6 Oct 2014

Fans tell BR: Dump LFC misfit ASAP & sign 'incredible' £25m star. Shock deal?

Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet recently dismissed the idea that his place as a first-team regular is under threat, but despite a slightly improved performance against West Brom, it's clear (IMO) that the Belgian is not the long-term solution, and it seems that a significant sample of LFC fans feel the same.

Last week, The Guardian claimed:

"Brendan Rodgers...wants to replace him [Simon Mignolet] with Joe Hart, who fears that he could be for the chop at Manchester City given their reluctance to offer him a new contract".

Last week, I conducted a site poll (which is still ongong) asking fans if Brendan Rodgers should replace Mignolet with Hart:

* 18400 visitors (approx) participated in the poll.
* 67% of voters chose £25m-rated Hart over Mignolet.

That's a pretty emphatic vote of no-confidence in Mignolet, but it's hardly surprising given the Belgian's middling form last season.

As argued in a previous article, I am not in favour of padding the team with British players. Hart is part of a national team with a long history of abject failure, and it (arguably) follows that it's a mistake to fill the majority of LFC's first team with the same players who persistently fail on the international stage.

Having said that, 'Incredible' Hart is clearly a superior goalkeeper to Mignolet, and the basic stats so far this season indicate Hart is performing at a superior level, even though he's played one game less:

Goals conceded

Hart 5 | Mignolet 10

Minutes per goal conceded

Hart 108 | Mignolet 63

Clean Sheets

Hart 2 | Mignolet 1

Shots saved

Hart 67% | Mignolet 64%

Catches/punches

Hart 13 | Mignolet 8

£25m is a ridiculous fee, though, and I can't see Liverpool paying anywhere near that amount (nor should they).

Author:


36 comments:

  1. Certainly won't happen.

    On a separate note what are peoples thoughts on Lovren? Has he been any better than the lads he has replaced? He seems to have made mistakes no matter which side he has been on. I think he needs time to settle and get his confidence, perhaps trying too hard. Passing could be better but certainly not bad.

    Skrtel again seems to be our form CB but that comes with it's own problems as we have seen.

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  2. Suso out for two months. Going for a groin op.

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  3. Lovren may need some more time but he has been nowhere near the same level he was at last season.


    Our defence is going to ship many more goals this season.

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  4. The only one of those stats that bears any relevance is save percentage, which are roughly the same. All the other stats are immediately nullified by the fact that city hav a much better defence than us.

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  5. Hart would be a major upgrade on Mignolet without a shadow of a doubt just can't see it happening unfortunately. It seems much more likely we will get Valdes in sometime between now and January. Either way I'm happy as Mignolet has become a big weak link for us.

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  6. Our defence is every GK's worst nightmare.

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  7. Still think Lovren will come good it just seems like he's trying too hard to nick the ball earlier and as a result gets caught out if he doesn't make it. If he learns to pick and choose a bit better I think he will be a solid defender.

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  8. Skrtel was was at fault for the goal against basel, he was to busy trying to stop his man from getting the ball instead of attacking the ball himself, saw the ball too late and headed it towards goal (wtf), if it wasnt for a great save by Mignolet it would have been another og by him, Mignolet pulled off another couple of good saves in that game, Skrtel needs to get his priorities right in set pieces.

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  9. That's what I meant by Skrtel coming with his own problems. I wouldn't call any of our CBs dependable. I think Sakho has been harshly treated though.

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  10. And usually a dedicated DM.

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  11. I can't believe 67% of 18400 voters support spending £25m on Joe Hart.He's a upgrade but I wouldn't say 'head and shoulders':) above Mignolet.I think Hart is overrated by the British hype machine.
    Hart pulls off the spectacular but gets done with simple shots.His decision making at times can be very poor.The mistakes he's made behind Man City's solid defense have been comical.
    Refresh your memories and take a look at the 25m-rated player on YouTube.Type Joe Hart bloopers.The video is done to the Benny Hill theme which fits perfectly.

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  12. Getting his nob enlarged to attract suitors in January?

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  13. Off topic.
    Great footwork and goal from Aspas vs. Rijeka. I give him a hard time...who doesn't?...but must give credit where it's due. Well done, Aspas.

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  14. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa3:37 am, October 07, 2014

    We can sign the best defenders and goalkeepers in the world, and we will still have the same goal leaking problem! We are not addressing the root cause of the issue by just replacing players. The crux of the problem is that we don't have a a defensive specialist coach. I cringed each time when I see the defenders play from the back. Defenders main objective is to defend and not becoming a playmaker! When defending the setpieces, you can see that our players organized themselves without a proper gameplan, like who is suppose to man mark who, and who is suppose to do zonal marking. Sign a former defender e.g. Mark Wright and you can see our defensive gameplay improve.

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  15. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa3:38 am, October 07, 2014

    Damn right! Sign Neur of Germanay and you will see him tremble like never before.

