Liverpool: Here’s why fans need to give Simon Mignolet a break

Since joining Liverpool FC in 2013, goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has succumbed to a lot of criticism. The Belgian keeper has been far from the club’s best shot stopper, but fans need to start cutting him some slack and here’s why.

The Number 22 was bought by Brendan Rodgers for £9 million to begin to take over from LFC legend Pepe Reina. The Spaniard welcomed Mignolet to the club before his loan spell and eventual transfer to Napoli.

A lot rested on Migs’ shoulders to take over from one of Liverpool’s best goalkeepers. And fans are more than aware that he hasn’t exactly filled Reina’s boots. His poor performances resorted in Rodgers dropping him indefinitely in favour of Brad Jones.

Luckily for Mignolet, his replacement was even worse and the Belgian found himself in the starting XI once more. Brad Jones is branded by fans as one of the club’s most useless goalkeepers.

Despite being dropped for being too poor a player, Simon Mignolet didn’t let the rejection affect him too much. He’s upped his game since then and seems to put everything he has into his performances.

After a shaky start to his career in red, Mignolet has played out some solid matches. He has also come to the rescue when Loris Karius failed to step up as the shiny new Number 1. But every mistake seems to be noted by a large number of fans to use against him.

Whilst the mockery and criticism is going on, fans fail to notice Mignolet’s brilliant qualities. As third in line to the captaincy, it’s rare the Belgian gets to wear the armband. But with Jordan Henderson and James Milner ruled out through injury or rotation, Mignolet got his time to shine against West Ham and Stoke City.

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And shine he did. The two fixtures were solid wins from the Reds (4-1 against West Ham and 3-0 against Stoke). Both were superb team performances but behind that was a very influential captain.

Mignolet was frequently seen barking orders, rallying the team and celebrating hard when his side bagged a goal. His presence as a captain was a lot more infectious from in the goal mouth than Jordan Henderson’s can be in the centre of the action.

But the thing is, Migs does all of that even when he isn’t sporting the armband. He is constantly supporting and motivating the other players, even when he’s on the bench.

The Number 22 also has a quality that the team are lacking in a lot of players at the moment. Migs is constantly on his social media interacting with his fans and teammates and spreading the Liverpool love. Almost every single tweet is about how proud he is of his team and how grateful he is for the LFC fanbase.

His rare spells as captain have resulted in fantastic wins for the club. Maybe just a coincidence, but what’s the harm in making it a more frequent thing? The lad couldn’t even express how proud he was to wear the armband against West Ham. His post-match interview was more like a die-hard fan’s views than a senior player’s. And that’s exactly the kind of passion Liverpool need in their skipper.

"”It’s a big honour. I can’t grasp it as of yet. […] It was a very proud moment and I’m speechless about it actually!” –Simon Mignolet on captaining the 4/11/17 game against West Ham Utd"

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Haters of the our Belgian boy need to take a step back from criticising his every move and look at how much he devotes to our club. The lack of leadership and passion is a serious issue in the team, but Simon Mignolet seems to have enough to go around. It’s high time people gave him a break and started to get behind a loyal, devoted player.