Pepe Reina

He is having a bad season.

You can argue that he has made us lose 9 points straight and some random mistakes against teams where we are already losing.

I was so pissed at his attempt to block the Caldwell shot. Carroll made a better attempt than him. Reina was standing when Gary took his shot

I wont mind if you call this a knee jerk, But his name should be mentioned in the inconsistent performers this season as well.

Well, I think he's been okay. Conceding goals hasn't been our problem this season - the last couple of games excluded - but scoring them.

He's saved the team points as well along the line. There are bigger concerns in the side than Reina at the moment.

yeah I wouldn't say Reina should be a concern. If the team picks up form, Reina will look better because collective defending is very important in goalkeeper's performances. We don't have to worry about goalkeeping position for another 4-5 years.

There have been a few times he's let in a few soft goals, but I'm not concerned about him. On several occasions, he's looked surprised our defense allowed the opposition through, and was subsequently caught off-guard. If anything, I'd say his form tends to swing with that of the defense, unsurprisingly. When the defense is good, he knows what to expect and cleans up the messes accordingly. When they are erratic, he is guessing and sometimes caught "with his pants down."

Pepe Reina says he was interested in moving to Barcelona - but adds he also wanted to extend his Liverpool contract if the Spanish giants did not make an offer.

"I told the manager that I wanted to play for Liverpool and that Barcelona would only become an option for me if the opportunity arrived, like the rumours said it would, as it would be a chance for me to go back home," he says.

"When it didn't come I was happy to fight for my place so I was surprised that Liverpool decided it was in the club´s interests to send me to Napoli instead."

However, Reina admits he is upset at the manner of his departure from Anfield - claiming Liverpool agreed to send him to Napoli without any consultation. "If I have one regret, it is the way that I am leaving," says the 30-year-old.

"It is only natural that I would be disappointed that the Liverpool management agreed to loan me to Napoli without telling me first, I thought that I deserved better than that even though I understand that difficult decisions have to be taken in football."

Got to say that it is poor by our management to let such a long-time and important servant to our club leave in this manner. A loan deal nevertheless, I mean, our guys must have been hunting left, right and center for possible buyers for Reina if they eventually decided to only loan him without apparently consulting with him. I don't like this at all, it feels like a slap in the face for both Pepe and those fans who felt he deserved better. I mean, we fans are quick to tell off players for having no loyalty, but it's our club that has acted very disloyally towards Pepe here.

Am I the only one that finds this as both parties in the wrong? We really shouldn't have forced him out on a loan, but he really shouldn't have given the club an ultimatum to get his way to Barcelona.

Reina and his dad kept flirting with Spanish clubs throughout his career with Liverpool, It only justified Liverpool didnt take the risk and got in the replacement now. LFC deserve more respect than that.

That said, Please read this

http://pepereina25.com/en/2013/07/29/carta-de-despedida-para-los-aficionados-del-liverpool-gracias-por-todo-os-vere-pronto/

Good bye Reina, Hope you win the CL with Napoli

Disloyal to Pepe.. lolwat? He was threatening to leave us last season and his form was affected because of that. Those who are truly loyal get the respect they deserve.

His form has been all over the place since 2010.

Was even worse last season.

This is bull, he has been a long term servant of the club but I wouldn't call him a loyalist or anything. Like those mentioned above he has been flirting with Spanish clubs ever since Benitez was here saying if Barca ever came calling it will be difficult to say no and things of that manner.

Sure I hoped he would leave in a better manner than he did but his half assed half interested performances in the past 3 seasons didn't really justify him complaining.

Having said that I still love Pepe, he's been an immense presence in our club and will go down as a legend. I hope he does well for the rest of his career unless he moves to Barca

Pepe Reina writes Liverpool fans a Goodbye Letter.

It is a strange feeling for me to think that next season I will not be a Liverpool player. For the past eight years, that is all I have known. The club, the staff, the city, the people and the supporters have played a massive part in my life. Liverpool is special in a way that only those who are lucky enough to experience the club close up can understand. It has given me memories that will live with me forever and friendships that will last just as long.

But more than anything else, it has given me an understanding of what it is like to play for the most wonderful English club. I may not have won as many trophies and medals as I would have liked since joining in 2005 but the experiences I have been a part of are as important as any silverware. I now understand how supporters can lift a team and inspire them to do special things. I appreciate that there is something unique about Anfield and the atmosphere it creates. I believe that anything is possible no matter what the situation is because at Liverpool there is no such thing as a lost cause. And I have been humbled by the fight for justice for the 96 which showed me that the Liverpool people will always fight for what they believe in.