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  16. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa3:41 am, October 07, 2014

    Grass is always greener and Ppl generally have very short memories. Mignolet has save us countless times, I can count the number of mistakes he has made, but I have lost count the number of times Mignolet has win us matches. Mignolet has my support, and he will be our no.1 for long run, he just need an able backup like Valdes to push him to become even better.

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  17. Joel Matt Murdock Hwa3:45 am, October 07, 2014

    i have always rated him, and I blame BR for not slowly easing him into the squad. He started Aspas in the first 3 matches last season, but BR did not do him any favor, when he is asked to play as no.10 when his best position is no.9. I wonder why BR sign the players and not play them at their best position. Similar to Sahin, who is a defensive midfielder but was asked again to play as no.10. But then for Suso, BR asked him to play on the right-wing, instead of as no.10 because that's Suso's best position. I'm flabbergasted.

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  18. Forget Hart. Get Valdez. Let SM fight for his place then.

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  19. Is Valdes coming or not? Is he even healthy? I think Begovic would have been a great addition eve though I felt Migs was a good add when we got him. His first few games for us last year when we were missing Suarez were first rate.....

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  20. Our "defensive woes" begin at midfield, plain as day. Fix that and results will be much better. Need a ball winning, attack snuffing DM. If that's Can, great. If not find one because it's not Stevie in the long run. He ran more against Brom but that won't happen on a regular basis. I liked him better forward as well. Why not try Flanno at DM when healthy?

    By the way, with Henderson playing more forward the offense flowed more and I don't think that was coincidence..

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  21. We av a shity defense wa do u expect d keeper 2do?its a d fault of d coach we need a quality DM player to cover d defence no matter d amount we spend on getin a goaly or sorting our defence we wil stil b leakin in goals until BR gets it rite nd sign a quality DM gerrard is no DM player

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  22. Well when you put it like that

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  23. He's made mistakes - more than Sakho. But for that price, he is guaranteed time to settle in, which might be just what he needs. I still like Sakho and agree he has been harshly treated.

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  24. I suspect that BR appreciates him playing with his head up in a - whisper it - Kompany sort of way. We'll see if he becomes that kind of leader. The thing about guys like Kompany and Thiago Silva is that they are not only leaders of the defence but of the whole team. Time will tell if Lovren can earn that kind if respect in the dressing room.

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  25. BR played Sahin there because we didn't really have a OM at that time (not counting gerrard and shelvey)

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  26. jodan Henderson not good enough lucas leiva not good enough you know what mignolet if he is on that list of not good enough ill give him a chance also as he is a keeper lets find out how good he is in about 4 to 5 years when he hits his prime although if we can get joe hart i'll take him but then again if you listen to sky sports he ain't good enough either

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  27. I think we need another top goalkeeper to back up Mig and I am sure that would lead to fewer goals conceded. I just don't know whether they will let us play both of them at the same time though.

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  28. Hahahha! Hourly basis!!

    Poor Aspas...Such a flop!

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  29. Get Milner and Hart for 20-25!

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  30. thexcuriousxwanderer12:59 pm, October 07, 2014

    I think the problem is not the price tag, but rather Lovren works better with Skrtel. The defence is a partnership, and the pair that works best is the pair that gets selected. I do notice though when Sakho plays, he is very tidy, and while he has a very good passing accuracy, he tends to pass to the feet rather than to space. Which means while accurate, his passes are not very effective. (This is personal impression based on games I've seen him play, I could be wrong!)

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  31. thexcuriousxwanderer1:03 pm, October 07, 2014

    On the same note, if any of them could have the skills and vision to make that pass Fabregas sent to Costa ... man that was a beauty. I would take that guy in a heartbeat. (and Imagine IF Mario could time that run like Costa ... mmm mmm. But that guy would most likely be Sturridge or Sterling, I wish Mario can shore up that aspect of his game)

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  32. When will Valdes come?

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  33. Not really Germany had a non existent defence in the World CUp and Neuer bailed them out time and time again

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  34. So Hart is basically slightly better then Mignolet

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  35. Mignolet needs to leave now and play where there is less pressure. He has too far to improve to be of standard for the redmen. Too many times he doesn't come off his line or six yard box to take the pressure of his defenders. Too many times he doesn't command his box to keep the pressure off and start an attack. Too many times his footballing skills have let him down, he clearly has trouble clearing his lines. He looks weak physically and very scared when playing and his defenders can see that in him. He was yet another poor purchase from Brendan Rogers, who i would estimate currently has around a 20% success rate on players bought. Better care needs to be taken and we certainly need a new goal keeping coach.

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  36. 100% spot on.
    + you can't afford to have shy/nervous CBs and keeper. It doesn't matter how good they are if they don't have confidence in each other, that's why Reina/Carra/Hyypia worked.
    Reina was world class, Hyypia was decent and Carra was average as players, but they trusted each other and they were good at organising players at set pieces - they COMMUNICATED, and were all fluent in English... and therein lies part of the current problems.

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