Pepe Reina

[5europeancups]

Gotta keep Pepe, despite his waning form.

I think the Liverpool management need to do something pretty special this summer to convince Pepe that he doesnt have better options elsewhere. Liverpool are now in a race with 6 teams for four positions and each year you are outside the top four, the more difficult it becomes to attract players to get back in to the top four.

regarding his quality, his distribution is the best in the world, he is incredibly reliable and although his usual standards have slipped a little bit this year, but he is still world class, and these world class players are as rare as hens teeth.

we have two. until we get at least another two we will continue to flounder...

[Suarez]

Very poor yesterday, just what has happened to him.?

[kingfunk]

Can't under stand why he gets beaten at his near post time and time again. Surly the first think the opposition coaches are saying "shoot at his near post" in their game plan.
Anyway, have a sneaky feeling he will do a Torres in the summer.

[Bender]

think he has lost his passion/mojo..... since rafa and the other spanish boys left

[Paul12]

Can't under stand why he gets beaten at his near post time and time again. Surly the first think the opposition coaches are saying "shoot at his near post" in their game plan.
Anyway, have a sneaky feeling he will do a Torres in the summer.

I always thought Reina had an element of 'going' early about his shot stopping, so to my way of thinking he has in effect been found out.

[Chris]

Just a bad season, I know loads will come in and blame the goalie coach but he's making some pretty basic mistakes.

He's got enough past credit for us to stick with him but if it carries on he wont have to worry about leaving, he'll be booted out.

[RichC]

terrible for the first goal, beaten at the near post for yet another time this season is ****ing poor.

Needs to get his head together in the Summer and come back the keeper we all know he is.

[Muddled]

An old article from the back end of 2011, but one that could be of interest to look at how we might rejuvenate Reina:

Good ball retention starts from the goalkeeper

This week, there have been three obvious examples of sides conceding cheap goals by conceding possession on the edge of their own penalty box.

First, Angel Rangel gave the ball away for Javier Hernandez’s winner in Swansea’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United. Then, John Obi Mikel was dispossessed by Charlie Adam for Liverpool’s opener in their 2-1 win at Chelsea. Finally, Benfica scored their second in the 2-2 Champions League draw at Old Trafford when David De Gea misplaced a pass.

“It was a bad kick out from David de Gea,” said Ferguson of the last incident. “Obviously David should have played the ball into the terracing, but he is confident on the ball and always expresses himself always in that way, so I am not blaming him.” Swansea manager Brendan Rodgers was similarly forgiving of Rangel. “I tell them to play this way,” he said. “So if anyone is to blame, it’s me.”

The three incidents were all different – in two of the cases it was an outfield player rather than the goalkeeper making the final pass – but they originated from the side trying to pass the ball out from the back. In these situations it’s easy to say that a player should have simply booted the ball downfield to get rid of the danger, but that saves a side from looking foolish, rather than necessarily saving them from conceding goals

Playing your way out of trouble

In the Rangel example, Swansea may concede two or three goals a season from giving it away at the back, and these examples will be compiled and highlighted as an example of stupidity and negligence. But Swansea will save more goals than they lose through this strategy – by clearing the ball aimlessly downfield you won’t concede immediately, but you’re giving the ball away and probably handing the opposition another chance to build an attack. If they score from one of those, no-one will blame the initial clearance downfield.

But what’s better in the long-term – to concede possession in a dangerous position less than once a game, or concede possession on the halfway line 25 times a game and invite 25 separate attacks from the opposition? Doing the former will invite more criticism, doing the latter will probably concede more goals. It’s a difficult thing to measure statistically, but since only one side in the Premier League (Manchester United) have more clean sheets than Swansea, it’s tough to argue that their approach at the back is fundamentally flawed.

Of course, there are times when keeping the ball isn’t an option and a clearance is the safest bet. But when Rangel misplaced his pass last weekend, he wasn’t under that much pressure. If every Swansea defender cleared the ball when they were closed down that much, they’d never be able to build their passing moves, they’d be hoofing it non-stop and continually under pressure.

Tiki-taka

The best way to defend is proactively, to defend without even defending. In other words, keeping possession of the ball. Spain are masters at this – for all their technical quality, at last year’s World Cup they were far better defensively than offensively. They scored a pitiful 1.17 goals per game, but conceded a superb 0.28 per game. They kept a clean sheet in each of the knockout matches.

Tiki-taka was “such a devastating tactic because it’s both defensive and offensive in equal measure,” said Raphael Honigstein.” And as Sid Lowe put it, “For Spain, defending starts with the ball. Put simply: If you don’t have possession, you cannot attack Spain. If they control the game, you cannot cause them problems. When you do get the ball back, there is an anxiety to do something with it immediately that it damages creativity…safety first is seen as hoofing the ball miles away. But it is safer to keep hold of it.”

Keeping possession has become the way to play football. Long ball football is extremely unpopular and broadly unsuccessful, and even counter-attacking is less obvious than before the tiki-taka obsession started with Spain’s Euro 2008 win. Almost every side wants to have possession of the ball for the majority of the game, and a key way to impose this on a side is by getting the goalkeeper to play short. Barcelona’s Victor Valdes is a master of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=SboOtGN-Kvc

Swansea actually bought Michel Vorm to play in goal because he is so comfortable with the ball at his feet. ”For us it was then the case of looking to get in the right type of goalkeeper,” said Rodgers. “We needed one that was going to suit our style and Michel was one that was on our list. After looking at his style and his game I think his attributes suit us perfectly. He makes saves, which is important for a keeper. But for how we play, we like to build the game from behind, it is vital that the goalkeeper is comfortable with his feet…he is a player that not only does that but he controls the game well from behind and will help us construct the game from the back. He is very quick and very agile so he is similar to Victor Valdes at Barcelona.”