I know that I have been blessed to be part of a Club like that and I hope that in return I have always given my best and represented Liverpool in the right way. There have been good times and bad times but no matter what the situation has been I hope that my passion has been clear. I have been asked what my favourite Liverpool moment was and if I had to pick one it wouldn’t be a save or winning a trophy. It would be my celebration against Manchester United when David Ngog scored a late goal. That is probably the quickest I have ever run in my life! It shows what playing for Liverpool meant to me and also that there was nothing better than winning a big game at Anfield. I used to look at the Kop when we scored those kind of goals in big games and I would be jealous of the supporters going crazy. If the closest I will get to that is running the length of the pitch and jumping on my team mates backs then that will do for me.

Obviously, I won’t be able to do that next season but I hope that the supporters and my team mates will be able to enjoy many more moments like that. They deserve the best of times and it would give me so much pleasure to see Liverpool back where they belong, challenging for trophies and getting back into the top four. That was where the club was when I first arrived and although I am leaving a different club, one with new owners, a new manager, new players and new challenges, I honestly believe that Liverpool can reach those levels again.

I am disappointed that I will not be part of that and although it was not my decision to leave I will accept it just like I have always accepted any decision that Liverpool have taken for me. They signed me, picked me, gave me some of the best experiences of my life and looked after me. If they feel that the best thing for me and for them is for me to go on loan to Napoli for a season then so be it. Napoli is a new challenge for me and I know that the fans are just as passionate about their team as the Liverpool fans, so I am really looking forward to playing for them this season and I will give my all.

But if I have one regret, it is the way that I am leaving. It is only natural that I would be disappointed that the Liverpool management agreed to loan me to Napoli without telling me first, I thought that I deserved better than that even though I understand that difficult decisions have to be taken in football. A lot has been made about me informing the club that if an offer came in from Barcelona that I would have liked them to consider it. But I had also spoken to the club about the possibility of extending my contract if the offer was not made. I told the manager that I wanted to play for Liverpool and that Barcelona would only become an option for me if the opportunity arrived, like the rumours said it would, as it would be a chance for me to go back home. When it didn’t come I was happy to fight for my place so I was surprised that Liverpool decided it was in the club´s interests to send me to Napoli instead.

None of this will change my feelings for the club or the people in any way and now I have to look forward to a new challenge with Rafa Benitez, who I consider to be the best manager I have worked with, and I am fortunate to be going from one great club to another. Napoli remind me in many ways of the Liverpool I found in 2005, in all the affection they have shown me on my arrival, in having an ambitious project, even in coinciding and working with Benitez again…This memory which in part unites me with you, makes me happy and feel very motivated to begin this new project.

This is my chance to say thank you to everyone for everything that you have given to me and to my family. My children consider Liverpool to be their home and hopefully their love for the city and also for the club will only grow while we are away. I would have liked to have been able to say goodbye in a different way but because of the way the move came about this was not possible.

Maybe in the near future I can do it properly so that I can show my appreciation to you but all I would ask now is that you keep on inspiring the manager and the players just like you always have done and help Liverpool to become the club that you deserve once again. I would like nothing better than to come back at the end of my year away and for Liverpool to be back where they belong.
Thank you for everything. Good luck. I will see you soon.
Pepe Reina.

Heartfelt letter. No can deny that he was a great guy, he is a proper legend. YNWA Pepe

Nishank wrote:Reina and his dad kept flirting with Spanish clubs throughout his career with Liverpool, It only justified Liverpool didnt take the risk and got in the replacement now. LFC deserve more respect than that.

ExtremistEnigma wrote:Disloyal to Pepe.. lolwat? He was threatening to leave us last season and his form was affected because of that. Those who are truly loyal get the respect they deserve.

McAgger wrote:This is bull, he has been a long term servant of the club but I wouldn't call him a loyalist or anything.

If Reina hasn't been loyal then no one has. Saying that he'd be interested in returning to the club where grew up and which has been miles ahead of us in recent years on the pitch isn't exactly disloyal or threatening to quit us cold.... Even Gerrard said in 2004 or 2005 when Chelsea came for him that "for the first time in my career I've thought about the possibility of moving on."

Reina has been immense for us. While I acknowledge that his form hasn't been always spectacular in recent seasons, he has been a fantastic servant who did deserve better. I don't know how Rodgers can ask Suarez to show loyalty when an 8-year LFC legend is cast aside like this.

The same person who created a thread to discuss selling Steven Gerrard for "£10-15m" and is in favour of the club selling Suarez is complaining about sending Reina on loan? Ironic.

He specifically told the club he would be interested in leaving if a bid from another club came in. The club could not afford to be left high and dry if said move developed, so moved accordingly. That the club then sought to move Reina's wages off the books and rely on the new signing (when the other move did not materialize) is perfectly logical and sensible, even if it's not the path I personally would have taken.

