Former Liverpool 'keeper Bruce Grobbelaar: 'I've likened Mignolet to worse than Dracula'

How much blame does Simon Mignolet deserve for Liverpool's struggles?

Well, according to former 'keeper Bruce Grobbelaar, who won six titles with the club between 1984 and 1991, he deserves a significant portion.

"He doesn't command his area," Grobbelaar told BBC Sport. "I've likened Mignolet to worse than Dracula because at least Dracula comes out of his coffin now and then. He seems to stay on his line and that's it. That whole area, not just the six-yard area, is the goalkeeper's."

Mignolet has featured in each of Liverpool's Premier League matches this season, conceding 18 goals in 12 appearances for an average of 1.5 goals allowed per game. It's an identical statistic in the Champions League too, as the Belgian shot-stopper has allowed six goals in four appearances.

While those numbers have Mignolet on pace to allow a similar number of goals as last season, when Liverpool finished second in the table, Grobbelaar insists that the club's issues between the posts in the previous campaign were masked by the remarkable form of Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge.

"Any team that lets in 52 (50) goals should never be in second position in the first place," Grobbelaar added. "That was masked and brushed over because of the brilliance of Suarez and Sturridge, scoring you so many goals. You have got to shore up the back. 

"Get yourself someone in goal who can actually only let in 30 goals a season, or fewer than 30 goals."