At the daunting Etihad last Sunday, Liverpool came so close to shaking off the statistic that has clung onto them all season. In 24 games, they had failed to beat a side above them in the league. With less than 15 minutes remaining and Liverpool deservedly leading 1-2, that run looked to be ending with the defeat of the Champions of England. That was until a moment of lunacy ruined it all. Gareth Barry’s long pass for Sergio Agüero was heading towards the corner flag when the highly experienced Pepe Reina charged out of his penalty area – his domain; his comfort zone – to try to beat the speedy Argentine to a pass that carried no threat of any immediate danger. This wasn’t the biggest mistake Reina has ever made and it undoubtedly won’t be the last he’ll ever make. What has caused uproar this week, however, is that it is the latest let-down over a number of seasons and, seemingly, Liverpool fans’ patience with their goalkeeper of eight years has finally snapped. What’s more, that single moment of absent-mindedness cruelly unravelled so much hard work carried out by Liverpool’s outfield players that so impressively made the comeback from 1-0 down after 23 minutes.
This isn’t a little dip in form, though. This is now the third – some would argue fourth – consecutive season that Pepe Reina has underperformed (relative to his incredibly high standards). This could be down to a number of different factors. The obvious one is that he has seen the best Liverpool side of the Premier League era be assembled, disassembled and see some of his former teammates to go on to win league, European and world titles elsewhere. He has seen the club ruined, humiliated and very nearly obliterated under the poisonous reign of Tom Hicks and George Gilett. He has seen the club’s and the city’s biggest fight of the last 20-odd years take significant steps towards justice for those that died at Hillsborough. Does Reina feel he has done everything he can do? Seen everything he can see? Does he need a change of scenery? Quite possibly. The team’s plight from title challengers to insipid mid-table drones under Roy Hodgson will no doubt have helped in embedding that mind-set too. Reina has always maintained that he wants to play for Atletico Madrid one day just as his father, Miguel, once did. Pepe’s former club, Barcelona, are also reportedly keen on taking him back to his homeland with Victor Valdes looking likely to be on his way out of the Nou Camp. Has Reina’s head been turned? Is his head back in Spain? Again, this is perhaps one of the problems psychologically.
Using the excellent and comprehensive stats provided by EPL Index, I had a closer look at any trends or flaws that may have appeared in Reina’s game this season. I compared Reina’s stats with those of, in my humble opinion, the two best goalkeepers in the league – Joe Hart and Petr Cech. As another point of comparison, I included Everton’s Tim Howard as, in terms of the league, both Merseyside clubs are very close currently. You can inspect my findings below:
Missed crosses (2012/13)
| Hart | 1 |
| Cech | 3 |
| Howard | 5 |
| Reina | 7 |
High cross catches (2012/13)
| Hart | 18 |
| Cech | 29 |
| Howard | 29 |
| Reina | 13 |
The stats illustrate that Reina has been somewhat troubled by opposition crosses this season. I found this particularly interesting as coming out and authoritatively collecting crosses has traditionally been one of Reina’s strengths. What is also interesting is that I compared Reina’s stats from previous seasons against each other and I found this:
Reina’s high cross catches from previous seasons
| 2010/11 | 71 |
| 2011/12 | 15 |
This is obviously a rather dramatic decline in cross catches. You could suggest that there may have been less crosses for Reina to contend with in the 11/12 season but that gap is far too big for something like a lack of crosses to be the sole reason. Confidence is something Reina has never seemed to have a problem with but perhaps he has become more hesitant as mistakes began to creep into his game more frequently.
Reina’s minutes per save from previous seasons
| 2010/11 | 64.53 |
| 2011/12 | 80.34 |
Another stark comparison between Reina’s stats from previous seasons. Reina is clearly making less saves but what is also interesting is that he conceded more goals in 2010/11 (44) than he did in 2011/12 (35). This is likely down to a tighter defence in 2011/12 – of course when analysing a goalkeeper it is only fair that the defence playing in front of him is also taken to account. What could also be suggested is that as well as a tighter defence, meaning less saves needing to be made, the saves that needed to be made weren’t successful.
At this point in time, a move to the right team for Reina in summer would probably be of great benefit to him. His head nor his heart don’t seem to be in it anymore and you get the sense he has resigned himself to leaving English football without a Premier League or Champions League winners medal. A change of scenery may well bring the best out of him once more and at still only 30-years-old, he has potentially at least five more years in him to win some big trophies. As for Liverpool, it would realistically be difficult to find a replacement. There isn’t exactly a pool of ready-made, top-class goalkeepers out there right now that would be interested in joining Liverpool’s ‘project’. The new goalkeeper would probably be young with the potential to be top-class but as we’ve seen with Manchester United’s signing of David De Gea, it can be difficult for a young goalkeeper to establish themselves quickly at the top clubs. You would hope that Liverpool’s new recruitment team are already hard at work looking for potential signings in this department and maybe even already have some exact names. In an ideal world, Reina can get back to his best for Liverpool and help them to push on back into the ‘top four’ before he does inevitably leave one day. He has been a fantastic servant for Liverpool Football Club throughout the years and has undoubtedly stuck with the club through the many highs and lows. One thing for sure is that if Reina’s time at Anfield is coming to an end, he would certainly leave with the well wishes of all Liverpool fans.
