18 Sept 2014

BR warns: £9m LFC star must 'take more responsibility'. Replace with £16m legend?

In the wake of Liverpool's 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa, Reds boss Brendan Rodgers criticised the club's defenders for failing to achieve defensive 'consistency' in the league. The foundation of any defence is a commanding goalkeeper, and with Victor Valdes reportedly waiting in the wings for a move to Anfield, it looks like Rodgers is slowly losing patience with £9m signing Simon Mignolet.

In the wake of Liverpool's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa, Rodgers specifically singled out Dejan Lovren for criticism, but he also made it clear that he's not happy with Mignolet. He told reporters:

“We do expect the keeper to take more responsibility. We need everyone to defend in the box and that’s something we have to be comfortable with"

This is not the first time Rodgers has expressed slight dissatisfaction with Mignolet's performance. In March, he also delivered a veiled warning about the goalkeeper's form. He told reporters:

"He [Mignolet] has done very well, but to step into Pepe Reina's shoes was always going to be difficult for him. He certainly wasn't the finished article when we brought him, so he's still got lots of improvement to make".

Poor command of the box is a complaint that is regularly levelled against Mignolet, and it appears that Rodgers is concerned by this ongoing issue. The question is, will Mignolet get the time work on those 'improvements', and become the 'finished article'?

Mignolet (arguably) made another mistake against Ludogorets on Tuesday, when he raced off his line too quickly, allowing Paulos to easily round him and slide the ball into the net. In that respect, he's basically continued where he left off last season, where - according to OPTA - the Belgian made more mistakes that led to goals than any other Premier League goalkeeper.

There's a real opportunity for another goalkeeper to come in and usurp Mignolet, and if it's not Valdes, then hopefully Rodgers will bringing someone in during the January transfer window.

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37 comments:

  1. That OPTA stat is a little strange... How do you define a mistake? And what if a defender made a mistake leading to the goalkeeper making one?

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  2. Not sure why people are blaming Lovren for the Ludogorets goal, yes he missed the tackle but that is because he didn't have time to get into the right position because SAKHO was too easily beaten.
    He was just trying to cover for Sakho's error and its unfair to blame Lovren. I'm sure he would not be blamed had he stayed on the right hand side.

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  3. I have to admit I could not believe Mig came rushing out for luds goal.

    I do think that he is a very good shot stopper but saying that most keepers in the prem are.

    He does really need to start to command his area, sit him down and show him a few Schmeichel videos

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  4. I must I haven't seen anybody blame either Lovren or Sakho for that goal, most people are blaming migs for being in no mans land

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  5. Kasper schmeichel is the answer

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  6. I can think of a few, McGregor, Marshall, Bernd Leno, Zieler... I'd take anyone of these 4... Valdes had a good start to last season, arguably his best at Barca, but will he cope with the PL, I'm not so sure.....
    I was a staunch supporter of Mignolet, but I'm starting to consider the possibilty he isn't the man for the No.1 shirt full time....
    But I will echo Gabzz, alot of Mignolets issues last season were down to poor defending as much as solely his mistakes....

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  7. Migs has made a couple of howlers since the start of the season but so have a lot of our players, not just the new lads but also the more established players Stevie Gerrard his as guilty as anyone, so will Brendan publicly humiliate him too? this just Isn`t the Liverpool way all this should be said behind closed doors, we know who is at fault but really Brendan public humiliation why? i for one disagree with these methods.

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  8. Liverpool need to upgrade.Mignolet isn't good enough.Asmir Begovic would be a good option.We could offer Stoke Assaidi on a permanent deal and get a discount!

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  9. It is a little vague but he does make too many mistakes- unfortunately for us

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  10. Gerrard was where when they scored? erm in no mans land maybe?

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  11. Who brought Mignolet in? Answer Rodgers, when we had Pepe. Who brought Sakho in? Answer Rodgers, When we had Agger. So lets hope out of the 9new players he`s brought in we get at least 4 who make it.

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  12. Humiliation is quite a strong word to use

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  13. Yeah, and when Agger played and wasn't very good, who was at fault for that? AGGER! I hate how everyone is saying how great Agger was but whenever he played he was extremely underwhelming.

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  14. That is humiliation? Wow, you are WAY TOO sensitive dude.

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  15. To be honest I never really understood why we chose Mignolet over Begovic at the time we signed him.
    I'm not ready to write Mignolet off as I feel the areas of his game he struggles with CAN be improved but at the very least he needs some competition and maybe someone that could come into the team for a while, giving Migs some time out to develop his all round game. Valdes at his age and on a free makes sense

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  16. During their latter stages at the club both the players form you mention was mediocre to poor. Is that Rodgers fault too?

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  17. Sakho has been a tower of strength and Migs as been fantastic. Reina his still better than Migs and i think Agger couldn`t have been any worse than Sakhos so thats my point.

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  18. Reina was poor in Kenny's last season in charge and worse in Rodgers first season. He then forced Rodgers hand by lining himself up to move to Barca.
    Mignolet may not have been the correct choice as I said in an earlier post, but you make it sound like Rodgers couldn't wait to get rid of Reina and replace him with Mignolet and that's just not true. Clubs weren't exactly beating down our door to sign him over the summer either and is now a perennial bench warmer at Bayern. Not the signs of someone who is still a top keeper.

