Former Liverpool striker John Aldridge believes that Jurgen Klopp’s decision to drop goalkeeper Simon Mignolet for the match against Hull City at the weekend was a tough one for the Belgian as he’d done very little wrong since the start of the season.
Mignolet became the automatic first choice for the Reds after Loris Karius was sidelined with a broken hand at the beginning of the campaign. The return of the German to full fitness however has seen the £4.7million signing becoming Klopp’s number one. Writing in his column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldridge said:
“Being dropped will have been a tough one for Simon Mignolet to take because he had done nothing wrong. But the manager clearly wants to assess Loris Karius and look at what qualities he can bring to the team. You have to respect Klopp’s decision. Karius will start at Swansea on Saturday and then Klopp has said he will assess it over the international break.”
Whether Klopp will indeed reconsider his first choice after the international break in October is debatable. Although the Reds boss was keen to point out that he wanted to see Karius in action to see which keeper performs the best, there is no doubt that Karius’s ability on the ball and his starting position in goal were two key abilities which Klopp was looking to add to his team. With Mignolet lacking speed to play the sweeper keeper position and being inconsistent with his kicking, it looks like Karius will win the fight if he can prove his shot stopping abilities in future matches.
