Poll Is he a keeper?

[Buddha]

Yes, this thread's been done before, but it's not likely been more relevant than right now.

Mignolet's had a quite brilliant end to the season in our push for a top four place. He's suddenly found confidence in his capacity to command his area, has dealt with crosses with aplomb and has inspired confidence in his back four through intention and action combined.

So, what to do in the summer? Bearing in mind the squad's needs elsewhere within a healthy but limited budget and with Karius likely to improve for a season settling, do we stick or twist?

What would you do?

 

[the count]

I would have waited till after the Boro game to start this thread.

 

[Holle]

Buy a new No 1 and flog Karius.

 

[white-sox]

Don't know if its just me but I always feel an affinity with Liverpool players and a natural want for them to to do well . Yeah, more fool me. Mignolet has been with us for a while now and I would rather he succeeded than some new player. That's just me.

 

[Dreambeliever]

Sell him, he has never been good enough when it matters

 

[Squiggles]

I'm confident he's improved his level rather than just 'in form'. He's been very good for months now and that's no fluke. It's hard to say anything definitive with regards to Mignolet due to his history, but I think you can say the keeper situation is much, much less of a priority than it was in November. We should always look to improve if there's the right opportunity out there. That counts for anyone. But right now I'd rather Klopp sort out the more obvious weaknesses with the squad.

 

[Oncy]

Hes becoming a very good keeper.
I have no problem with him starting next season.
It we had a spare 30/40m after sorting all the really bad areas then yeah fine buy a wolrdie.

If not Simon is fine with me.

 

[leftpeg]

Hes becoming a very good keeper.
I have no problem with him starting next season.
It we had a spare 30/40m after sorting all the really bad areas then yeah fine buy a wolrdie.

If not Simon is fine with me.

This.

 

[juniormember]

He's really improved, way more so than when he had to improve last time when Brad Jones took his place.
But he's still thick as fuck when it comes to football.

If we could bring in a good, quick keeper with a football brain like Kasper Schmeichel I'd be much happier.

 

[LarryHagman]

He's been shit and fucked up loads of times. But you have to give the guy credit for turning it around. I'd prefer a better keeper but what he has done is push replacing him down the priority list, and I'd put money on us not bothering looking for another now.

 

[Zlate]

He's turned it around and has improved quite a bit, but I personally don't feel he's a title winning type goalkeeper. I'd like us to be in the market for a player like de gea, courtois etc

 

[KopRed]

He needs to learn how to play "foot"ball. His kicking is atrocious. There is no point in us passing back to him because most of the time he will send it back to the opponents losing possession and inviting pressure. In those games when we are leading by a single goal he will kick the ball badly to an opponent and they will be onto us like terriers. Frustrating to watch.

 

[Ryan]

He needs to learn how to play "foot"ball. His kicking is atrocious. There is no point in us passing back to him because most of the time he will send it back to the opponents losing possession and inviting pressure. In those games when we are leading by a single goal he will kick the ball badly to an opponent and they will be onto us like terriers. Frustrating to watch.

Agree, but he's not going to "learn" how to improve there unfortunately.

At his age, you can either play and kick or you can't. He can't.

 

[tombrown]

This.

This

 

[RedStar]

He's been decent enough recently that id rather we spent our transfer budget on other areas of the team that need improvement. But long term he's not great and I don't think he will ever be comfortable with the ball at his feet.

 

[JohnnyRocket]

Keepers tend to reach their prime in their 30's. He's 29 now. So maybe there is still the long term solution.

I'm in 2 minds though. Part of me just knows that if we put trust in him and go into next season with him as No. 1, he's bound to make a couple of shockers in the first couple of games in the season, his confidence goes to hell, and we're back at square one.

 

[KopRed]

Agree, but he's not going to "learn" how to improve there unfortunately.

At his age, you can either play and kick or you can't. He can't.

That is what i don't get with these millionaire footballers. I mean if they practice something, say a corner kick or a goal kick for 30 mins after every training session for the rest of their career, at some point they should become decent at it no? But we have had mostly rubbish corner kick takers, even Gerrard wasn't that good at it.

Do they not train or do they just not have the flair to kick a dead ball? Or perhaps they are all just abit thick.

 

[Brizzle]

Nowhere near the top of our priorities any more. Which is good news.

 

[Hansern]

Agreed, no problem going into a new season with Ming and Karius as our goalkeepers. Spend the money on other more pressing areas.

