Pepe Reina: The one shining light in a season of Liverpool darkness

When Jose Manuel Reina first came to Liverpool after the Champions League triumph in 2005, there were a number of issues that were going through my mind. For starters, Jerzy Dudek had just performed heroics in a penalty shoot out that led to a fifth trophy in Europe’s premier competition for the Merseysiders, so why would you suddenly want to change goalkeepers? Another issue was the fact that Benitez had picked players from Spain before that had failed miserably in the Premier League, such as Josemi, Antonio Nunez and Fernando Morientes, was he another disaster signing in waiting? On his arrival at Anfield, Benitez dubbed Reina the “best goalkeeper in Spain,” a phrase I could hardly believe considering the standard the new signing had to live to, in the form of the quality of goalkeeping Iker Casillas has demonstrated during his time at Real Madrid.

Doubts over the quality of this Spanish keeper quickly evaporated however during his first season in first team action for the club. Within months of taking the goalkeeping jersey on December 15th 2005, he and his team-mates kept a club record 11th successive clean sheet against Deportivo Saprissa in the World Club Championships. Reina would subsequently go on to demolish another long-standing club record the following season when his shut out against Blackburn in April 2007 gave him is 28th clean sheet in his first 50 league games – three more than Liverpool legend Ray Clemence.

Two real attributes stand out in Pepe Reina’s game: his distribution of the ball and his knack of saving penalties. During his second season at Villarreal in 2004/05 he saved a remarkable seven out of nine penalties, helping the club qualify for the Champions League. His heroics from the spot continued at Liverpool when he saved three out of four penalties in the 2006 FA Cup final against West Ham, and helped Liverpool defeat Chelsea on penalties to get them to another Champions League final in 2007. His distribution of the ball is also undoubtedly, in my mind, the best in the world as his accurate kicks and throws invariably find the feet of Liverpool players, setting a platform for a quick counter-attack.

It has however, not all been plain sailing for Reina during his time at Liverpool. He has been prone to flapping at crosses during his first couple of seasons at the club, one high profile mistake coming against Manchester United in a 3-0 defeat at Old Trafford in early 2008. I used to dub him “Superman” when he came for crosses as he would jump in the air with his fist outstretched like the famous superhero. He also made an error during his first season in the FA Cup final in 2006, fumbling a soft shot from Matthew Etherington, which put question marks over his consistency.

Both last season and during the current one though, Reina’s goalkeeping has been top notch. Especially this season, with Liverpool’s defence seemingly disintegrating in front of his eyes on occasion, Reina has made some spectacular saves. A triple save in the home Champions League tie against Lyon was not enough to prevent the French side from equalising but he once again proved his worth behind a defence whose defending has been questionable to say the least, especially from set-pieces. The signing from Spain has proved to be a shrewd acquisition by Benitez, more in line with his purchases of Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres than his disastrous forays back to his homeland for players such as Josemi, Gonzalez and Morientes. He definitely has been the shining light in a season of little joy for Liverpool fans, and nobody would say he doesn’t deserve a mention when talking about the “best keeper in Spain.”