???️Can Mignolet become a top keeper?

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Can Mignolet become a top keeper?Simon Mignolet has had his fare share of critics in his time at Liverpool, me being one of them, but with another heroic penalty save at the weekend, which meant he has now saved 7 out of the last 15 penalties, is Mignolet now finally beginning to establish himself as a top keeper for The Reds? The Belgium keeper has not had the easiest of times in a red shirt. After a fantastic debut against Stoke at Anfield in 2013, which included a last minute penalty save, Mignolet has often struggled to cope with the pressure of being in between the sticks for Liverpool as well as his own self confidence issues. But since last January he has grown, both as a person and a keeper. However there are still question marks amongst certain sections of the media regarding Mignolet’s capabilities in goal for Liverpool.   Personally I think Mignolet has come a long way in the last 10 months, he is looking more sure of himself and has pulled out a number of top quality saves in games, especially at the back end of last season. But how does he rate against his predecessor, Pepe Reina, who was arguably a legend at the club. Reina was known to be somewhat of a penalty expert, however if you actually look at the statistics Mignolet has actually got a far better record at saving spot kicks then the Spaniards. Reina only managed to save 11.1% of penalties that he came up against while he was at Anfield, and when you think about it that really isn’t a lot for someone who we all thought was amazing at saving penalties. Whereas Mignolet has actually got a much higher penalty saves percentage rate at 47% With that said how does Mignolet compare to Reina in other aspects of the game. Well Reina played 285 Premier League matches for Liverpool, keeping 114 clean sheets and only making 9 errors that lead to goals. On the other hand Mignolet has played 231 Premier League matches for Liverpool keeping only 74 clean sheets, far fewer than Reina, he has also made a lot more errors that has lead to goals, 16 in total. So I think we can all agree statistically Reina is the better keeper overall, but I still have hope for Mignolet. I have to admit the Belgium international has irritated me in the past mainly because every time the ball went into the box my heart was in my mouth as I didn’t know what he was going to do. I didn’t know if he was going to come and catch the ball, flap at it or just simply drop it, I had absolutely no confidence in him. However his performances at the backend of last season really, really impressed me. He made some vital saves in big matches at crucial times, and I think he has carried those performances into the start of this season. Take yesterday’s game for example, apart from that penalty save he made a very important save from Vardy just before they scored their first goal, even if you look at that goal I think Mignolet would have come and collected that ball comfortably if he wasn’t being fouled, a fact that was conveniently over looked by the Match of the Day team. For the second goal Mignolet actually produces a really good save from Gray before Vardy headed the ball home, so he actually had a pretty good game despite conceding two goals. I think what you need to remember when comparing the statistics of Reina and Mignolet is that Reina played behind a very strong Liverpool defence that was well organised and knew what they were doing, Mignolet hasn’t had that luxury yet, every time he’s played for Liverpool it’s been with a very leaky and dodgy defence, if we can get this sorted I think Mignolet’s own performances will improve and I think we can start to get the best out of him. Will he become a great keeper? Only time will tell, I honestly believe we have the right man in goal for us at the minute and like I said before if we can sort out our defensive issues then I really do think Mignolet can become a top keeper for Liverpool in the Premier League.   Imraan Adam @imadam786
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