Pepe Reina- Losing his touch or just a bad run of form?

After three games of the 2012/13 season, Liverpool lies 18^th in the table. In their first three fixtures against West Brom, Manchester City and Arsenal they have conceded 7 goals. This has prompted many to question the reliability of Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina. The question is, can our hero of so many games really be losing his touch?

It is true that in the last few games, Pepe Reina has made some notable errors. One example would be the shot hit straight at him that he knocked into the net in the Hearts game, another when he came and flapped at a cross against Man City which led to their first equalising goal. Certainly Reina will not be happy with conceding 7 goals in three Premier League games, and some would say that this is clear evidence that Reina is past his prime.

However, there are definitely two sides to the argument. Firstly, Reina is only 30 years old. Brad Friedel is 41, and is still arguably one of the best ‘keepers in the Premiership. The theory that Reina has got too old to play at the top level to me, therefore, seems unlikely. But could it just be that he has lost his touch, not because of age but simply because he is not as talented as he once was? Before jumping to any conclusions, it has to be noted that most of the world’s best goalkeepers have had a bad run of form at some point. Tim Howard, American first-choice ‘keeper, had a massive dip in form near the end of his time at Manchester United. He now plays for Everton and has done extremely well there. Even Petr Cech, who holds the record for most clean sheets in one season, has had some pretty bad spells for Chelsea in the past. However, these two goalkeepers (and many others like them) returned to full form after these dips, and again began to pull off some stunning saves. The key to this is that the club and its fans did not immediately ask for their departure, they kept faith. Liverpool fans should do the same; Reina has served us so well in the past, to say he deserves to go after just three or four poor games in a row is ridiculous.

In conclusion, I think that Pepe Reina has not lost his touch; he is simply having a bad run of games. Although I know Liverpool cannot afford this poor form to go on much longer, I think the fans and the club should definitely give him time to get back to his usual, brilliant form.