SIMON SAYS..
Mignolet on rival keeper Karius: He won’t like me taking his place but he will deal with it
YESTERDAY was the Liverpool goalkeepers’ Christmas lunch – but Simon Mignolet insists it wasn’t a case of hard cheese for Loris Karius.
Mignolet says they back each other as members of the goalkeepers’ union and he only had words of support for Karius following his axeing.
He says the German will learn from the first setback of his Liverpool career and predicts it will make him stronger.
“We have our goalies’ union Christmas dinner, so about 10 of us go out for food,” said ‘Big Mig’. “The goalies’ union is something special. Only we know our job and situation. We are team-mates, we all have to get through it and push each other. For Loris it will not be nice, but he’s more than capable and professional enough to deal with it and learn from it. He will only get stronger.”
Mignolet, who impressed on his first league start for three months against Middlesbrough on Wednesday, knows what Karius is going through after being savaged for his recent errors.
Boss Jurgen Klopp defended him against Gary and Phil Neville’s attacks and Mignolet has suffered the same criticism at Anfield.
“That’s part of the job and you have to be mentally strong to deal with that,” said the Belgium international. “I’m coming up to 29, and I’ve been through it as well. It’s not nice.
“You only get stronger from it, especially at a club like Liverpool Football Club. One thing gets really big out of nothing.”
Klopp says former Sunderland stopper Mignolet will have a run in the side while Karius rebuilds his confidence.
He was reluctant to talk about his display in the 3-0 win, adding: “The clean sheet wasn’t important, the three points were. Everyone is happy with that.”