Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has been criticised for his decision to back Loris Karius over Simon Mignolet at the club.
The Belgian goalkeeper is currently enjoying something of a revival at Club Brugge, who he joined from Liverpool in a €7m deal in 2019.
He’s been one of the stars of the show for the Belgian side since that point and continued that this week with an almost perfect display in the draw with Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
His performances, and the trust being shown in him by Club Brugge, are a far cry from his time at Liverpool, where he struggled to impress following a move from Sunderland in 2013.
He would spend six years at Anfield but was first replaced by German goalkeeper Loris Karius, who was specifically targeted by Jurgen Klopp.
That move proved to be a disaster and Liverpool eventually spent a world record fee, before Kepa’s move to Chelsea later in the same window, to sign Alisson from Roma.
While Karius has since endured nothing but trouble and struggled, Mignolet has gone from strength to strength back in Belgium and according to René Vandereycken, Klopp’s decision not to back him originally was a poor one.
“I already found it incomprehensible at the time that Jurgen Klopp chose Karius over Mignolet at Liverpool, and his performances in recent years, and certainly now in the Champions League, only confirm that,” Voetbalkrant report him saying.
“This time you could maybe even say that Mignolet had more credit for that than the defence, but it’s logical that you give away chances against a top European club playing with such intensity.
“Mignolet is having a brilliant Champions League campaign and his presence is a great asset for Club. Thanks to him, they can get through difficult moments. That’s not luck, that’s quality.”
