Simon Mignolet

[Red_Polo]

The ‘Pepe wouldn’t have made those saves’ argument is very weak IMO and completely discounts the fact that he mightn’t have been in the position to need to make the save due to his superior sweeping ability.

I don't think that's true at all. Mignolet is clearly not a commanding keeper and he should work on that, but he's produced quite a number of quality saves we'd become used to not seeing under Pepe. Subjective as that may be, at least they are instances where they effect is goal saved rather than the less easily quantified effect of Pepe's 'sweeping'.

I'm happy to see how Mignolet progresses for now.

[RedReet]

I don't think that's true at all. Mignolet is clearly not a commanding keeper and he should work on that, but he's produced quite a number of quality saves we'd become used to not seeing under Pepe. Subjective as that may be, at least they are instances where they effect is goal saved rather than the less easily quantified effect of Pepe's 'sweeping'.

I'm happy to see how Mignolet progresses for now.

So am I and overall he has probably been better than I was expecting, but I’m still not convinced that every time he makes a decent save we can confidently turn round and say ‘Pepe couldn’t have did that’. Especially when towards the end of last season Pepe was pulling off quality saves that people seem to forget and he was keeping plenty of clean sheets.

Either way, it’s not even about Pepe. In terms of quality, I don’t agree with the general consensus that we’ve upgraded the position. As I said, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Mignolet this year but I’ve still been harbouring concerns for some time (even before these recent mistakes), which obviously I hope prove unfounded in the end.

[Red_Polo]

Well, no, you can't say it every time obviously but the quality of saves he makes near routinely is something Pepe hadn't done regularly for years.

Anyway, I agree with your assessment by and large.

[RedReet]

Well, no, you can't say it every time obviously but the quality of saves he makes near routinely is something Pepe hadn't done regularly for years.

Anyway, I agree with your assessment by and large.

Well tell that to ones on here.

Anyway, I have him back in my FF team, so hopefully he hits top form again starting with Villa on Saturday.

[Red_Polo]

Sadly, I think with our defensive unit as a whole being so **** he'll continue to find it difficult to keep clean sheets.

[wiw]

I'd say on balance he's saved more points than he's cost us. That penalty save was huge for our season, and he's made countless others (including about 74 saves against Everton). It's tough for a goalie to be at their best for an entire season, it was nice to see him get a rest in the cup at least. He's had a bad month but he seems strong enough to put it behind him. His distribution has improved which is positive, shows he is being coached and learning.

I think with Johnson/Skrtel/Sakho/Flanagan we will look a lot more solid to give him some more protection.

[RedReet]

Sadly, I think with our defensive unit as a whole being so **** he'll continue to find it difficult to keep clean sheets.

Well I'm hoping Sakho comes straight back into the team and Villa should be a good opportunity to gain some confidence defensively.

Pity they finished quite strongly against Arsenal though as that will give them a bit of confidence, especially with Benteke scoring.

[Pablo]

A solid 7/10 for me so far. I think he's saved us a lot of points this season, particularly earlier in the season. He's going through a bit of a rough patch right now, but even in the rough patch he's made outstanding saves. As everyone's said I think he's suffered due to a constantly changing back four. I think he has massive potential for us. Massive.

[JohnDoe]

If we could merge Mignolet's shot stopping with Reina's everything but shot stopping, we would have a world class keeper.

[ronanm]

As others have pointed out, he has made some superb saves and hasn't had a particularly solid back 4 in front of him.

Crosses are a concern for me. He is (and might even sport) a big lad. Flapping when he comes out and nearly always punching on crosses when he should catch the odd time are a concern.

Think we should have gone for Begovic personally.

[Norbs]

If we could merge Mignolet's shot stopping with Reina's everything but shot stopping, we would have a world class keeper.

We should play with two keepers

[Shanks]

Overall he has probably saved us more points than he has cost us. Pepe might have made fewer errors but he wouldn't have made some of the saves that Mignolet has.

and this should be enough to satisfy any argument over Mignolet..

[shanks69]

and this should be enough to satisfy any argument over Mignolet..

and lets not kid our selves as much as i like pepe he never caught every cross that came into the box and more often than not he would punch the ball and not catch the cross and he flapped plenty of times at crosses that came in.

[Pablo]

As others have pointed out, he has made some superb saves and hasn't had a particularly solid back 4 in front of him.

Crosses are a concern for me. He is (and might even sport) a big lad. Flapping when he comes out and nearly always punching on crosses when he should catch the odd time are a concern.

Think we should have gone for Begovic personally.

I wanted Begovic too. I still think he's the best keeper in the league. I think they wanted silly money though.

[James P]

If we could merge Mignolet's shot stopping with Reina's everything but shot stopping, we would have a world class keeper.

I think Mignolet has better hair, to be honest. So shot stopping and hair, yeah?