By John Edwards
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Condemnation of Pepe Reina's error-prone ways appears to be spreading. There is a video online called 'errores de pepe reina' which features a familiar figure delivering a seemingly scathing assessment of the Liverpool keeper's fall from grace.
It is the Real Madrid and Spain No 1 Iker Casillas, no less, and he is looking straight into the lens and announcing, with the faintest flicker of a smile, that 'Pepe Reina is the worst keeper in the world.'
It may sound like the goalkeepers' union could do with opening a branch in Madrid, but the camera then pans round to a grinning Reina, just to reassure us all we have been witnessing nothing more than football banter, Spanish-style.
Increasing liability: A string of high-profile mistakes have left big question marks over Pepe Reina's future at Liverpool, though Iker Casillas's remarks in the video above may still be a little off the mark
Disconcertingly for Reina, there is a case for reflecting on many a true word being spoken in jest after the catalogue of howlers that has ruined his reputation in this country and left his Anfield career in jeopardy.
Not the worst in the world, perhaps, but a long way short of the standards that once had some judges championing him as the best in the Barclays Premier League.
Sunday's inexplicable dash towards the corner flag at the Etihad Stadium, in pursuit of a ball he was never going to win, was the latest example of how his standing has become mired in flawed decision-making and unreliability.
Fatal misjudgement: Reina rushed from his goal in the closing stages of Sunday's match at the Etihad, allowing Manchester City's Sergio Aguero to score from an improbable angle
He might argue Sergio Aguero was never going to score from such a tight angle but the Manchester City striker did, and it was duly chalked up as another costly clanger.
There have been too many of late from a keeper whose early impact suggested he could go on to merit comparisons with Ray Clemence as the most accomplished last line of defence Liverpool have had.
A goalless draw with Blackburn in April 2006 gave him the record for the fewest goals conceded in a Liverpool keeper's first 50 appearances - 29 as opposed to Clemence's 32. A month later, he was saving three out of four West Ham spot-kicks in a penalty shootout win for Liverpool in the FA Cup final.
Cup Final heroics: Reina saved three of West Ham's four penalties in the shootout at the 2006 FA Cup final
No-one could quibble with Rafa Benitez's assertion that he was buying 'the best keeper in Spain', after signing him from Villarreal, though one or two doubts began to creep in when a rare derby drubbing at Everton was rounded off by a bizarre piece of goalkeeping in injury-time.
Standing on the edge of his six-yard area, Reina let a routine Lee Carsley shot slip through his hands and arc towards an unguarded net. After dashing back and clutching it under the bar, he seemed to sense his momentum would carry him over the line. Seemingly panic-stricken, he pushed the ball no more than a foot in the air as he fell backwards and saw a grateful Andy Johnson steam in to head home Everton's third goal.
It was a sign of things to come, and, if anything, the blunders have become more frequent and more glaring over the past couple of seasons.
Clanger: In the Merseyside derby of September 2006, Reina was unable to hang on to a Lee Carsley shot, allowing Andy Johnson to bundle the ball in
Roy Hodgson's ill-fated reign was hardly helped by a bizarre Reina own goal in August 2010 that gave Arsenal a 1-1 draw after David Ngog's 46th-minute effort had looked like proving decisive.
Bad enough that Reina was beaten to a left-wing cross by Marouane Chamakh, worse still that, in his haste to retrieve the ball after it bounced back off a post, he inexplicably bundled it over his own line.
It didn't stop him being given a rare outing for his country in Buenos Aires the following month, though most of Spain must have wished it had. After drawing back his left boot to clear a back pass, he slipped and ended up flat on his back, leaving Carlos Tevez to score in an empty net in a 4-1 win for Argentina.
If the goal at Sunderland, when Darren Bent's shot struck a bright red beach ball and left the hapless Reina wrong-footed, was the most famous mishap to befall the 30-year old, the header that beat him against Steaua Bucharest was surely the most embarrassing.
It was scored by the aptly-named Eder Bonfim, but, as headers go, it could hardly be described as unstoppable. It bobbled towards the Liverpool keeper with all the power of a gentle back pass, yet he somehow let it trickle through his legs, Massimo Taibi-style, to gift Steaua a 1-1 draw in their Europa League tie.
Freak goal: Reina had little chance when Darren Bent's shot deflected in off a red beach ball in a match at Sunderland in October 2009
By the start of this season, Liverpool were beginning to sense that selling him to long-time admirers Arsenal, or back to Spain, might not be such a bad idea. It was an impression that steadily grew, as he erred against Hearts and was then found wanting once more against Arsenal.
Liverpool needed an 88th-minute aggregate winner from Luis Suarez against Hearts after Reina threw them a lifeline three minutes earlier by making a hash of what should have been a routine save from David Templeton. The 20-yard shot was straight at him, yet he managed to spill it over the line.
Arsenal's 2-0 win the following month was sealed by a Santi Cazorla near-post shot that squirmed under Reina's dive. Not quite in the clanger category, maybe, but further evidence that a worrying propensity for fluffing the basics of his trade has taken firm root.
Wandering out of his area, when Liverpool were on the cusp of a hard-earned, morale-boosting win at the current Premier League champions, merely reinforced the resolve at Anfield to find a buyer between now and the end of the season. Word has gone round that a changing of the guard could be imminent, with the search for a long-term replacement well and truly underway.
Target? Marc Andre ter Stegen of Borussia Moenchengladbach could be a possible replacement for Reina
Replacement: Hannover keeper Ron-Robert Zieler (right) is another possibility
Interest in England Under 21 keeper Jack Butland cooled long before he joined Stoke from Birmingham on deadline day but Asmir Begovic's likely availability in the summer is under close review. With Manchester United in pole position for the Stoke No 1, though, the net has been cast further afield, with form reports being ordered on Borussia Moenchengladbach's Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Hannover's Ron-Robert Zieler.
It all points to an Anfield departure for Reina, and while a mooted transfer to Barcelona may well have a rejuvenating effect on his career, there may be some sadness at the way Liverpool memories have been tarnished by a growing fallibility in recent times.
He's a great keeper and will always be a legend at LFC. He is out of form and needs his old goalkeeping coach to return. I have also lost count of the number of chances opposition have had to score from set pieces. Reina should come out more for set pieces. Nevertheless his distribution is amongst the best we will ever see from a goalkeeper.
- FergusonAssociation , Clattenburg Webb Halsey Dowd, United Kingdom, 04/2/2013 18:59
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