Simon Mignolet’s future as Liverpool’s first choice goalkeeper is under pressure, according to the Guardian.
The Belgian has made an inconsistent start to the season, producing a magnificent save against Southampton on the opening day, before poor positioning lead to goals conceded against both Manchester City and FC Ludogorets.
The Reds are said to be monitoring the fitness of former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes, who is a free agent having been released at the end of the season.
Valdes has been injured since March, but is expected to return to fitness next month – by which time the Reds could have offered him a contract.
In the meantime, Rodgers has encouraged Mignolet to work on building a stronger relationship with the Liverpool back four.
“He’s our No1 keeper, he’s got plenty of experience,” said the boss. “He just needs to continue working on that relationship with the back four and deal with that.
Asked if he was looking for more from Mignolet, Rodgers replied: “I wouldn’t tell you if I was.”
The Reds struggled when defending set pieces against Aston Villa last weekend, and Rodgers believes a trip to face Sam Allardyce’s West Ham will be a good test for his side.
“I don’t think Aston Villa targeted us with set pieces, we just didn’t defend them well enough. I thought we brought nerves on ourselves,” he said.
“We couldn’t have played against a bigger team the week before than Tottenham. In terms of taking their big players on we were excellent. I just thought that we brought the nerves on ourselves at corners against Villa.
We have talked about getting organised quickly in the game, and doing your job, making sure your marker doesn’t get in front of you.
These are the things that we have spoken about. I don’t think they particularly targeted us, it’s just the nature of the game. The ball goes out, it’s a corner, the ball comes into the box, we defend it. At times we didn’t defend it well enough.”
