Former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina has revealed that Simon Mignolet’s presence at te club was a key reason behind his departure as he wasn’t sure if he’d get the game time.
Speaking ahead of the Steven Gerrard’s testimonial game at Anfield on 29th, Reina told talkSPORT, “I don’t think I was going to play regular football if I had stayed.
“It’s one of those. In football, there’s no time for regrets. I’m very much looking forward and be happy about what I achieved at Liverpool during my career.
“I want to enjoy Sunday and saying goodbye to all those fans who loved me for all those years and be always happy and grateful to Liverpool.”
Considering the presence of Manuel Neuer, who is probably the best goalkeeper in the world at the moment, at Bayern Munich when Reina signed for them, it does sound somewhat hypocritical of the Spaniard as one would obviously think that that it’s easier to displace Mignolet than Neuer. In addition, Mignolet’s first season was good, but it also showed weaknesses as the Belgian did not convince with the distribution of the ball and his keeping in set pieces. Mignolet is an incredible shot-stopper, but he still has a long way to go before his name will be up there with the likes of Grobbelaar, Clemence or even Reina who won three Premier League golden glove awards in his time with Liverpool.
Reina went on to add that Liverpool still have a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League, “They were several years without being in that top four. Last year they were close to winning the trophy.
“Then everybody was waiting for this season to be at least like the last one. They spent some good money and brought some players in. Everybody was expecting a little bit more.
“But the beginning of the season was not good enough. Now things are turning round and they have had a great second part to the season. They are still very much in the race and hopefully they can make it.”
Reina made his debut for Bayern Munich two weeks ago against Werder Bremen and managed to keep a clean sheet. After joining in the summer, it took seven months for Reina to make his first appearance. One does wonder why he made the move to Bayern as he could have easily stayed at Liverpool and would have eventually had the chance to play when Mignolet was going through a bad patch.