Carragher & Benitez Praise "Pepe" Reina

Image by: Goal.com

How great of a goalkeeper is Jose "Pepe" Reina? For starters, he has such a tight grip on the #1 shirt at Liverpool that the club is ready to sell a contender for England's #1, Scott Carson, who himself said that "Pepe [Reina] is the best goalkeeper I have ever played with" (Teamtalk.com). Reina is regarded by many as the best penalty-saver in the game, he has won the Barclay's Golden Glove two years running ('05-'06/'06-'07), and he's only 25 years old. Amidst the regular applauds for the Spaniard, recently some very insightful praise has been given by his coach and one notable teammate as to how great he actually is.

Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez commented on two of the Reina's admirable talents:

"Reina is a goalkeeper with real game intelligence. He can read the game and play the kind of balls he delivered to Torres. He can play these passes to strikers if strikers move for the ball. A modern goalkeeper needs to be able to read the game like this. That is the difference. You can save 100 shots, but if you don't do something more you will only be a good goalkeeper - not a top-class goalkeeper" (ComeOnReds).

So, Benitez clearly believes that Reina's distribution and ability to read the game catapult him into "top-class" status. England international Jamie Carragher went a bit further:

"I've always thought Pepe is a great goalkeeper. I have been here at Liverpool a long time now and he is the best 'keeper I've played with. He has beaten some records at this club already and that is testimony to what a top class goalkeeper he is. For me he is in the top three in the world. I think Cech, Buffon and Pepe are the best around and you can put them in any order you want, there is not much difference between them" (TeamTalk.com).

Did you notice that Carragher said Reina is the best goalkeeper he has ever played with? I think that says something coming from a man who's international career is nearing a decade in length. Flattering for Reina, I'm sure, Carragher said that the best three goalkeepers in the world are Buffon, Cech and Reina, and that they are interchangable. Did you notice who he didn't include in that group? Iker Casillas, Reina's fellow countryman and Spain's #1, and I don't think Carragher is the only one questioning who should really be representing Spain.

And, just in case you haven't seen Reina play in a while here is some video for you. Enjoy!