Simon Mignolet

[rudedog]

Wow, didn't realize that. We've had several "match winning" keepers in the past, but also some absolute catastrophes both on and off the pitch. Remember when we signed Kirkland and Carson.. What on earth was the thinking going on there.

Mig needs to win us some games this season, then he can keep his place.

It was Kirkland and Dudek - mental really as we still had Westerveld at the time (who I think was the most expensive keeper in the prem when we bought him).

[dizzycat]

Fh my memory is going bad, I didn't even think twice when I typed that. Guess I was thinking of the good old days of Ray Clemence and Brucie.

[Daniel 7]

Westerveld wasn't very good and everyone hated him at the club, by all accounts. Houllier was one for quickly getting rid of those putting a downer on morale, look at Ziege and Litmanen. (Although he was just bang wrong on Jari)

[RedReet]

[Daniel 7]

Worst sporting scrap ever.

[Resu]

Westerveld wasn't very good and everyone hated him at the club, by all accounts. Houllier was one for quickly getting rid of those putting a downer on morale, look at Ziege and Litmanen. (Although he was just bang wrong on Jari)

I remember Xabi saying that he spoke to Westerveld before joining us, and that he only had good things to say about the club. So at least he didn`t hate everyone.

[Daniel 7]

Well, Liverpool was by far and away the biggest club he ever played for. LFC was his apex!

[Resu]

Well, Liverpool was by far and away the biggest club he ever played for. LFC was his apex!

Sporting wise it was. That doesn`t mean he`d recommend it, especially if everybody hated him.

[Exiled_red]

Worst sporting scrap ever.

The thing that annoyed me about that fight was, if you get involved in a fight on the pitch you are going to get a red, bareing that mind you may aswell get a few good digs in. Jeffers was at least trying to have a go and you could see the aggression in his face, Westerveld just gave him a half-arsed slap.

[peekay]

The weird thing about the 'Mignolet is a great shot-stopper' narrative: he really hasn't been for us. I'm not challenging his ability here, just his performance, but what type of things would we expect from a great shot-stopper? Saving a lot of shots, probably. And saving shots that other goalkeepers wouldn't save. In total, probably just conceding fewer goals than an average goalkeeper would concede from the same shots. And Mignolet hasn't done those things here.

His save percentage has been below the PL average for both of his years here, plus this season so far, and in each of those seasons we've let in more goals than we 'should've' based on the location and type of the shots we've faced. Mignolet's never put together a De Gea-like dominant spell of winning us points, which is what I'd really expect from a great shot-stopper, but he's actually been pretty poor at it for long stretches.

Just for comparison, in Pepe's last year, when he supposedly couldn't save anything, his save% was 68%. Mignolet's yet to better that here. We let in about three more goals than the models said we 'should've' that year, based on shot location/type; we let in eight more than expected in Mig's first year, and seven more than expected last season.

He's not the only factor in those things, but he is the biggest. It's probably more accurate to say that Mignolet can be a great shot-stopper than to say that he is one. Maybe the defence has held him back, maybe the manager - I suspect those funks he gets in whenever anything goes against him that ruin his next three matches play a really big role. But the point is that, for whatever reason, he's had bad runs of form. And if he could do other things - if he could command his box, or if he had great distribution, or if he communicated really well - he'd still be bringing value even when things weren't going well for him in goal. But he can't do those things, so for long spells he's been pretty much a non-entity.

The thing is, I don't think save% and expected goals performance is that indicative of shot-stopping ability. There's too much chance involved. But they're entirely indicative of shot-stopping performance, and that illustrates the disconnect between those two things. Shot-stopping, though definitely a skill and hugely valuable, is really pretty random. It's very easy to get on hot or cold streaks that have nothing to do with the keeper's ability, which is why I think it's a little less valuable than everyone's assuming. It's also why, when we look for real competition for Mignolet, whenever that time comes, we should be focusing on a lot of things other than just shot-stopping - distribution, communication, and commanding the box, all of which are much more consistent.

But everyone gets a new start under Klopp, and Mignolet made the most of his. The more compact defence should help. And since Mig is so much of a confidence player, maybe Klopp's motivational style unlocks something in him. Who knows. There's a keeper in there, somewhere.

You definitely should post more.

[shanks69]

https://www.facebook.com/BreatheSportUK/videos/1678170175760022/?fref=nf

[Kenneth]

They're going on my wall.

[RedReet]

No Palace build up yet?

Anyway, no Gayle for Palace.

Mig will be delighted.

[Assassin]

No Palace build up yet?

Anyway, no Gayle for Palace.

Mig will be delighted.

Me too

[Nicey]