Reina was not a great shot stopper. He might've been 6 years ago but almost any shot on target was going in, or that's what it felt like, by the end of his time at Liverpool. It got to the point where I was questioning whether he'd given up and didn't even care.
Don't blame him for that, looks different when the ball is coming at you, he was already going down to collect it. When you play on a quality surface every single day, you can be caught out and it was right at the start too. He looked better v Madrid away when he was more commanding of his area, normally he plays like he's only renting the 18 yard box.
I know its only youtube who can make any turd look good but he did pull off some worldies in that last year https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrEV3D5m3Ek Anyway, as for a poorer keeper than mignolet, i refuse to believe that Reina, even in his apparant demise in 2011-2012 is worse than Mignolet now. Under rodgers, Reina let in 43 goals. Mignolet let in 50 last year and this year he is on track with 18 goals arleady after 12.
You can't just look at goals conceded, so much more to that. Mig obviously has his strengths which is his shot stopping but has clear weaknesses which is his lack of authority in his area and movement off his line (and his distribution). Now when his shot stopping becomes sloppy due to poor form as it has started to creep in this year, he then looks like a very average keeper. Reina became complacent in his final years in "general keeping terms" which I'd describe as shot stopping and crosses etc. Now was that because he didn't have any competition? Possibly. Is the same happening to Mignolet? Possibly. Would having both of them in the squad together make them both a better keeper? Almost certainly. Could we afford to keep one of them on the bench? Probably for one season...
Exactly. Some fans have selective memories when it comes to Reina. We made the right decision in getting rid of him. We made the wrong decision with his replacement.
I agree, Reina had gone downhill and needed replaceing but it does look a poor choice in Mingolet. I've backed him a little on this thread and I stand by that but at the end of the day there are better keepers out there we should have gone for.
it's unfair to judge Reina on his final months with us, when he was undoubtedly poorer. For years he was a solid keeper and not once did any of us question selling him! He was the one part of the team we could all agree was right and was one of the best in the league. He dropped the occasional piss easy shot, but those shots are rare anyway - it's more important for a keeper to be able to distribute a ball well (not kick it back to the other ****ing team) and command his box during set pieces and in general; stopping goals from ****ing set pieces.
Had he really gone downhill though. Granted he was maybe in poor form and hadn't reached the his previous highs but he was still relatively young for a keeper. Until Rodgers had decided he wanted to replace him with a younger prototype, did any Liverpool fans really want to get rid of Pep? Obviously you want to back your manager but considering the teams many needs, i'm not sure the right decision was really to replace your keeper
I'd say yes he needed replacing but it is an important position and the right player should have been brought in.
He was replaced as much because of his wages as his form and that's a shame. Fair enough Rodgers was under pressure to reduce the wage bill but as stated by yourself and others he was still a solid keeper. His biggest problem (and to a certain extent this goes for Ming too) was the massive increase in the amount he had to deal with. With a more solid team in front would they look so error prone? Certainly Reina had already proved he could be part of a tight unit and IMO was just about THE perfect fit for Rodgers philosophy. I said at the time it was a mistake and nothing since has made me think otherwise. Just my opinion but I think we'd have won the league last year with him in goal.
sure reina was.. thats fine and all that BUT..... once there was a poor enough first season rodgers could have made peace this preseason with reina but he chose not to... this mingolet rubbihs is another nail in rodgers coffin. the funny thing is if true and if cheslea sell we'll have to pay cech as much if not more than reina to interest him.... plus 7mil transfer fee....
^ This, this and this - no question in my mind. Reina performed well at Napoli proving he hadn't lost it, he just didn't get on with Rodgers and I wonder if it's Rodgers feeling intimidated by big characters like Reina that means he looks to get rid rather than have a battle of wits.
Can't say I've ever rated Mignolet. Even when he was with Sunderland I wasn't too impressed, he looked decent in a fairly weak team (no disrespect to Sunderland but they have been relegation candidates for a number of years). He's a great shot stopper, but goalkeeping is much more than that. When we signed him I really hoped he would be understudy to Reina and to learn from him. It then turned out he was a replacement and that was a mistake, if we were to have signed a replacement then we should have looked for a GK who was either better or at least on a level with Reina.
it's just as criminal we have not addressed the number 2 position, as well as letting pepe go. what is the point of a no 2 if they are never deemed good enough, however ****e the first team player is?
