Pepe Reina

[Chris]

Read a good point elsewhere - perhaps he's in the comfort zone? He knows no matter how **** he performs he'll be in the team every week.

Thats been the case for years though. He's just in a little dodgy patch.

[Shaggy]

He's a great keeper but I think if you looked at the stats it would suggest otherwise.

We probably have one of the worst ratios in goals conceded/shots on goal.

Yep, one or two shots on target and we concede. Obviously it's partly down to the quality of chance we give away and leaving Reina exposed, like giving Holt practically a free header 8 yards out. But yeah, it's **** - we need 20 chances to score one and opposition sides need about two chances.

[Neil Young]

Good save towards the end...

[Alex]

Good save towards the end...

You mean the one that was stuck right at him and he didnt need to move?

[Chris]

Good save towards the end...

His positioning on that one was brilliant, a lot would have just flung themselves at the near post and got wrong footed.

[redemlyn]

I just don't buy into this OCD bull****. Where's it come from? I never heard it mentioned until a few years ago. It seems like a fad to me, just like every other person is dylexsic these days. Anyway on a serious note it does sound like a pain in the backside, having to check things all the time. I think I'd jump from a bridge personally.

OCD is a hugely significant Mental Health Condition, here's some information I put together for employers that I work with. OCD is probably more common these days due to improvements in disgnosis. OCD (and most other Mental Health conditions) are a ****ing nightmare and isn't taken seriously by most people in our society. Maybe you could try reading about OCD and trying to empathise with sufferers instead of making judgemental statements/jokes.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious anxiety-related condition that affects as many as three in a hundred people – from young children to older adults - regardless of gender and social or cultural background. Sufferers often go undiagnosed for many years, partially because of a lack of understanding of the condition, and partially because of the intense feelings of embarrassment, guilt and sometimes even shame associated with what is often called the ‘secret illness’.

To some degree OCD-type symptoms are probably experienced at one time or another by most people, especially in times of stress. However, the illness can have a totally devastating effect on work, social life and personal relationships. The World Health Organisation (WHO) ranks OCD as the tenth most disabling illness of any kind, in terms of lost earnings and diminished quality of life.

OCD can take many forms, but, in general, sufferers experience repetitive, intrusive and unwelcome thoughts, images, impulses and doubts which they find hard to ignore. These thoughts form the obsessional part of ‘Obsessive-Compulsive’ and they usually (but not always) cause the person to perform repetitive compulsions in a vain attempt to relieve themselves of the obsessions and neutralise the fear. Some sufferers will have the obsessions but no pysical outward compulsions – a form of OCD often called ‘Pure O’.
Common obsessions include contamination and germs, causing harm to oneself or to others, upsetting sexual, violent or blasphemous thoughts, the ordering or arrangement of objects and worries about throwing things away.
Sufferers try to fight these thoughts with mental or physical rituals, the compulsions, which involve repeatedly performing actions such as washing, cleaning, checking, counting, hoarding or partaking in endless rumination. Avoidance of feared situations is also common; however, this often results in further worrying and preoccupation with the obsessional thoughts.
Most sufferers know that their thoughts and behaviour are irrational and senseless, but feel incapable of stopping them. This has a significant impact on their confidence and self-esteem and as a result, their careers, relationships and lifestyles.

To sufferers and non-sufferers alike, thoughts and fears related to OCD can seem profoundly shocking. It must be stressed, however, that they are just thoughts – not fantasies or impulses which will be acted upon.
It would be fair to say that most individuals, at some stage in their lives, have come into contact with the phenomenon of obsessional or intrusive thinking and/or succumbed to the seemingly nonsensical need to perform an odd, and often unrelated, behaviour pattern in order to avert a real or imagined danger (e.g. touching a certain item of furniture before going to bed in order to ‘ward off’ a nightmare, or checking several times that the door and windows are locked before leaving the house when going on holiday). However, the key difference which segregates these little ‘quirks’ from the disorder is when the distressing and unwanted experience of obsessions and/or compulsions impacts, to a significant level, upon a person’s everyday functioning – this represents a principal component in the clinical diagnosis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

The incidence of OCD can be traced historically, cross-culturally and across a broad social spectrum and does not appear to restrict itself to any specific group of individuals. On the contrary, increased availability of information shows numerous examples of OCD, and its occurrence in the lives of various well-known figures. For example, the eminent evolutionist Charles Darwin suffered from it, as did the nineteenth century pioneer of nursing and reformer of hospital sanitation methods, Florence Nightingale. More currently, Academy Award-winning writer, actor and director Billy Bob Thornton, actress Jessica Alba and football stars Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham have candidly discussed their battle with the disorder. Perhaps most famous of all was the twentieth century billionaire aviator and entrepreneur Howard Hughes (“The Aviator”) who, in spite of his immeasurable financial wealth, spent his final days both mentally and physically incarcerated by his own contamination terrors and elaborate cleaning rituals.
OCD affects males as frequently as it does females, and on average begins to affect people in late adolescence for men and early twenties for women. However, it may take individuals 10-15 years or even longer to seek professional help.

