Pepe Reina

If you are looking at the popular players emerging of Liverpool, one of the names would be of Reina.

It is often difficult to find a goalkeeper who is capable and talented and it seems that the club has been able to secure a talented player in this category in Pepe Reina. He has been obtained from Villarreal by Rafa Benitez.

The Spaniard had become part of the club when he was signed on when the requirement was felt after Liverpool won over AC Milan in the European Cup. Jerzy Dudek had been able to prove himself a hero and helped the Reds to claim the crown. Reina also proved to be a reliable player. When he arrived at the club he had been obtained for £6 million. The first season saw Reina being on the run from October till December and Premier League as well where he was able to block several goals. As a result, he won several golden glove awards.

The first season ended with him with a triumphant FA Cup. However, his first year was not without mistakes. Dean Ashton was able to score about two goals as well as Steven Gerrard, who put in a stunning goal. Reina however, did put in some astounding saves. He did prevent many shoot outs from materializing into wins. The season that followed was difficult for him as there were several mistakes made by him. However, when the club went on to the finals in the Champions League the team could depend on him to stop the shoot outs from being successful. He became known as a major obstacle from any shoot out to be successful. Even today he is considered a reliable goalkeeper and an asset for any team on whose side he is on.

Many footballers and fans have been shocked by Pepe’s actions in the Champions League final.

Indeed, the Real Madrid defender has on more than one occasion found guilty of trying to get the Atletico Madrid players sent off.

Pundit Gary Lineker has stated that Pepe is a disgrace to football and that he was disappointed with the way the Portuguese defender has performed during the whole match.

The first time he was already lying down on the pitch and Fillipe Luis came and patted him on the side in a friendly manner. Pepe instead acted in a way that he was punched heavily and gestured in agony just to attract the attention of the referee. Fortunately for Luis, the referee on that day Mark Clattenburg had followed the whole thing and quickly intervenes. He told Pepe to get up as there was no malicious action.

Pepe was it at it again later in the game when Yannick Carrasco brushed him slightly with the arm. In fairness, both players were already down on the ground, and Pepe rolled and gestured on the ground in order to attract the attention of the referee. Again the referee took the right decision and ordered Pepe to get backed up.

However, some pundits argued that Mark Clattenburg should have warned the player and even gave him a yellow card to prevent this unfair behavior from continuing. Some are even arguing that there need to be changes in the rule of the game to punish such conduct. Indeed, the fourth official can inform the referee about these unfair behaviors and suggest that actions be taken.

Having such a rule in place will act as a deterrent and prevent players such as Pepe from using such unfair tactics on the pitch.

Maurizio Sarri has left it up to the board to decide whether the money should be invested in the new signings or not.

Sarri is not opposing the signings. He said if new faces come in, he would welcome them and would happily work with them, but, he would be absolutely fine even if those extra resources are not provided to him. He would then keep developing the present lot and make it stronger than before.

Sarri stressed that he would convey his thoughts to the board regarding different things related to the squad, but, he would not push for any new recruitments at all.

The 57-year old Italy native had a dig at some of the coaches, who talk about the need of additions to the squad all the time.

As per Sarri, he doesn’t really appreciate that coming from the coaches as he believes it’s an easy thing to say and maybe use as an excuse.

Sarri’s first season at Napoli is about to conclude and it’s been as good as he would have thought.
In the 2014-15 Serie A, Napoli was 5th in the final standings and had had to be content with only a Europa League spot.

However, under Sarri who took charge last summer, it’s been better as not only are they close to ending second in the domestic top tier; they have ensured their participation in next season’s Champions League too.

Sarri though is still taking the one remaining league game in all seriousness. He doesn’t want the Naples to slip to the third position as in that case they will go to the playoffs and not to the Champions League main round.

For Napoli to remain at no. 2, one point, at least, is necessary in the last game.

Real Madrid fans need not criticise superstar Cristiano Ronaldo according to defender Pepe, who sees the player in fine form. Ronaldo is in the race to win the Pichichi award after being in fine scoring form over the last few weeks.

However, he has gathered most of the goals against a few opposition in a limited number of matches while failing to perform against the top teams. This has been the major criticism of the former Manchester United winger. Madrid are a whopping 12 points behind leaders Barcelona and this disparity has largely come as a result of Ronaldo not doing well.

This led to some animosity between . Ronaldo was booed by his own supporters, but he responded in fantastic manner after scoring four against Celta de Vigo. Fans, however, are unlikely to lower their protests since they have witnessed yet another performance from Ronaldo in a match where not much is at stake. The Portuguese superstar saw his rival Lionel Messi win a fifth FIFA Ballon d’Or while he remains stuck on three. Ronaldo has revealed his ultimate ambition to lift the title for a few more times before retiring, and maybe taking up Wedding Photography in Derbyshire.

