Reina: Rodgers must be given time

Ever since his appointment earlier in the month, there has been plenty of Reds players leaping to the defence of new manager Brendan Rodgers and claiming that he is the ideal man to take over from Kenny Dalglish. The former Swansea boss’ latest admirer is first choice goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who says that the club made the right move in going for Rodgers, but he must be given time to implement his own ideas.

Reina, who has been a club regular since joining from Villarreal in 2005, is currently on international duty with Spain. However, he took the time out to tell the Daily Post that he is confident in Rodgers’ abilities, “I’m looking forward to going back to Liverpool. I am very optimistic about the future. It is a good appointment and, hopefully, Liverpool can have a better season than they did last time. I watched quite a bit of Swansea last season and I always like my teams to play like that. It is my style and one that will be very good for Liverpool but he is going to need time to implement his ideas. It is not going to happen in the blink of an eye.”

The comments will certainly bode well with the Anfield faithful, who have become used to transfer speculation linking Reina with a move away from the club through the past few years. There have already been suggestions that several other of Europe’s top clubs have been casting an eye on the 29-year-old, but judging from what he has said here it appears as though he is more than satisfied to keep playing for at least another year at the club.

Of course, the Spaniard is absolutely right in what he says about the style of football Rodgers will bring. In fact, he should adapt to his philosophies almost instantaneously, following such a long spell with his national team this summer.