Former Liverpool defender Rob Jones believes the Reds should keep goalkeeper Pepe Reina despite Simon Mignolet completing a move to Anfield on Tuesday. The 25-year-old penned a long-term deal with the 18-time English champions after the Reds agreed a reported £9m fee with Sunderland for the Belgium international. And Jones, who played with Bruce Grobbelaar and David James during his eight-year Reds career, backed Rodgers’ decision to have two top goalkeepers in his squad. “Brendan wants to build a squad where if one player gets injured, he’s got a high quality replacement,” Jones told The Sport Review. “If we can keep both of them happy – perfect. “I’m not just too sure what will happen with Pepe Reina. Is the move on the cards or will he stay for another year? “Especially with goalkeepers, you decide which one is your best and you stick with them.” He added: “We’ll see what happens in the next four weeks, but if Pepe stays, Brendan Rodgers has done well.” If Liverpool do keep Reina amid reported interest from Barcelona, Rodgers will have a welcome selection headache as his summer signing pushes the World Cup winner for a starting spot in the Northern Irishman’s side. Jones doesn’t expect the Liverpool manager to alternate between the goalkeepers and reckons Rodgers felt Reina needed quality competition after the Spaniard made a number of high-profile mistakes last season. “I think would it affect defenders changing [goalkeeper] game-to-game. You train and work with the goalkeeper in training. If you’re swapping and changing, it doesn’t help,” added Jones, who was part of Liverpool’s FA Cup-winning side in 1992. “You’ve got to keep the goalkeepers as consistent as possible. Most teamsdo – they’ll keep a goalkeeper there for as many games as possible. It gives the team confidence. “I look forward to seeing what Brendan is going to do. He is probably happy that he’s got a hard decision to make with two world-class goalkeepers.” He added: “He [Reina] made a couple of mistakes last year. They were important ones which saw Liverpool lose games. Goalkeepers have to put up with that. “Maybe Brendan is thinking Liverpool could do with a fresh change and Pepe could do with a bit of competition. We’ll find out 17 August when the season starts.” (James)
Posted on: Wed, 26 Jun 2013 18:23:28 +0000
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