Liverpool goalkeepr Pepe Reina believes club are on the right road to fulfilling their Europe dream
No wonder Liverpool come flying out of the blocks every weekend: it must be a frustrating having to spend the week watching from the outside as your rivals compete in the Champions League.
Keeping faith: Pepe Reina comes under pressure from Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge Photo: AP
By Duncan White10:00PM GMT 26 Nov 2011 Comment
“Yes, it’s horrible,” said Pepe Reina. “It’s hard to handle, but you have to. It is the first year in my career that I have not played at all in Europe. It is just weird watching. I like to play twice a week as it gives me the rhythm of competition. That’s the situation, though, and we have to face it.”
Having outrun and outplayed Chelsea last weekend, Liverpool will look to channel their frustration against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. They will need to give everything.
“They are in a gear above everybody, a step ahead,” he said. “They are clear favourites to win the title. That’s what happens when you spend £300 million in such a short period of time.”
Not that Liverpool have been parsimonious themselves. John Henry and the Fenway Group have invested substantially in trying to make sure these players have games to occupy them in midweek next season — and it is not another go at the Europa League they are after.
“We have to be humble and we have to be patient,” Reina said. “We have to work hard. It is not that easy. You can’t just write a cheque and expect titles. We are doing well right now, developing a proper squad and we’re back being competitive with the biggest teams. We have to get back in the Champions League sooner rather than later.
“When the new owners arrived they asked us questions. They wanted us to tell us what it would take for us to improve the club. Basically we did what we thought was right. In my opinion [Henry] has done three very big things that have made the difference: appointed Kenny Dalglish, appointed Damien Comolli and deepened the squad.”
It is clear that Reina has bought into what Liverpool are trying to do. Competing with City financially is a non-starter, so Liverpool are looking to make the change a cultural one, to instil a philosophy of play in the club at every level, right down to the under-12s. It reminds Reina of the way he was raised at Barcelona.
“We played exactly the same as the first team, when we were kids. That means that when you get your chance with the first team you can cope because you are playing exactly the same way. We need that here. Once you have played that style in the younger divisions it makes it easier to make the step up; players know the style, the philosophy of play, the system.”
Reina is a perfect example of how much a footballer is shaped by what happens at this formative stage of development. In his case, the key year is 1992. “I was 10 years old when they changed the back-pass rule,” he said. “I was still young enough, thankfully. It caught me just in time, as I was beginning to develop my skills.”
The decision to stop keepers picking up back-passes was designed to prevent time-wasting but it also ended up creating a generation of keepers who had to be comfortable playing football.
What better place to learn to play football than in La Masia. Two years after that rule change, Reina was ensconced at Barcelona’s academy, drilling with Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Mikel Arteta and Thiago Motta.
“It was a special place to have grown up because you live with boys who have the same ambitions, the same dreams and the same nightmares too.” He was intensively trained to kick off both feet, to be able to pick a pass from his deep position. To this day he still takes part in the outfield players’ possession drills at Melwood.
Contingency smiled again. When Louis van Gaal arrived to take over at Barcelona he brought Frans Hoek from Amsterdam. Hoek had the vision to see how the role of the goalkeeper could be revolutionised and at Ajax he had helped form a gangling young Edwin van der Sar into the prototypical modern No 1, playing as an 11th outfielder. Hoek immediately set about forming Reina and Victor Valdes in Van der Sar’s image.
“Van der Sar was the one for me,” Reina said. “I followed him when he started to play as a sweeper-keeper at Ajax. Dutch keepers had always had something of that, from Hans van Breukelen to Ruud Hesp. So it was great for me to work with Frans, the man who had been Van der Sar’s goalkeeping coach.”
At 18 Reina was thrust into the Barcelona first team by injuries, keeping goal for a side containing Ronald de Boer, Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Rivaldo. A change of manager saw a change of fortune, though. He was loaned out to Villarreal in 2002, made it a permanent move the following year. Then, in 2005, Rafael Benítez claimed he had brought “the best goalkeeper in Spain” to Liverpool.
He swiftly made a case for being the best goalkeeper in England, too, racing to 55 clean sheets in 100 games. His ability to play as a sweeper-keeper changed the way the whole team played, allowing them to squeeze up the field. He also became a dangerous counter-attacking weapon. He can throw the ball with power and accuracy to the halfway line and out of hand he kicks in the Latin American style, side on, sending the ball in a low arc up the field. “It’s a more direct way of delivering the ball to someone because it does not go so high in the air,” he said.
As the team came together on the pitch, the club spiralled into debt off it. Suddenly it got worse: players were sold, ambitions curtailed and Benítez left when the team missed out on the Champions League.
Reina shares an agent with his former manager and many expected him to follow Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres out of the club. But Reina stayed, despite Arsenal’s best efforts to tempt him to London.
“We could have gone into administration,” he said. “It was the darkest moment in Liverpool’s history. A year on the picture is much brighter, much clearer. The whole way through my mind was on Liverpool.