Swansea’s commitment to build from the back is amazing:

[IMG]A Guardian chalkboard that I can't embed ... see websiteIMG]

Keep possession by starting from the back

Vorm has the fourth-highest pass completion rate of any goalkeeper in the league – and Swansea have the fourth-highest average percentage in the league. Coincidence? Probably not. Here’s a graph showing the correlation between a goalkeeper’s pass completion ratio, and a team’s average possession, from the Premier League games so far this season. (Stats throughout this piece from WhoScored.com)



There’s quite a clear pattern there. Chelsea have the highest average percentage, and the best pass completion ratio. Looking at the graph more broadly, all of the sides who average more than 50% of possession (to the right of the vertical line) have a goalkeeper with a 50% or greater pass completion ratio.

The problem comes to the left of the line, when there’s less of a clear pattern. This rather shows the limitations of a pass completion rate, because the dot top-left is Stoke. They have a high pass completion rate because Peter Crouch wins all the long balls, not because they pass the ball carefully from the back. (Incidentally, the bottom-left dot is Blackburn, who don’t have a Crouch figure but still have a goalkeeper in Paul Robinson who hits the ball long. He has the worst pass completion rate of any player in Europe’s major five leagues.)

Therefore, a more accurate measure of passing is the proportion of a goalkeeper’s distribution that is short to a teammate rather than hoofed downfield, a figure recorded by Opta, expressed here in percentage terms.



That brings Stoke more in line with the rest of the sides, and the correlation higher up the line are interesting too.

The two anomalies here, incidentally, are Everton (more than 40% of goalkeeper distribution short, but a low possession count) and QPR (the highest percentage of long balls from their goalkeeper, but nearly 50% possession).

None of this proves anything, or suggests much you wouldn’t expect, and we have to be careful in cause-effect terms. But if keeping the ball equals good defending, and if playing the first pass short to a teammate is linked to high possession, then goalkeepers and defences shouldn’t be too worried by the odd calamitous concession of a goal – in the long-term, they’ll benefit from their bravery.

Link: Zonal Marking

[Bender]

Pepe Reina has welcomed Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool FC, telling his new manager he is ready to remedy the Reds' poor results in recent seasons.


Spain and Liverpool FC goalkeeper Pepe Reina, currently with his international teammates ahead of Euro 2012, has voiced his appreciation for Brendan Rodgers' football philosophy.

Now Reina is hoping to build on last season's Carling Cup triumph with further honours under the former Swansea man.

"His team has played well this year with an ethos that I share and Liverpool is also known to play the passing game but it is easier said than done," Reina said.


"Rodgers is welcomed and I am at his disposal. We have won a trophy this year but it is clear that in recent seasons we should have done better."

[ronanm]

Pepe Reina has welcomed Brendan Rodgers to Liverpool FC, telling his new manager he is ready to remedy the Reds' poor results in recent seasons.


Spain and Liverpool FC goalkeeper Pepe Reina, currently with his international teammates ahead of Euro 2012, has voiced his appreciation for Brendan Rodgers' football philosophy.

Now Reina is hoping to build on last season's Carling Cup triumph with further honours under the former Swansea man.

"His team has played well this year with an ethos that I share and Liverpool is also known to play the passing game but it is easier said than done," Reina said.


"Rodgers is welcomed and I am at his disposal. We have won a trophy this year but it is clear that in recent seasons we should have done better."

He didn't have a great season but good to see he's sticking around. One of our world class players on his day, and we don't have many players who attain that level any day.

[Exiled_red]

I think the system of play we expect from Rodgers' team will suit Pepe and hopefully we can see him show his best form again.

[BobTheCharmer]

I think the system of play we expect from Rodgers' team will suit Pepe and hopefully we can see him show his best form again.

will the system means he starts saving shots again or just excel in the kick

[AnfieldForever]

will the system means he starts saving shots again or just excel in the kick

[Exiled_red]

will the system means he starts saving shots again or just excel in the kick

I don't think Pepe has ever been a great shot stopper (yes he has pulled off some good saves) but I think his game is more based on clearing danger early coming out of the goal and being the 'sweeper keeper' rather than staying on his line and dealing with the shot on goal. In the last few years we've seen the side play with a deeper and deeper backline meaning there has been no time to come out and clear the danger early like he used to do under Rafa. I think Rodgers' system will suit him as we will play a more pressing game with a higher defensive line offering Pepe the opportunity to deal with balls in behind before the strikers get the ball under control and have a one on one chance against him

[RedReet]

I don't think Pepe has ever been a great shot stopper (yes he has pulled off some good saves) but I think his game is more based on clearing danger early coming out of the goal and being the 'sweeper keeper' rather than staying on his line and dealing with the shot on goal. In the last few years we've seen the side play with a deeper and deeper backline meaning there has been no time to come out and clear the danger early like he used to do under Rafa. I think Rodgers' system will suit him as we will play a more pressing game with a higher defensive line offering Pepe the opportunity to deal with balls in behind before the strikers get the ball under control and have a one on one chance against him

I've heard plenty of people questioning over the years if Pepe was that good because they couldn't remember 'that many great saves'. He never had to make them though and that was his greatest strength as a keeper.

I still thought he was a good shot stopper too but the past couple of seasons have been slightly worrying. I've no concerns about him at all though and look forward to him having a great season next year.