Simon Mignolet had an eventful match against Chelsea this week. The Liverpool goalkeeper will never forget David Luiz’s opening goal, but he did redeem himself, at least to a certain extent, by saying Diego Costa’s penalty.
The perceived howler was a huge talking point for the pundits, one of which was Liverpool legend and club academy coach Steven Gerrard. Not afraid to be critical of Mignolet, Gerrard made it clear the goalkeeper had made a huge mistake.
Following the comments, Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad put the following to Mignolet: “Steven Gerrard was an analyst on English TV. He said that a goalkeeper must not engage in coaching the defenders.”
Mignolet wasn’t going to snipe back, that wouldn’t do his status at Liverpool any good, but he made sure to point out that he thinks Gerard is wrong: “A goalkeeper has to take responsibility and ensure that the organisation is there. For example, if an indirect free kick is kicked. You cannot purely think about yourself.”
On the actual Luiz goal, and his own part in it, the Liverpool goalkeeper said: “Of course I know I have to pay attention to the opponent, but I hadn’t heard the whistle. Or maybe I heard it, but I thought it was a whistle in the crowd. You can then say that the free kick was kicked so well that it would have gone in anyway, but as a goalkeeper you always want to give yourself a chance to save the ball.”