The club is not under an obligation to talk with a player before accepting a bid anymore than they're required to talk to a player before refusing a bid. Reina didn't have to accept the move. Much as I love Reina and am quite sad to see him go, I cannot help but feel his complaints are more than a little one-sided and lacking in self-awareness.


I love Reina, I really do; and I think we'll come to miss him on and off the pitch at times this coming season with his personality and leadership qualities. But what's happened this summer is his own doing, honestly.

I agree with Red in everything except for one part. "The club is not under an obligation to talk with a player" is true under the letter of the rules, but it does show a little lack of respect or thoughtfulness. I don't hate that Pepe was moved on, or that it was done without his full consent, but the club could've called him up just as a gesture. Either way, I don't think it's as big of a deal as everyone seems to think though.

I'm sure you feel the same regarding Suarez and the Arsenal bids too, yea?


Transfer fees and loan conditions are the domain of the club, personal terms fall to the player and his agent.

Not quite sure what you mean with that, considering one issue involves an accepted bid, while the other involves a rejected one. If we were to agree to sell Suarez to Arsenal, I would think that a phone call saying "Luis, we've accepted the bid and you'll hear from Arsenal soon" would be a reasonable courtesy. Is that what you're asking?

No, Reina's complaint is that the club accepted Napoli's bid THEN informed him, rather than consulting him prior to accepting the bid.

The direct comparison of that would be that the club REFUSED Arsenal's bid before informing Suarez, rather than talking to him about it first.


Get it?

RedOranje wrote:The same person who created a thread to discuss selling Steven Gerrard for "£10-15m" and is in favour of the club selling Suarez is complaining about sending Reina on loan?  Ironic.

I know I did. I've also created other experimental threads, such as "Jose Enrique as DM". Just because I create a thread doesn't mean that's absolutely what I want to pursue, just trying to raise some discussion that isn't the everyday "next game & injury updates" stuff. Not that it should matter what threads I've started when it comes to studying this particular Pepe Reina matter objectively.

RedOranje wrote: He specifically told the club he would be interested in leaving if a bid from another club came in.  The club could not afford to be left high and dry if said move developed, so moved accordingly.  

One specific other club in Barcelona (people here talking about flirting with Spanish clubs). And it's not like we couldn't have found a keeper in case Barcelona had bought Reina, for instance Begovic is still at Stoke, who apparently was linked with the likes of United and us during just the previous season (and whom, I think remember, at least Nishank prefered over Mignolet, for instance). And not like we had to fight off a host of other clubs to sign Mignolet, either. It wasn't exactly a threatening situation, imho.


Reina has been a world-class keeper at a club that hasn't quite competed at the expected level during his time here. Staying for eight years under such circumstances is loyalty, just like leaving the moment when you as a player are considered better than your current club can be called disloyalty. I maintain that what Reina has shown over the years at LFC is indeed loyalty and he did deserve better than being hastily pushed out like this.

RedOranje wrote:No, Reina's complaint is that the club accepted Napoli's bid THEN informed him, rather than consulting him prior to accepting the bid.

The direct comparison of that would be that the club REFUSED Arsenal's bid before informing Suarez, rather than talking to him about it first.  


Get it?

I guess we understand Pepe's comments differently, as I took them to mean that he wanted to be informed ahead of time as a courtesy, rather than be given a chance to argue it. Obviously I don't want them calling up Suarez every time a bid comes in to ask for his input on whether they should accept it. But if you want a direct analogy - yes, I do think that giving Luis the courtesy of a phone call saying "Hey, we got another bid from Arsenal, wanted you to hear about it from us first, and we're planning on rejecting it" would not bother me.

He wanted to leave, and told the club he WOULD leave if Barcelona came in. It was not the smartest decision to do as his form in recent years has been mediocre. He did sort of perform towards the end of the last season, but he was still very far from his best. So the club had no choice but to buy a new keeper. We obviously got Mignolet who is very very good and reminds me of a young Reina. He's definitely superior to him today.

Anyway, Rodgers has stated the club wasn't going to wait around for a bid, and Napoli came in with a loan. It was pretty stupid to accept it but there is no way we could afford him getting 110k a week on the bench.

The only thing you could actually get from this letter is the fact that Reina is DEFINITELY off next summer. He wouldn't be saying 'goodbye' and 'my time at Liverpool was great but it's time for a change' if that wasn't the case. Let's just hope we get a decent fee for him when he actually does go as I'm getting sick and tired of us being stupid when negotiating for players to leave.

I guess he's gone.