    Agger by his own admission was struggling to be up to the physical demands of the premier league and his fitness couldn't be relied upon so again he had to sign someone. I personally don't rate Sakho that highly and think he was definitely over-priced but I'm also aware that he's very young for a defender and is only going to get better much like Mignolet. Reina and Agger are only gonna get worse and as I've previously alluded to, they hadn't been convincing for a couple of seasons prior to leaving

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  19. I asked the same question when this was brought up a couple of months ago.


    The stat referenced obviously exists, but it does sound very subjective.

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  20. Begovic is not a great distributor, in fact he can be downright awful at times. If we'd brought him in instead I guess we'd be having this same kind of conversation but talking about Begovic's poor passing from the back. I'd suggest that if we're looking for a new keeper that we need to aiming a bit higher. Valdes might just turn out to be perfect.

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  21. Begovic has conceded a couple of very soft goals this season already, but they go unnoticed as he plays for Stoke. When we sign him, we'll discover his weaknesses too and start again throwing out other goalkeeper names for us too sign.

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  22. His distribution isn't the best but his positioning, decision making and control of his penalty area are far superior to Mignolet and those are the areas we're shipping goals from as opposed to distribution

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  23. Some fans want a Valdes type that has fantastic distribution.I want someone solid and commands his box, communicates with defenders and gives the backline confidence.Do you have a name to bring to the table or are you happy with Simon Mignolet? The very soft goals Begovic has let in this season that have gone unnoticed because he plays for Stoke.Can you point them out?

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  24. I think Mignolet was in a lose lose situation against Ludogorets. If he'd stayed on his line he would've received criticism from people for not closing the angle, if he rushes out he leaves himself open to be the player going round him.
    As some one who has played as a Gk for quite a few years, its not a great situation to be in. Plus you only have a millisecond to choose.
    Valdes would be great back up, but I don't see why we would replace him. Mignolet is much younger, therefore has a much longer career ahead of him. Why replace him with someone older.
    If Rodger does want to fully replace him, then do it with someone who has years left in them.
    You know who I wish played for Liverpool, Tim Howard. That guy has turned in to such a good keeper. Plus his beard is excellent.

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  25. Thing is, he didn't close the angle nor he stayed on his line. He is very indecisive.

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  26. He definitely closes the angle, he just gets rounded way to easily.

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  27. I mean he didn't close the angle convincingly.

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  28. Watch the goals he conceded against Villa a Hull- completely at fault for both. But as I said, as long as players don't play for us their the best in the world. And it wasn't a dig at you.

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  29. Being a Goalkeeper myself I understand the difficult of the situation. Nevertheless the player was moving away from goal which means:


    1. There's zero chance of you catching him as the initial distance between you and the attacker is only gets wider every second given the angle. You're essentially making up distance as you run out.


    2. If he'd have stayed on his line the shot would have been a very low percentage one. Few, players can whip a shot across their body while moving in the opposite direction with any accuracy, let alone power.


    These are small nuances you pick up naturally through experience. Now I by no means am saying I'm a better goalkeeper than Migs, but having played professionally I've learned decision making is the most important part of the craft when the game is played at such a high speed. He gets caught in no man's land way too often, which points to some serious indecision on his part.

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  30. Begovic is Canadian. We know dick all about distribution and ball control and I'm not afraid to admit it. As a keeper (and having played through the system ahead of him) I can tell you that there is almost zero focus on those aspects. I'm not sure he's the right fit for Roger's system from what I've seen of him at Stoke, though he's a terrific shot stopper.

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  31. I believe there are only four GK's who can be realistically bought and will prove as an upgrade to SM.
    1) Peter Cech
    2) Julio Cesar
    3) Hugo Lloris
    4) Fernando Muslera

    Top 3 will demand massive wages.

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  32. Don't know about Cesar, he was playing in Toronto a few months ago on a massive pay cut (there's a wage cap in the MLS). I think he'd just be happy to be playing top level football again. From what I saw from him here and at the WC he was very sharp. I think it could be a cheap option.


    Muslera is Mignolet mark II. Suffers from the exact same issues. Cech would be a very interesting prospect, but I doubt Mourinho would be up for helping us out.

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  33. To your point: The options are truly limited. We'll probably have to grin and bare it for now

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  34. The Hull goal: Begovic pushed Huddlestone's low hard shot away from goal.Stokes defenders were not alert which allowed Nikica Jelavic to score.He was stretching it wasn't a shot that he could've held.
    Maybe it was going off target but keepers can't take that chance.Completely his fault... not for me.When a keeper saves a shot that's too hot to handle and diverts it away from goal he needs defenders to do their job.
    The Aston Villa goal: I agree with you Sammy.He should've done better.Joe Hart lets in 10 of those a season and is highly rated.Anyway no excuses.It was poor but that goal doesn't make him a bad option.

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  35. I think Uruguay keep lot of clean sheets, partly because of Muslera.

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  36. Not saying he's bad. Just not a step up on Migs. There's a reason Lazio shipped him out.

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  37. He had a very successful time at Lazio and the reason they sold him was 12mn transfer fee that Galatasary paid for him.

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