It’s true I could have left at some point. I decided to stay here and give the best of myself to try to help the team bring back the winning days. It was also a decision I made for my wife and my kids, they feel like Liverpool is home.
“I’ve been here seven years so I’m the third most senior player at the club, after Jamie Carragher and Stevie Gerrard. At the West Brom game they told me I was the oldest Liverpool player on the pitch. I’m 29: it’s a disgrace! It’s all gone so quickly. It’s a good sign for the team though, that they are at the right age to compete for many years at the highest level. It makes me feel old now though.”
Not that that means the end is in sight for Reina. Brad Friedel is making himself very popular among his peers by playing into his 40s.
“He’s setting us a great example,” Reina said. “I’m 29 but hopefully I have still got 10 years ahead of me. I’ve got four more years on my contract after this season and my head is in Liverpool. Everyone can be calm and chilled out about that. But at some point in the future I’d like to go back to Spain and play for Atletico Madrid like my father did. I probably won’t be in a position to choose, it will be up to them to take the decision for me.”
A little hint, that, of Reina’s fatalism. He has recently written a book that disclosed how incredibly superstitious he was ahead of games. The City game on Sunday will be no different. Last night he had his two cheese-and-ham toasties, washed down with a glass of wine, and this morning he will head to the same petrol station to fill up his tank, even though the tank is already near full. He will park in the same space at Anfield and then begins the elaborately choreographed routine of getting his into his kit and going down to the pitch.
“Crazy, eh?” he said. “You start with some superstitions then when you win games or keep a clean sheet you look for something. At some point it is just insecurity. If I do it I feel safe and ready for the game. My head works properly. If I miss one thing, I’m not the same. If I don’t fill my car before the game I’m not the same.”
Liverpool will hope Reina’s routine is not interrupted: they will need him at his best if they are to beat City.
Pepe Reina on . . .
Hicks and Gillett: We could have gone into administration. It was the darkest moment in Liverpool’s history. A year on the picture is much brighter, much clearer.
Being superstitious: At some point it is just insecurity. If I do it I feel safe and ready for the game. My head works properly. If I miss one thing, I’m not the same. If I don’t fill my car with petrol before the game I’m not the same.
Manchester City: They are in a gear above everybody. A step ahead. They are clear favourites to win the title. That’s what happens when you spend £300 million in such a short period of time.
The future: I’m 29 but hopefully I have still got 10 years ahead of me. I’ve got four more years on my contract here and my head is in Liverpool. But at some point I’d like to play for Atletico Madrid, like my father.
No wonder Liverpool come flying out of the blocks every weekend: it must be a frustrating having to spend the week watching from the outside as your rivals compete in the Champions League.
Keeping faith: Pepe Reina comes under pressure from Chelsea's Daniel Sturridge Photo: AP
By Duncan White10:00PM GMT 26 Nov 2011 Comment
“Yes, it’s horrible,” said Pepe Reina. “It’s hard to handle, but you have to. It is the first year in my career that I have not played at all in Europe. It is just weird watching. I like to play twice a week as it gives me the rhythm of competition. That’s the situation, though, and we have to face it.”
Having outrun and outplayed Chelsea last weekend, Liverpool will look to channel their frustration against Manchester City at Anfield on Sunday afternoon. They will need to give everything.
“They are in a gear above everybody, a step ahead,” he said. “They are clear favourites to win the title. That’s what happens when you spend £300 million in such a short period of time.”
Not that Liverpool have been parsimonious themselves. John Henry and the Fenway Group have invested substantially in trying to make sure these players have games to occupy them in midweek next season — and it is not another go at the Europa League they are after.
“We have to be humble and we have to be patient,” Reina said. “We have to work hard. It is not that easy. You can’t just write a cheque and expect titles. We are doing well right now, developing a proper squad and we’re back being competitive with the biggest teams. We have to get back in the Champions League sooner rather than later.
“When the new owners arrived they asked us questions. They wanted us to tell us what it would take for us to improve the club. Basically we did what we thought was right. In my opinion [Henry] has done three very big things that have made the difference: appointed Kenny Dalglish, appointed Damien Comolli and deepened the squad.”
It is clear that Reina has bought into what Liverpool are trying to do. Competing with City financially is a non-starter, so Liverpool are looking to make the change a cultural one, to instil a philosophy of play in the club at every level, right down to the under-12s. It reminds Reina of the way he was raised at Barcelona.
“We played exactly the same as the first team, when we were kids. That means that when you get your chance with the first team you can cope because you are playing exactly the same way. We need that here. Once you have played that style in the younger divisions it makes it easier to make the step up; players know the style, the philosophy of play, the system.”
Reina is a perfect example of how much a footballer is shaped by what happens at this formative stage of development. In his case, the key year is 1992. “I was 10 years old when they changed the back-pass rule,” he said. “I was still young enough, thankfully. It caught me just in time, as I was beginning to develop my skills.”
The decision to stop keepers picking up back-passes was designed to prevent time-wasting but it also ended up creating a generation of keepers who had to be comfortable playing football.