Ronaldo took his season’s tally to 27 league goals after his effort against Celta de Vigo. “He is on track for the Pichichi, he has scored a lot of goals and people continue to criticise him. I would like to be in his situation. I think we need to focus on our game and play together, because when the fans and the players are united we are that much stronger,” said Pepe, who also reserved praise for manager Zinedine Zidane. “He was a mythical player with the club and at a world-class level. Now we have to let him be himself,” said Pepe about the manager.

Philippe Senderos joined the Premier League side Aston Villa back in June of 2014 and when the transfer was officially complete, Paul Lambert stated that the Swiss defender was going to be a good addition to the team but it doesn’t seem like it as Senderos has barely even been able to play a large amount of matches due to injuries which has kept him out of the playing grounds.

After having gone through a string of injuries, Aston Villa is now prepared to release Senderos in the winter transfer window as the manager of the English club has lost their patience and faith with the Swiss defender who simply couldn’t stand out since arriving to the Premier League club.
Even though Philippe Senderos has been struggling with successive injuries, reports have already been emerging claiming that there is a team which is interested in signing the Swiss defender after he gets released by the Premier League side.

FC Zurich is believed to be preparing an offer for Senderos as the Swiss club wants to bring the experienced defender back to his homeland.

Keeping hold of Philippe Senderos for a longer period of time is a risky thing to do for Aston Villa as they are located in the bottom spots of the Premier League and can’t afford any slip ups. The manager of the team has to put in the matches, the players who are performing at their best and not someone who is being plagued with injuries and might make mistakes which could potentially cost the team vital points in their race for survival.

Making a move away from the Premier League club is the best option that Philippe Senderos can exercise as his team has lost faith in him and even if he does recover from his latest injuries, it doesn’t look like he will get playing time in the English club.

The Belgian playmaker El Kaddouri has said that the Napoli boss Sarri was pretty upset about the fact that the team conceded a late goal in the European game versus Legia Warsaw.

Napoli won that game comfortably by 5-2, but, what irked the manager was that the players seemed to get a little relaxed at the end and it resulted in the opposition scoring one to bring the margin down.

That one goal did not make any difference though as Napoli’s way ahead of the others in Group D as far as the goal differential is concerned and thus, they remained at the top.

According to Kaddouri, conceding goals is something which Sarri absolutely hates and in a short chat post the game, he let everyone know that Legia should not have been allowed to get that second one.

Kaddouri said, “We were not up to the standard at Bologna, but, this one was much better.”

“Yes, that second goal, it could have been avoided. Sarri was not amused with it. He talked about it in later on. He doesn’t like taking the foot off the pedal at any point.”

When asked about the coming Roma game which is to be played on Sunday at Stadio San Paolo, the 25-year old said, “Roma is a strong opponent. We will need to show right attitude in that game to be able to do well.”

If Roma are able to secure a win over Napoli in the weekend, they will overcome the three points’ deficit which is currently there between them and the Blues.
However, there’s a fair bit of difference in the goal differential of the two teams. So, if Roma have to get ahead of Napoli in the standings, they would need a big win and not just a win.

Cardiff City should keep hold of striker Kenwyne Jones according to defender Fabio Da Silva.

The striker is out of contract at the end of the campaign and there is a lot of interest from other Championship clubs. Sheffield Wednesday are thought to be heavily considering the prospect of making an offer for the player when he enters into the final six months of his contract. There is also interest from abroad with some Israeli clubs showing interest. The player will be able to sign the precontract agreement with foreign clubs from January if his situation at Cardiff City does not change.

Fabio Da Silva reckons that the player is one of the finest headers of football at the club. He will be a way out of the Championship without much investment. Since making the move to Cardiff permanent, Fabio Da Silva has been doing his best to get back into the limelight. However, he will be aware that it will be difficult while playing in the championship. Fabio first came to the bluebirds as a loan player from Manchester United. Since then, he has made the move permanent. Towards the end of last season, Jones was sent out on loan to Bournemouth, who were then promoted to the Premier League.

“We have to keep our good players and he is one of them. We have to keep them to fight for promotion.He’s good in the air, he’s good on the ball and he can finish. So he’s a quality striker. It’s very tough. He’s massive, he’s huge. I’m not that big so it’s very hard to defend against him [in training]. The confidence was low after relegation and everyone was sad. That’s not good. So we have to keep going now. The confidence is making the team play well,” said Fabio Da Silva.

