Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has suggested that the Reds should positively strengthen the key areas in the summer if they are to compete for any major honour this season.
Talking after the Arsenal draw where Simon Mignolet made a big blunder, Murphy advised Jurgen Kopp to sign a new goalkeeper. The Belgian, who joined Liverpool back in 2013 from Sunderland, has been the number one stopper since then but has hardly impressed the Anfield faithful with his efforts. The 29-year-old came under the scanner on Friday when Liverpool visited the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal.
Gunners’ midfielder Granit Xhaka fired an attempt from distance and all Mignolet had to do was to deflect it away with a punch. The Belgian, however, was left completely red-faced and made a glaring error of misjudgement which gave Arsenal a chance to make a subtle comeback inside 5 minutes of being 2-0 down. Speaking about Mignolet, Murphy quoted that everyone at Anfield has had enough of the Belgian now and Klopp needs to sign a new keeper in January.
“We know that Liverpool need a new goalkeeper,” Murphy said on Match of the Day. “As for Mignolet, we have said enough [about him] over the recent months.
“Week in week out, although we see brilliance from Liverpool, we see Liverpool who do not defend.”
A draw means Liverpool now trail third-placed Chelsea by 4 points and second-placed Manchester United by 7, while there remains a huge gap between us and leaders Manchester City. The Reds, however, are still a point ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham, but Murphy believes that the game should have been into Liverpool’s kitty.
“They should have had the game won. They played brilliantly going forward. You have got to keep the lead, you have done the hard work.”
As far as the January transfer window is concerned, reports from the Sunday World quotes that the Reds are edging closer to signing Southampton’s Virgil van Dijk. The same source claims that Liverpool are edging closer to finalise a deal despite Southampton’s £70m valuation of Van Dijk. His exit rumours have recently picked up a substantial pace after he was omitted from Mauricio Pellegrino’s squad which faced Huddersfield on Saturday.
And when quipped about the decision of leaving the defender out of the squad, Pellegrino told the Daily Echo,
“I am responsible to pick the 11 players and I try to pick the best for the team. I think around him will be a lot of speculation and we have to wait what happens.
“We have to wait but I will repeat there will be a lot of speculation around him.”
I feel that we need to strengthen the central defence area and also the goalkeeping department. It is clearly evident that we need to sign quality players and I hope Klopp does it.
