Reina

[BobTheCharmer]

Worried me before he even arrived at Anfield.

Can't remember all that many match winning saves last year. He wasn't bad just not as immense as some would have you belief. The defence last year was superb, one of the main reasons for our run of cleans sheets.

With the form he showed towards the back end of the season and is presently, he's dispelling the urban myth that was Joe Corrigan. He obviously couldn't have been the sole reason our keepers turned to sh*t.

I remain to be convinced by the man the fans/media like to call Pepe.

Time will tell.

[fowlen]

Many keepers go through bad phases.
Lehman and Seaman are top keepers, but both had some pretty dodogy performances.
Almunia was played ahead of Lehman a couple years back, but has regained his confidence and is a class keeper.

Reina will get it back

[KK07]

I think he had an excellent season last time,although I do agree with your point that he had a better defence to help out.

Or at least they were playing better.
There does seem to be a lack of confidence in Reina from the back four this season but I'm sure that stems form the errors he has made.

All keepers make mistakes and he is still only 22/23?
thats is well offf the peak age for a keeper and I've seen enough of him to believe he'll be our number one for quite a while.

My one worry about him is that he seems to like to get involved alot more then he should.
I mean if he's been not had much to do he tends to like to come for crosses when perhaps he should leave them for the defence to deal with. (Ala David James)

When compared to say Van der saar who only gets involved when he needs to,but I expect this is down to experience and youthful exuberence!

[NICKZS]

Reina hasn't had the best tail end/start to the season, but he was immense through that run of clean sheets last year. Often he wasn't required to pull out so-called "match winning saves" because he was clearing the line so effectively as soon as the ball came through the defence that the forwards weren't even able to get a shot in.

I am sure his confidence will return and when it does I am certain we will have one of the best keepers in the PL, once again

[G_Man]

Worried me before he even arrived at Anfield.

Can't remember all that many match winning saves last year.

Well there was the penalty shoot out in the FA cup final and there was that finger tip onto the post in extra time of the cup final. Selective amnesia me thinks.

[Los Rojos]

Some good posts about Reina.

He's not playing well at the moment as we all know and was poor again last night. His effort to stop their second goal was pretty disappointing.

You have to wonder if Rafa might start thinking about giving Jerzy a run in the team. Dudek has been very patient and as with every other position on the pitch, the man in possession of the shirt needs to continue to show that he's worthy of it. Reina isn't doing this at the moment.

I've no doubt he'll come good but perhaps it's time for a 'rest'.

[JRC]

Clemence suffered from the same thing - because he worked with and organized the defence so well, and covered so effectively in a sweeper/goalie role, he was called on less to make 'match winning saves' (although he usually did when called upon), whereas Shilton made a lot of fuss, shouted and barked at his defenders, and made at least one save for the cameras every game, and as such was more highly rated by the kind of people who are impressed by that kind of thing.

Bottom line for Keepers is whether they let goals in, and Reina has had 2 years of excellent Clean Sheet performances, behind different defences. Yes he's had a dodgy spell, but when we don't let goals in, he's entitled to his fair share of the credit.

[Maestro]

Clemence suffered from the same thing - because he worked with and organized the defence so well, and covered so effectively in a sweeper/goalie role, he was called on less to make 'match winning saves' (although he usually did when called upon), whereas Shilton made a lot of fuss, shouted and barked at his defenders, and made at least one save for the cameras every game, and as such was more highly rated by the kind of people who are impressed by that kind of thing.

Bottom line for Keepers is whether they let goals in, and Reina has had 2 years of excellent Clean Sheet performances, behind different defences. Yes he's had a dodgy spell, but when we don't let goals in, he's entitled to his fair share of the credit.

Good post.
Rafa needs to stick by Reina, IMO - a goalkeeper needs to have the confidence of his manager.
I back Reina to come good sooner rather than later.
I cannot take any claims that he was anything other than immense for us last season seriously.

[BobTheCharmer]

Well there was the penalty shoot out in the FA cup final and there was that finger tip onto the post in extra time of the cup final. Selective amnesia me thinks.

I knew somebody would pick up on that game.

Take the Johnson goal against Everton, those are the sort I'd like to see him saving, the first one I'm referring to. He doesn't pull off the saves that old red nose did at the scum. Last nights weren't his fault, but at the same time an inspired keeper can sometimes pull off a save you wouldn't expect. I like him as a sweeper, reminds me of Brucie. I just don't think overall he's all that good a keeper. He flaps, always has and always will. Its in his genes.

[G]

He's defo lacking confidence and that has lead in part to our shaky defensive confidence this year.Agger and Carra are still getting used to each other too and Reina not being himself hasn't helped.You can see the defence dosen't know what he's going to do next and when he tries to take command he messes up.Even Finnan had to have a word last night on one occasion.I'm not his biggest fan but I do think when confidence has been restored he's a good keeper,just not world class.that said who knows if he'll ever get his confidence back.Dudek was brilliant in his first season too but it's been downhill since

[Morph]

I just don't think overall he's all that good a keeper. He flaps, always has and always will. Its in his genes.

C'mon that's crap and you know it. Overall he is a good keeper and will get better, how many keepers his age are plying their trade with the top teams in europe, not many. It's a learning curve, and it's a position that you can improve in with age, and with training. So to say he flaps and always will is a bit silly.

[Redspin]

Worried me before he even arrived at Anfield.

Can't remember all that many match winning saves last year. He wasn't bad just not as immense as some would have you belief. The defence last year was superb, one of the main reasons for our run of cleans sheets.

With the form he showed towards the back end of the season and is presently, he's dispelling the urban myth that was Joe Corrigan. He obviously couldn't have been the sole reason our keepers turned to sh*t.

I remain to be convinced by the man the fans/media like to call Pepe.

Time will tell.

Well his 29 clean sheets last season are good enough for me

[Rich]

His confidence is lacking and this is affecting his communication with his back line.

However, he is still a class act, and once over the blip should be fine.

I didn't think he did many things wrong last night - just our defence was creaking, Agger didn't have his best game, and our left side was awfully exposed by (let's face it) a decent player in Sabri.

[Redspin]

I knew somebody would pick up on that game.

Take the Johnson goal against Everton, those are the sort I'd like to see him saving, the first one I'm referring to. He doesn't pull off the saves that old red nose did at the scum. Last nights weren't his fault, but at the same time an inspired keeper can sometimes pull off a save you wouldn't expect. I like him as a sweeper, reminds me of Brucie. I just don't think overall he's all that good a keeper. He flaps, always has and always will. Its in his genes.

I didn't expect him to pull off the finger-tip save in the Cup Final

[Neil Young]

He's a good keeper, an improvement on our recent keepers, but he is going through a bit of a dip in form at the moment. Whether this affects his confidence or is caused by it I don't know.

If I'm honest I don't think he will ever be a world beater. Buffon was a better keeper at 19 and Cech is only a little older and looks harder to beat than Reina.

I don't buy the argument that keepers improve everything with age. We used to say the same about David James but his decision-making is still woeful.

Back to Reina - I found the 10-game trial comment by Rafa a little perplexing to be honest. Why did he say it?