Simon Mignolet: Mirroring Sander Westerveld's Liverpool Demise

Bereft of self-confidence and permeating indecisiveness, the plight of Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet continues after a luckless own goal in a 3-1 win against Leicester City.

It prolongs an error-riddled ordeal, a story all-too familiar to former Liverpool No. 1 Sander Westerveld, who arrived at Anfield from Vitesse in 1999 as the most expensive goalkeeper in Premier League history.

Then-Liverpool manager Gerard Houllier said au revoir to David James, who by his own admission was going to be a "negative influence" in the dressing room.

Aubrey Washington/Getty Images

Like Houllier committing to Westerveld, current Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers put his reputation on the line for Mignolet, a €11.4/£9 million signing from Sunderland, who effectively ended Pepe Reina's tenure at Anfield.

Houllier and Rodgers both cleared the path for their respective No. 1s. 

Brad Friedel pragmatically accepted his fate as Westerveld's backup and Pegguy Arphexad was being paid to ride the coattails of Liverpool's success.

"Having spent €5.7/£4.5 million on Sander, there was no way Houllier was not going to play him," Friedel said, per his autobiography. "I determined that I would be nothing other than a total professional all season."

Arphexad's goalkeeping left an indelible impression on Steven Gerrard, per his autobiography: "I almost fell off the sofa pissing myself."

Friedel and Arphexad were props to shore up the confidence of Westerveld—Mignolet has his own prop in Brad Jones.

MAX NASH/Associated Press

Westerveld conceded the least amount of goals during the 1999-2000 Premier League season and was a starter in Liverpool's 2000-01 treble-winning campaign, but there were ambivalent feelings about his true ability.

"I wasn't completely convinced by our goalkeeper Sander Westerveld... we noticed certain shots or headers went past Sander a bit too easily," Gerrard said, per his autobiography. "Sander was fortunate that he was protected by a brilliant defence [Markus Babbel, Sami Hyypia, Stephane Henchoz, Jamie Carragher]."

In a pre-social media era, Westerveld became a running gag for his brain fades.

"If someone two metres away from me drops their glass of beer on the floor...you can bet that a wise guy has asked if it was me," Westerveld said, per Graeme Bailey at Sky Sports. "Even my postman gets in on the act when he gives me my letters, he says: '...don't drop them'."

Mignolet's backlash is worse than Westerveld's.

There is the instant haranguing on social media combined with the public shaming.

Perturbed by the criticism, Westerveld morphed into a blame deflector, one time artfully explaining a gaffe against Middlesbrough by providing two risible excuses:

1. Negligence from Middlesbrough's ground staff.
2. Carragher's faulty positioning.

"It doesn't seem that Middlesbrough have undersoil heating, which is a pity...[as] you'd see the ball with ice stuck to it," Westerveld said, per Paul Higham at Sky Sports. "Unfortunately, Carragher blocked my view of the ball."

Westerveld's wife cut to the chase, per Carragher's autobiography:

"

"You're a disgrace," she said to me. "The way you're playing I'm surprised you're happy to be seen out in public. You shouldn't be in the team."

[...]

If she thought I was bad, she and her husband must have been arguing constantly.  

[...]

It was no surprise to me when he was unceremoniously dumped by Houllier.

"

After a campaign marred by mistakes, Westerveld was still receiving insincere support from Houllier.

"[Houllier] spent half his time telling me that I could be the best goalkeeper in the world," Westerveld said, per Sid Lowe at the Guardian. "That it had taken [Peter] Schmeichel two years to really settle in England, and that I should ignore the rumours.

"Houllier bought [Chris] Kirkland at 2 pm on European deadline day... At 4 pm, he signed [Jerzy] Dudek... The deadline had passed before I knew what was going on."

Spending a combined €13.85/£10.85 million on two No. 1s was Houllier's way of making Westerveld redundant, or as his agent Ton van Dalen said, per the Liverpool Echo, "dropping Sander like a brick."

To think it started with a public backing. 

"[Sander] saved results for us last season," Houllier said, per Sportal (h/t SBS). "But he has to show his character now."

Now, 14 years later.

"[Mignolet] saved us in a lot of games here," Rodgers said, per Chris Bascombe at The Telegraph. "He is a strong enough character to come through it."

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