Analysing Simon Mignolet's Goalkeeping for Liverpool This Season

When Simon Mignolet was brought in as the inevitable replacement to Pepe Reina, the Belgian No. 2 had a big task on his hands.

Reina had commanded Liverpool’s goal for eight years and become a firm fan favourite, riding with the club throughout some of the most turbulent times in its history. 

Twenty-five-year-old Mignolet came with a weight of expectation on his shoulders, so after 11 league appearances and four clean sheets—this is an analysis of his season so far for Liverpool.

In part one, I will break down Mignolet’s game from his early performances for Liverpool this season, discussing his goalkeeping attributes and drawing comparisons to his predecessor, Reina.

In part two, I will examine the opinion of his colleagues at the club to gauge their thoughts on his start at Liverpool.

Finally, in part three, I will look at the Liverpool Twittersphere's analysis of Mignolet and encourage you to leave your thoughts on his career so far in the comments below.

 

Part One: Attributes

For the purpose of clarity, I have ignored Liverpool’s two games in the League Cup this season (in which Mignolet played both) and drawn upon his goalkeeping from Premier League games only.

On football stats website Squawka, his performance score, which is calculated by an algorithm of all his positive stats minus his negative ones, Mignolet scores a respectable 165.

For some perspective, during arguably his best season yet, Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny scored 262, dropping Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart, minus-six, and Everton’s Tim Howard, 250.

In comparison, over in Italy, however, Reina has accumulated a performance score of 322 in his 12 appearances for Napoli.

Mignolet has proven he can make a range of saves and let his presence be known to Premier League strikers in the penalty area.

He had an impressive debut in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Stoke City on August 17, becoming an instant hero with the Kop faithful. 

On 41 minutes, he showed great agility and strength in diving to his left to turn a stinging Jon Walters shot around the post. 

Shortly after, Mignolet denied Ryan Shawcross, who wriggled his way into some shooting space on the edge of the box. His right-foot shot was met by a strong outstretched Mignolet, who stopped the ball with a wide left hand and gathered on the second attempt with no sign of danger.

He went on to deny Walters again from the penalty spot in the dying seconds of the game. He spread himself wide in the goal as Walters took his run up, playing a major role in the psychology of a penalty taker.

He dived perfectly to his right to deny the penalty. He then quickly rose to his feet to put his body in the way of the follow-up from Kenwyne Jones.

Away to Aston Villa on August 24, Christian Benteke was put through on goal. He saw his well-executed half-volley pushed away for a corner by Mignolet who stood tall, made himself big and got a strong hand to the ball.

Late on in Liverpool’s 1-0 victory over Manchester United at Anfield on September 1, Mignolet proved his reflex skills. Nani unleashed a wicked shot to his left side, which an unsighted Mignolet saw late but still got both hands to punching it away.

Mignolet conceded his first goal for the club in a 1-0 defeat at home to Southampton on September 21 but could do little about it.

Adam Lallana’s corner was met by Dejan Lovren’s header from close range. Lovren had held off Daniel Agger, sending the ball past Mignolet, despite his best efforts to spread himself across the goal.

Saints left-back Luke Shaw tested Mignolet later in the game, finding a way through an underperforming Reds defence and into the penalty area. His low right-foot drill from close range was kept out by the legs of the Liverpool keeper.

It was a defining save from Mignolet, who had read Shaw’s intentions well. He got his body low enough to smother it and prevent the visitors from extending their lead.

The follow-up proved Mignolet’s awareness of high-pressure situations. With the ball loose after Mignolet’s save with his legs, Southampton substitute Steven Davis raced in for the rebound.

Mignolet athletically readjusted his position, turning his body a full 180 degrees, rose to his feet slightly and pushed the ball away for a corner before Davis could connect. 

It was certainly a fine start at his new club for the Belgian international.

He could have been better positioned to keep out a Yohan Cabaye goal as Newcastle held Liverpool to a draw at St James' Park last month, but in more recent games, Mignolet hasn't been called upon as much as Liverpool’s defence begins to tighten up. 

The arrival of Mamadou Sakho at the end of the summer transfer window, and veteran Kolo Toure in an earlier transfer have given defenders Martin Skrtel and Agger more competition, thus improving their game.

