or Carragher.
    From tomorrow, he'll be whining AGAIN about how he had the opportunity to leave, but the truth is, no-one has been interested in signing him since 2009.
    By the way, the first one against City was his fault, and the one last night with Hearts... 'nuff said.
    What he did three or more years ago is irrelevant. It's what he does now that matters.

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  67. Jaimie has given another insightful analysis again. Pepe Reina should be sold if his poor form continues. If you look carefully at his games, Reina makes half hearted dives. His body curls as if his mind says "don't bother, you can't block that one". Compare him to Joe Hart or de Gea, and you know Pepe is the odd one out. His costly errors are getting more frequent. This is because everyone says he is a top class keeper - the press, pundits etc. This causes the complacency that won't go away. Look at the Hearts debacle - top class keepers don't do that...

    Tan (mrf236@yahoo.com)

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  68. 0-2, second goal against Arsenal - Reina at fault again! Poor body positioning again!

    This goalkeeper needs to be SOLD quickly. Let him stay on, and Liverpool may end up in the bottom half of the table. No kiddin'

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