Simon Mignolet has taken aim at Jurgen Klopp’s decision to rotate his goalkeepers and claimed the call ruined his time at Liverpool.
The 34-year-old spent six years on Merseyside after he arrived from Sunderland in 2013. He never quite nailed down a spot as the club's long-term No.1 and the arrival of Alisson Becker only further emphasised his future laid elsewhere.
However, when reflecting on his time at Liverpool, the Belgium international has questioned Klopp’s decision to continually rotate him with Loris Karius. Mignolet believes rotating goalkeepers just doesn't work.
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“Indeed, I am not a fan of it,” he told De Morgen when asked about goalkeepers not liking rotations. “For us, it is better to play many matches, to make sure you are ready time after time. If you get taken out week by week, you lose your rhythm.
“I don’t think something like that is ideal. I experienced it at the time at Liverpool with Jurgen Klopp and Loris Karius. I was playing one week, not the other. That doesn’t work. A goalkeeper has to be a point of rest.”
Back in 2019 after his Anfield exit, Mignolet said: "If I could really fight for my place, I might have stayed. But if I had ended up in goal if Alisson picked up injury, I would be allowed to push ten shots out of the box...then Alisson could immediately claim his place again. And even if he pushed the ball into his own goal, he would still retain [his place in the starting XI]. What sense did it make for me?”
He added: "Of course, I could have stayed with Liverpool to earn my money, challenge for the league title and the Champions League. However, as long as you are not on the starting XI yourself, a price feels different. So I would rather play in the starter at Club Brugge than grabbing the English title as a substitute at Liverpool.”
And speaking in May this year, Mignolet admitted he took a 'big risk' in leaving Liverpool for Belgium.
“I took a very big risk at the time. I could have taken out my contract at Liverpool, which would have given me many more options as a free agent. Or I could have opted for an immediate step first," he told Het Laatste Nieuws. “It was only this year that there was some criticism of me for the first time. Nobody had to tell me that I was having a lesser season. I knew that myself.”
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