In Liverpool’s last two home games—a 4-1 thrashing of West Bromwich Albion and a 4-0 hammering of a very poor Fulham—Mignolet has rarely been called upon, with Liverpool’s attack stealing the headlines.

Mignolet has conceded an average of 0.91 goals per game this season, according to Squawka, similar to Reina's 0.92 in Italy. However, after 11 appearances in the Premier League last season for Liverpool, Reina had conceded 1.27 goals per game.

The former Sunderland shot-stopper has made an average of 2.73 saves per game, working out as an average of three saves per goal, compared to Reina’s 1.09 saves per game and 0.86 saves per goal at the same stage for Liverpool last season, per Squawka.

However, perhaps this is an unfair comparison, playing behind different defensive line-ups.

Mignolet has proved his presence and ability in the Liverpool goal, boasting a 95 percent claim success rate and 64 percent successful punch record, according to Squawka.

Reina has produced an impressive 98 percent claim success rate this season for Rafa Benitez’s side, but only a 25 percent successful punch record. It was a similar story at this point last season for the Spaniard.

One of Reina’s best qualities was, and still is, his distribution. He has great control with his feet and the ability to swiftly launch counter-attacks from one end of the pitch to the other, having played as an outfield player earlier in his career and even in a pre-season friendly for Liverpool against Kaiserslautern in 2006.

Mignolet could still work on the pace of his distributions, which comes with experience. He needs to learn to look at the pitch in front of him, read it in a split second and make the right choice.

Nevertheless, Mignolet’s distribution has not been poor. He has recorded a 63 percent distribution success rate, according again to Squawka, just six percent lower than Reina’s after 11 games last season. 

Professionally, Mignolet’s attitude has been outstanding. Here Liverpool have a reliable and very talented goalkeeper, focussed on improving his game and adapting Brendan Rodgers’ philosophy of football from the very back.

 

Part Two: Colleague Assessment

Rodgers has remained surprisingly quiet on the subject of Reina this season, instead sitting back and letting Mignolet do the talking with his performances.

This shows the amount of confidence Rodgers has in Mignolet as a goalkeeper and a professional. He does not need to constantly be praising him in public.

Rarely is a goalkeeper talked about, unless he is making mistakes.

The Northern Irishman did, however, lavish Mignolet with praise on the opening day of the season when the Reds’ No. 22 turned away a Walters’ penalty to deny Stoke a late equaliser at Anfield.

Rodgers was quoted by Ian Cruise for talkSPORT after the game as saying:

"

When you don’t take your chances and you get a penalty against you at the end you get that sinking feeling. But he [Mignolet] has done his homework and he knows where penalty takers put them and he made a good first save, and then to get up and make the double save was even more impressive.

"

In October, Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg spoke to the club’s official website about Mignolet’s role in the 3-5-2 system that Rodgers had begun implementing: 

"

In terms of the goalkeeper playing out, he'll still look to play the ball into wide areas.

But in terms of when the opponents are on the attack, he needs to look at the shape of the team and see if he can help with tactical information that the three centre-halves and others need.

In terms of the centre-halves, he needs to help them to play with enough distance between each other. He also needs to ensure that, if the ball is on the right side, then the left-back needs to drop in to make up the numbers and make it four at the back.

The 'keeper needs to try and see if that balance is right and if the centre-halves are covering the right distance between each other. He needs to communicate with them to help us be solid in the defence.

"

Part Three: Fans’ Assessment

Football pundits collect their impressions of players mainly off highlight reels that have been heavily edited and dictated, according to the entertainment constrictions of football on television.

In an analysis of his goalkeeping so far for Liverpool, it is therefore very useful to ask the people who pay to watch Mignolet for the full 90 minutes each week for their initial impressions of Liverpool's new goalkeeper.

In analysing Mignolet's start to his career at Liverpool, I get the impression that, in a very positive way, he is not the finished article.

He has delighted fans by making agile saves, getting strong, reassuring hands to zipping shots and showing the reflexes and reaction to quickly deal with follow-ups.

Mignolet forms a key part of an increasingly organised defence, but to continue progressing, he must begin to show leadership qualities.

As he gains game experience and intelligence, Mignolet will begin to read the game better, enabling him to not only better contribute to Liverpool's forward play but also contribute more often.

This will come with time, but as a shot-stopper so far, he's not placed a foot incorrectly.