What better place to learn to play football than in La Masia. Two years after that rule change, Reina was ensconced at Barcelona’s academy, drilling with Andres Iniesta, Xavi, Mikel Arteta and Thiago Motta.
“It was a special place to have grown up because you live with boys who have the same ambitions, the same dreams and the same nightmares too.” He was intensively trained to kick off both feet, to be able to pick a pass from his deep position. To this day he still takes part in the outfield players’ possession drills at Melwood.
Contingency smiled again. When Louis van Gaal arrived to take over at Barcelona he brought Frans Hoek from Amsterdam. Hoek had the vision to see how the role of the goalkeeper could be revolutionised and at Ajax he had helped form a gangling young Edwin van der Sar into the prototypical modern No 1, playing as an 11th outfielder. Hoek immediately set about forming Reina and Victor Valdes in Van der Sar’s image.
“Van der Sar was the one for me,” Reina said. “I followed him when he started to play as a sweeper-keeper at Ajax. Dutch keepers had always had something of that, from Hans van Breukelen to Ruud Hesp. So it was great for me to work with Frans, the man who had been Van der Sar’s goalkeeping coach.”
At 18 Reina was thrust into the Barcelona first team by injuries, keeping goal for a side containing Ronald de Boer, Pep Guardiola, Luis Enrique and Rivaldo. A change of manager saw a change of fortune, though. He was loaned out to Villarreal in 2002, made it a permanent move the following year. Then, in 2005, Rafael Benítez claimed he had brought “the best goalkeeper in Spain” to Liverpool.
He swiftly made a case for being the best goalkeeper in England, too, racing to 55 clean sheets in 100 games. His ability to play as a sweeper-keeper changed the way the whole team played, allowing them to squeeze up the field. He also became a dangerous counter-attacking weapon. He can throw the ball with power and accuracy to the halfway line and out of hand he kicks in the Latin American style, side on, sending the ball in a low arc up the field. “It’s a more direct way of delivering the ball to someone because it does not go so high in the air,” he said.
As the team came together on the pitch, the club spiralled into debt off it. Suddenly it got worse: players were sold, ambitions curtailed and Benítez left when the team missed out on the Champions League.
Reina shares an agent with his former manager and many expected him to follow Xabi Alonso, Javier Mascherano and Fernando Torres out of the club. But Reina stayed, despite Arsenal’s best efforts to tempt him to London.
“We could have gone into administration,” he said. “It was the darkest moment in Liverpool’s history. A year on the picture is much brighter, much clearer. The whole way through my mind was on Liverpool.
It’s true I could have left at some point. I decided to stay here and give the best of myself to try to help the team bring back the winning days. It was also a decision I made for my wife and my kids, they feel like Liverpool is home.
“I’ve been here seven years so I’m the third most senior player at the club, after Jamie Carragher and Stevie Gerrard. At the West Brom game they told me I was the oldest Liverpool player on the pitch. I’m 29: it’s a disgrace! It’s all gone so quickly. It’s a good sign for the team though, that they are at the right age to compete for many years at the highest level. It makes me feel old now though.”
Not that that means the end is in sight for Reina. Brad Friedel is making himself very popular among his peers by playing into his 40s.
“He’s setting us a great example,” Reina said. “I’m 29 but hopefully I have still got 10 years ahead of me. I’ve got four more years on my contract after this season and my head is in Liverpool. Everyone can be calm and chilled out about that. But at some point in the future I’d like to go back to Spain and play for Atletico Madrid like my father did. I probably won’t be in a position to choose, it will be up to them to take the decision for me.”
A little hint, that, of Reina’s fatalism. He has recently written a book that disclosed how incredibly superstitious he was ahead of games. The City game on Sunday will be no different. Last night he had his two cheese-and-ham toasties, washed down with a glass of wine, and this morning he will head to the same petrol station to fill up his tank, even though the tank is already near full. He will park in the same space at Anfield and then begins the elaborately choreographed routine of getting his into his kit and going down to the pitch.
“Crazy, eh?” he said. “You start with some superstitions then when you win games or keep a clean sheet you look for something. At some point it is just insecurity. If I do it I feel safe and ready for the game. My head works properly. If I miss one thing, I’m not the same. If I don’t fill my car before the game I’m not the same.”
Liverpool will hope Reina’s routine is not interrupted: they will need him at his best if they are to beat City.
Pepe Reina on . . .
Hicks and Gillett: We could have gone into administration. It was the darkest moment in Liverpool’s history. A year on the picture is much brighter, much clearer.
Being superstitious: At some point it is just insecurity. If I do it I feel safe and ready for the game. My head works properly. If I miss one thing, I’m not the same. If I don’t fill my car with petrol before the game I’m not the same.
Manchester City: They are in a gear above everybody. A step ahead. They are clear favourites to win the title. That’s what happens when you spend £300 million in such a short period of time.
The future: I’m 29 but hopefully I have still got 10 years ahead of me. I’ve got four more years on my contract here and my head is in Liverpool. But at some point I’d like to play for Atletico Madrid, like my father.