Compulsions or compulsive acts can be defined as repetitious, purposeful actions in which the individual feels compelled to engage according to their own rules or in a stereotyped manner. Typically, the individual experiences a sense of resistance to the act but this is overridden by the strong, subjective drive to perform the action. Most often the principal aim behind the compulsive act is to generate temporary relief from the anxiety caused by a preceding ‘obsession’.

Compulsions can be overt or covert.

Overt compulsions typically include checking, washing, hoarding or a symmetry of certain motor actions.

Covert compulsions, or ‘cognitive compulsions’, as they are sometimes referred to, are mental actions performed, as opposed to physical actions. Examples include mental counting, compulsive visualisation and substitution of distressing mental images or ideas with neutralising alternatives. Practical examples would be a sufferer who feels compelled to silently repeat a string of words over and over on experiencing a negative or violent thought or the need of a sufferer to transpose negative words or images which may intrude into consciousness with positive ones e.g. feeling compelled to mentally substitute the word ‘hell’ that pops up, either as a thought or as a mental visual image, with the word ‘well’.

Another obsession considered to be part of the ‘OCD spectrum’ is the inability to discard useless or worn out possessions, commonly referred to as ‘hoarding’. More recent research suggests that hoarding may be different to other forms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, and that standard OCD treatments may not necessarily address.

[Shaggy]

That was a great save no doubt, but there's no escaping he was at fault for the goal (although it can be traced back to Adam surrendering possession meekly and laying on the floor while they counter-attacked). For me this is his worst period with us and he's making more mistakes than ever. Which is still not many, but by his standards it's not great.

[Chris]

Agreed, he was **** on the goal, think any suggestion he's not trying as hard as he has before though is massively harsh and unfair.

Dont think its a coincidence he's struggling a bit when we have our worst centre back pairing in a while. The relationship between keeper and centre backs is mega important and he has no faith in them at the moment.

[Alex]

We have had the same centre back pairing for the last 3 years or so on and off. They are part of the problem, not all of it though. I agree he has no faith in them. He seems to always want to play short to them but they seem reluctent.

[Shaggy]

We have had the same centre back pairing for the last 3 years or so on and off. They are part of the problem, not all of it though. I agree he has no faith in them. He seems to always want to play short to them but they seem reluctent.

Bar a huge upgrade at left back, our back four entirely the same personnel as under Rafa, when we were the clean sheet masters. Obviously Carra has deteriorated since then though.

[Daniel 7]

Interesting on the ocd. Could you not have stuck that as its own thread in the library though? It will get lost in this thread

[Chris]

Bar a huge upgrade at left back, our back four entirely the same personnel as under Rafa, when we were the clean sheet masters. Obviously Carra has deteriorated since then though.

Carra going from pretty much world class to shot is an absolutely enormous difference. Johnson isnt as good defensively as Arbeloa either.

It's always a lot better when Agger is in there though, kept plenty of clean sheets with him in the team last season. Playing more open isnt helping them either I guess, they were always protected under Rafa.

[Kenneth]

Oh yeah it is frustrating - especially games like Arsenal away last year. All keepers make the odd mistake though buddy. But when a striker misses a sitter it's forgotten about.

Just think back to the days of James, Friedel, Arphexad, Westerveld and Dudek - then be grateful that we have Pepe!

Unless it's Andy Carroll

[Lee]

Unless it's Andy Carroll

I'm shocked that it's taken so long for one of our smart arses to chirp up.

[Craig_H]

I think Pepe might be a bit pissed....

Hi friends! Yesterday we go on to quarter-finals of Carling Cup!!! It was difficult to us to win Stoke City, but we follow forward ant that is the important thing... Stoke's stadium had been difficult for us in last years and we could have finished also with this bad squall... This Saturday we play against West Bromwich. Another hard test, but this Liverpool is going to go for all!!! A hug, geniuses!!