Pepe Reina has admitted that he is not entirely happy at Bayern Munich, as he is not getting regular first-team football at the Allianz Arena due to the presence of Manuel Neuer.

The German international is seen as one of the best in the world and almost came close to winning the FIFA Ballon d’Or award. This would have made him the first goalkeeper to have won the award, but the 29-year-old only lost out to Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo and it is certainly not a bad thing at all. Reina was a surprise candidate to be a backup keeper at Bayern Munich.

The former Liverpool goalkeeper was expected to move to a big club or at least in mid-table club in search of regular football. This was not the case as he made the move straight from Anfield to the Allianz Arena. Now, though, Reina appears to be regretting the move after he admitted that life on the bench is not so spectacular. The 32-year-old is keen on a return to Napoli, where he spent a season on loan in the Rafa Benitez team. Napoli were unable to take up the goalkeeper on a permanent basis due to the transfer fee demanded by Liverpool. Now, they are looking at a potential second loan spell for the Spaniard.

“I have another two years on my contract, but time will tell. We will see whether there will be offers from other clubs. Of course I would prefer to play — but right now my future is with Bayern Munich. I want to play. I knew that it’ll be difficult here as Manuel Neuer is the best keeper in the world. Right now, I can’t exactly say what will happen, but are things are in progress.Let’s wait and see what happens,” said Reina.

Pepe Reina spent a little over 8 years performing with the Liverpool jersey. The Spanish goal-keeper was a consistent player for the Premier League club and helped the club on winning a number of titles but the experienced player ended his time at Anfield on a bitter way and he has no intentions of leaving Bayern Munich anytime soon.

After having ended his 8 year long spell with Liverpool, Pepe Reina joined Napoli on a loan deal and when this contract was over Reina decided to make a move to Bayern Munich. Reina joined Bayern Munich on August of 2014 and has so far made 2 appearances.

2 appearances in almost 1 year, this is a poor amount of matches for a player who is still considered to be a very good one in his position but even with this lack of consistent matches, Pepe Reina stated that he prefers sitting on the bench of Bayern Munich instead of making a return to Liverpool.

The 32 year old Spanish goal-keeper of Bayern Munich, Pepe Reina said: “I had to make a decision on whether I wanted to stay at Liverpool after returning from my loan spell with Napoli and then Bayern approached me.It is not easy to join a club realizing you will be a substitute. It was clear Manuel Neuer would be the No.1 at Bayern.But the prospects at Liverpool were not good for me. I preferred a move to a major club like Bayern over a spot on the bench at Liverpool.My contract runs for two more years. I am at a major club and I am happy to be part of this team.Of course, I always want to play but, at this stage, my future is at Bayern Munich.’’

Even before Pepe Reina had joined Bayern Munich, he already knew that his chances of playing regularly was extremely difficult as Manuel Neuer is the best goal-keeper in the world and the number 1 choice of Pep Guardiola but even though Pepe Reina is spending the majority of his time on the sidelines of Bayern Munich, the Spanish shot-stopper wants to continue for a few more years in his position and has no desire of changing anything.

Ever since Pepe Reina arrived to Bayern Munich in August of 2014, the Spanish shot-stopper has made one competitive appearance for the German club and this was a few weeks ago when Bayern Munich defeated Werder Bremen.

Sitting on the sidelines of Bayern Munich has turned into a regular routine for the former Liverpool player who managed to earn the Liverpool Player of the Season award back in 2009 and also went on to claim the Premier League Golden Glove award for 3 successive years.

At one point of his career, Pepe Reina was considered to be one of the best players in his position and now he has turned into a backup option for Pep Guardiola.

Manuel Neuer is the undisputed number 1 goal-keeper of Bayern Munich and in order for Pepe Reina to start getting playing time on a consistent basis, his only option would be to leave the club and join a team where his chances of getting into the first team are greater and this might happen soon as rumors have started to emerge which link Pepe Reina with Inter Milan or Napoli.

Inter Milan are believed to be ready to offload Samir Handanovic and bring in another goal-keeper. The summer transfer window is approaching and Inter Milan’s Roberto Mancini is rumored to be interested in signing Pepe Reina when the current season reaches its end in a few months’ time.

If Mancini is truly interested in signing Pepe Reina during the summer transfer window, he will have to act fast or make a tempting offer to Bayern Munich as Napoli is also believed to be thinking about signing Pepe Reina once again.

Before Pepe Reina joined Bayern Munich, he was a player of Napoli after having signed a loan deal with the Italian club but Napoli is interested in signing Pepe Reina on a permanent deal and will attempt to sign him during the summer. Inter Milan and Napoli are expected to be locking horns during the summer in a race to sign the veteran goal-keeper.