Rafael Benitez has spoken of his admiration for Pepe Reina and said he has nothing to prove to anyone.
Reina recently spoke of his second year at Liverpool being his most important after an excellent debut campaign at Anfield that saw him end it a hero by saving three penalties as the Reds won the FA Cup.
Last season Reina kept 29 clean sheets in 53 games and Benitez firmly believes he will get better and better.
"Pepe has nothing to prove," insists Benitez. "He has already shown his quality. Of course, he can still improve, but he will because he's a player who wants to work hard.
"For Pepe to now come out and say the second year is the most important is a good sign. It tells me he is a winner, with the winners' mentality.
"Maybe some players like to look back at their first year and say they've done so well they don't need to worry about what they'll do in their next season.
"Pepe is different. He wants to keep on improving and show people he is even better than they've seen already.
"It was very difficult for Pepe to achieve what he's already done in one year at Liverpool. If I look at the history of the club and ask the supporters to tell me who is the best goalkeeper they've ever seen here, they will all tell me Ray Clemence. For another goalkeeper to come to a new club, in a new country, and have even better figures than Clemence deserves a lot of credit.
"You may see Pepe make a mistake, but he responds very well. He's always ready for the next shot and doesn't worry about what's happened before, because he realises you can't change it. The FA Cup Final was the best example of this, where he started the game with a mistake but ended it making important saves to win the trophy.
"We've had problems in the past when goalkeepers became too nervous after making one mistake and lost their confidence. Pepe doesn't let things affect him. He will forget about it during a game and then watch it again and learn from it with the goalkeeping coach.
"He is the right keeper for a top side, because the challenge is not to make many saves in one game, but sometimes just one important save. Against Maccabi Haifa Pepe didn't have alot to do, but at the end he made a fantastic save. That's why we need him. He will have more work to do if we continue to play the system we want to."
liverpool tv.
Pepe had a marvelous first season making very few errors and off hand I cant think of any that actually cost us a game (West Ham was close).
I think the main reason for Rafa's confidence in Pepe is his mental strength and his ability to put errors behind him, and just get on with the game.
In my time watching Liverpool I have been lucky enough to have seen some of the best goalkeepers performing at their peak. I believe Pepe Reina can be one of the best, hes young agile and is probably our best keeper since Grobbellar, if not since Clemence.
If you take note of Rafa's last sentence, it sounds like we will be playing attacking football this season!