Criticism is 'part and parcel' of playing for Liverpool: Simon Mignolet

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Bengaluru, October 31: Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet has indicated that the heavy critique he and his team-mates have been receiving is only because they are part of a big club like Liverpool.

Jurgen Klopp's side has been facing tough times this season as the Merseyside club have only won four times in their last ten games and already conceded 24 goals in all competitions. In his reign of around two years Klopp has developed Liverpool into a top attacking team, however, has often been criticised over his failure to solve defensive problems. His team's defensive woes also came to the forefront against rival Tottenham Hotspur two weeks ago at Wembley when they lost 4-1 against the London side.

Apart from defenders, goalkeeper Mignolet has also got the stick from the fans and faced a lot of criticism for lack of stability in the defence. There were calls for Mignolet to be dropped for the remainder of the season among the fans, however, after showing signs of improvements with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield on Saturday the Belgian stopper has shrugged off all the criticism and claimed that such analysis comes only because they are representing a club of Liverpool’s stature.

He said after the 3-0 victory over Huddersfield: “You know when you play a good game and you know when you play a bad game.

“Normally we play midweek which wasn’t the case this week so that didn’t help because then a lot gets written and a lot gets said. You can only put it behind you with a good performance.

“Everyone deals with criticism in a different way. Some guys read it, some guys don’t really listen to it, some guys try to stay away from it, some guys get angry about it.

“It is just about staying calm, not getting carried away with what is said because that is part and parcel of playing for Liverpool. You have to deal with it as it’s not going to change.

“It is about making sure you get the right reaction. Everyone wanted to respond in a good way with a good performance.

“That’s what we did and that is why we can be proud of it. We did a good job. We won at home and that is something we need to do on a consistent basis.

“We are happy with that. We can move on and look forward to the Champions League in midweek.”

Liverpool will return to Champions League action on Wednesday when they face Slovakian side Maribor and a win against the bottom-placed team in the group could raise their prospects of reaching the last 16 with two games in hand.