KLOPP SAYS MIGNOLET NEEDED REST

JURGEN KLOPP insisted that his shock decision to drop Simon Mignolet was a oneoff and that his position as Liverpool’s first choice is undiminished. Liverpool’s performance to dismantle Arsenal was spectacular, with their speed and energy bringing the reward of four unanswered goals, but a major talking point was Mignolet being replaced between the posts by Loris Karius. The German had not started a Premier League game since last December but Klopp — who broke the news to Mignolet at the club’s Melwood base after training on Saturday — felt Arsenal’s visit offered the perfect chance to restore Karius. Mignolet was devastated to be dropped but his manager went to great lengths to explain that he took the decision as he felt the Belgian needed a rest and said he will be back between the posts for the trip to Manchester City on September 9. ‘Intensity for a goalkeeper is different,’ said Klopp (right). ‘It is not physical. It is mental. We said before the season we wanted to have three really strong ones. Simon is a clear No 1. He won the race in pre-season. You can always rely on him. He is solid — a machine; 100 per cent he plays against City ‘When I told him (he was not playing), it was not that he gave me a hug and said, “Thank you, boss”. But I wanted to do it and give him this rest and have Loris in this game. He did a lot of good things. He was sometimes too cool but we all need to get used to playing football in close situations.’ The ‘too cool’ observation stemmed from three separate incidents when Karius almost lost possession to Danny Welbeck when the ball was at his feet but otherwise Klopp stressed that the goalkeeper ‘did a good job’.