 

[mark1975]

Sell him, he has never been good enough when it matters

He's developed into a really good keeper this season and has been one of our better players. Keepers can develop at a different rate to outfield players, and in fairness to him, he's had one of the worst "big club" defenses infront of him for the last few years.

What do you mean "when it matters"? I don't remember any specific with regards to big game blunders, or bad performances in crucial games. He was inconsistent and made mistakes, there was nothing significant you could pinpoint to anything in particular like a high pressured game.

 

[keniget]

I would have waited till after the Boro game to start this thread.

Yup, this is just asking for trouble.

 

[FoxForceFive]

I don't know.

If we have spare cash after buying a top DM, a world class striker, & a boss LB, then yeah, replace him with someone better.

If we don't, then he's earned his right to another chance. However, he WILL let us down again, & his distribution, whilst massively improved, is nowhere near as good as a keeper at this level should have, which is a disadvantage for us when compared to our peers, as a keepers distribution can relieve pressure when needed, or start attacks, even creating assists (Reina did all this with his lightning quick & accurate kicks & throws).

However, his resurgence of late means his place in the list of 'Need replacing ASAP' has dropped a few spots.

 

[Oncy]

I don't know.

If we have spare cash after buying a top DM, a world class striker, & a boss LB, then yeah, replace him with someone better.

If we don't, then he's earned his right to another chance. However, he WILL let us down again, & his distribution, whilst massively improved, is nowhere near as good as a keeper at this level should have, which is a disadvantage for us when compared to our peers, as a keepers distribution can relieve pressure when needed, or start attacks, even creating assists (Reina did all this with his lightning quick & accurate kicks & throws).

However, his resurgence of late means his place in the list of 'Need replacing ASAP' has dropped a few spots.

Ryan is right, we arent buying a DM.

 

[Frogfish]

He needs to learn how to play "foot"ball. His kicking is atrocious. There is no point in us passing back to him because most of the time he will send it back to the opponents losing possession and inviting pressure. In those games when we are leading by a single goal he will kick the ball badly to an opponent and they will be onto us like terriers. Frustrating to watch.

Really this is something that ALL keepers do. I watch a ton of games and I don't care if their name is Cech, Schmeichel, Foster, Forster, De Gea or Butland .. they all do it. Into touch or straight to an opponent. If it's going over halfway then it's odds-on a defender's ball anyway. However, I'm not at all certain this isn't a deliberate tactic at times, let the defender head it out into midfield and compete (and often win) the ball there.

Reina's distribution was a force of nature though.

 

[FoxForceFive]

Ryan is right, we arent buying a DM.

He's probably right. Unfortunately, cos IMO we do really need one.

 

[manwithnoname]

Ryan is right, we arent buying a DM.

Oh well, we've been saying for fucking years that we need to buy a top quality DM, and a top quality goalkeeper, so why should Klopp's arrival change that?

We can carry on saying it, as we carry on never winning anything because we carry on conceding far too many stupid goals.

Given we all know that a DM, keeper, CB, LB, CM, fast AM and new striker are what is required, we can take some comfort in the fact that we'll get at least three out of that lot this summer. Maybe even four

 

[Buddha]

Yup, this is just asking for trouble.

I doubt that if there's a Mignolet fuck up vs Boro (or we unexpectedly lose) there's much blame to attribute to this thread!

I'm all for open-minded quantum theory of interconnectedness but that's absurd. In fact, if you want to go down that route it might be better to think positively about his attributes rather than worry about possible negatives.

 

[gkmacca]

He needs to learn how to play "foot"ball. His kicking is atrocious.

Clemence started out as a terrible kicker of a ball. He worked hard on it and improved a bit, but it was always the weak aspect of an otherwise great keeper. In fact, he dealt with it by mastering the long and quick throw - thus starting a sort of club tradition for keepers that Reina also exemplified. Ming can't transform his kicking - he should still work at it, though - but he can certainly develop his throwing.

 

[Hansern]

He's probably right. Unfortunately, cos IMO we do really need one.

Nah, I think we're buying one. But most likely another player that can play in several positions, but also as a DM.

Naby Keita seems to be one of our top targets and he can play in that role as well.

 

[Judge Jules]

Agree. Klopp won't want a Masher type, who's mustard as a DM and only as a DM, but I'm hopeful he will look to inject a bit of bite into our midfield provided we can find a player (or preferably two IMO) who can dig in AND play football.