It seems obvious to state that a Goalkeeper is crucial to success, but it is. So, should Liverpool's number twenty-two remain their number one? 

Around this time last transfer window Liverpool fans saw perhaps the most glaring indication that times were changing under Brendan Rodgers. The undisputed man between the sticks, Pepe Reina, moved on a season-long loan to Napoli and a new guardian of the goal posts was bought in - Sunderland's Simon Mignolet became Liverpool's Belgian keeper. 

The debate over Mignolet and whether he is the right style of keeper for Liverpool's high defensive line has rumbled on all season, a year on, is it time for an upgrade once again?

Nostalgia aside, Mignolet 2014 vastly outperformed Reina 2014. Both made their mistakes but a series of howlers from Spaniard leaves him trailing the Belgian shot stopper in terms of out and out point saving. Reina does however seem stylistically the better option for LFC, last term Mignolet had little command over his area and spent most of the season on his line when the play was heading towards him, an issue for a team attempting to compress the midfield through a high line - Reina is very much the 'boss' of his box and is quick off the line; in this department he certainly has the edge over the current Liverpool keeper. The Reina v Mignolet debate looks to be somewhat moot anyway, bridges have been severely burnt between Reina and Rodgers after that letter and thus it seems he will move on this summer, so Mignolet remains. 

But, should LFC target a new keeper all together, can the club do better than Simon Mignolet? That is where the discussion should start. 

It's important to remember that Mignolet has plenty of strengths. The club owe a lot to him for the three 1-0 wins that opened the 2013/14 campaign that set the tone for the record breaking season ahead and many points have been saved by the keeper since. The stats suggest Mignolet is a strong 'claimer' of the ball as the Belgian boasts a 96% claim success rate (a 1% increase on that of David De Gea), a strong stat considering many point toward his lack of ariel ability as a main weakness of his fans. If we are to continue the statistical comparison with De Gea, Mignolet comes out very strong. The Belgian pips the Spaniard on punch success rate (42% v 32%) and distribution success (69% v 61%) but is beaten on saves per game (2.24 v 1.97) and goals conceded, albeit this stat is distorted by LFC's poor defensive performances as a unit last term (1.16 v 1.32) - so all in all the Belgian holds up pretty well against who many regard as the best keeper currently in the English Premier League. 

However, Mignolet's biggest weaknesses can't be covered by numbers and that's his communication, sweeping and dominance. The Belgian often lacked communication last season, as did the rest of the defence which lead to poor organisation and in turn set-piece frailty and therefore the rest of league seemed to believe he was timid and thus we saw teams attempt to crowd the Belgian when delivering their set pieces. This, when coupled with a lack of sweeping up for the back-four justifies the concerns over Mignolet as he seems something of a stylistic misfit for LFC. 

On balance, it seems that there are some significant ups and fairly concerning downs to Mignolet. What must be remembered when discussing this specific position is that goalkeepers take time to settle, all LFC fans will remember the dodgy first season Reina before he went on to become, arguably, one of the best keepers in world football at the time. With the acquisition of Dejan Lovren and the publicly known search for a right back and left back, LFC could well have three of a new back for next season and therefore it seems sensible to stick with the number twenty-two as the man between the sticks in order to have some sense of familiarity. 

However, competition is key - with Reina seemingly on the way out and it being widely agreed Brad Jones isn't quite good enough, Mignolet needs serious competition; not just a young deputy but a keeper who will provide a real charge for his number one spot. Who that target may be remains to be seen but there are options out there: Kevin Trapp, Ron Robert Zeiler & Tim Krul are all portentously attainable and would all push for to be the first choice keeper at Liverpool FC which would undoubtedly improve Mignolet himself. 

The number twenty-two should remain the number one choice for now, but a battle for the shirt would be beneficial for all.