Simon Mignolet told he must build relationship with Liverpool defence

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/sep/19/simon-mignolet-liverpool-defence-brendan-rodgers

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Simon Mignolet’s position as Liverpool’s first-choice goalkeeper is in jeopardy despite a show of support from Brendan Rodgers towards the Belgium international.

The 26-year-old has made an inconsistent start to the season, producing a sublime save to secure victory against Southampton on the opening day but causing anxiety in the Liverpool defence through failing to command his penalty area. That problem prompted a withering rebuke from Steven Gerrard during Tuesday’s Champions League win over Ludogorets Razgrad, when the keeper’s positioning for Dani Abalo’s 90th-minute equaliser also came in for criticism.

Víctor Valdés has been linked with Anfield and the former Barcelona keeper is a free agent after his proposed move to Monaco collapsed in July when he failed a medical. Rodgers has distanced himself from a move for Valdés in the past but, providing the 32-year-old proves by October that he has recovered from a cruciate ligament rupture, seven months after suffering the injury against Celta Vigo, Liverpool are likely to offer the Spaniard a contract.

Rodgers bought Mignolet to replace Pepe Reina only last summer and, while standing by the £9m signing from Sunderland, was equivocal on Friday in his backing of the Belgian. “He’s our No1 keeper, he’s got plenty of experience,” said the Liverpool manager. “He just needs to continue working on that relationship with the back four and deal with that.

“I think the key thing, and the message to all the players in that situation, is to make sure you are on the front foot. Be aggressive, don’t wait for it [the ball in the area]. He’s a bit of a laid-back type of person in his personality, but I think he’s aggressive [as a goalkeeper].”

Asked if he was looking for more from Mignolet, Rodgers replied: “I wouldn’t tell you if I was.”

Liverpool collectively struggled with set pieces during the home defeat by Aston Villa last weekend but, with another test likely on Saturday against Sam Allardyce’s West Ham United, Rodgers denies opponents have identified a weakness in his team’s defending.

The manager, who has Martin Skrtel available again after the centre-half missed the past three matches with injury, said: “I don’t think Aston Villa targeted us with set pieces, we just didn’t defend them well enough. I thought we brought nerves on ourselves.

“We couldn’t have played against a bigger team the week before than Tottenham. In terms of taking their big players on we were excellent. I just thought that we brought the nerves on ourselves at corners against Villa. We have talked about getting organised quickly in the game, and doing your job, making sure your marker doesn’t get in front of you. These are the things that we have spoken about. I don’t think they particularly targeted us, it’s just the nature of the game. The ball goes out, it’s a corner, the ball comes into the box, we defend it. At times we didn’t defend it well enough.”