Football News: Football Comparisons 11 - James v Westerveld v Mignolet - The Best of the Worst?

Comparison 11 - David James v Sander Westerveld v Simon Mignolet

Morning Ed when you have time could you do a comparison between james, westerveld and Mignolet. Thank you - Johncrow Junior

This is a comparison of three of what are considered Liverpool's worst keepers of the last, well ever really. Unusually for these comparisons, it is who is the least terrible rather than who is the best! For this I am just going to go full Football Manager mode to find the areas to compare them based on the period they were at Liverpool to give their mark.

Aerial Reach: David James had a great reach, which puts him ahead of the other two. Though it is very tight, they are all pretty similar in this aspect. James: 8 Westerveld: 7 Mignolet: 7

Command of the Area: To be honest, they are all pretty woeful in this regard. While James was a big, imposing guy, he had absolutely no command of his area, often crashing into his own players trying to come out of goal to collect balls. The other two were pretty similar, so I am going to score it a tie on this. They are all equally bad. James: 2 Westerveld: 2 Mignolet: 2

Communication: Mignolet was too nice, Westerveld just did not seem to even talk to his defenders and James was mostly day dreaming. Again they are all bad, but I would give a slight edge to Mignolet, as he at least made a genuine effort to communicate. James: 1 Westerveld: 2 Mignolet: 4

Eccentricity: There is only one winner here, James was a complete oddball, had no focus on his game at all, both on and off the pitch. The other two had their on-pitch eccentricities, but James was just an eccentric in his entire life as well. James: 10 Westerveld: 7 Mignolet: 6

First Touch: Westerveld wins out here, at times he was very good with the ball at his feet, was a very modern keeper in that respect. James was from a previous era, no matter that he thought he could play up front, he was clumsy on the ball. Mignolet came from a handball background and it showed, his touch was not that good. James: 2 Westerveld: 7 Mignolet: 3

Handling: Mignolet is the best of them, whereas James is the worst. He was not just clumsy with the ball at his feet, but his handling was often clumsy too. James: 3 Westerveld: 5 Mignolet: 6

Kicking: By a big margin this is a Westerveld win. When he first joined Liverpool his kicking was very good, though it did seem to deteriorate over time. Neither James nor Mignolet were any good with their feet. James was very clumsy, though for some reason Stuart Pearce thought he would make a good striker. Mignolet just never seemed to want the ball at his feet at all and always looked terrified if he got it given to him. James: 2 Westerveld: 7 Mignolet: 5

One on Ones: This has to be the most difficult of all, though it is between Mignolet and James, as Westerveld was a slight step down from the other two in this. James should have been miles ahead, as he was big, powerful and intimidating when he wanted to be, but he was unfocused, uncaring and lackadaisical far too often, which could make it easy for a forward. Mignolet lacked James' physicality and presence, being a genuinely nice guy, but he did have better reactions and was much more alert. If he only had better footwork it would have been a win for him. James: 6 Westerveld: 5 Mignolet: 6

Passing: Westerveld is a clear winner, he was very good after first arriving at Liverpool. Though his level did taper off and dip markedly after being there a while, at least he had a high level to begin with. Neither James nor Mignolet ever showed quality with their feet. James: 3 Westerveld: 7 Mignolet: 3

Reflexes: This should be a clear win for James, but most of the time he was so dozey after all-night gaming sessions that his reactions were sluggish at best. Mignolet instead takes it, he does have excellent reactions it is just that James, if he was ever at his best, was lightning and only has himself to blame that he is remembered as a joke of a keeper. James: 6 Westerveld: 6 Mignolet: 7

Rushing Out: A very difficult thing to judge as both Westerveld and, particularly, James played in a different era when sweeping up behind a defence was less important. Mignolet, on the other hand, was playing for a team that wanted to hold high and needed him to be on his toes. While the Belgian was not the best at that part of the game, he at least was called upon to do it very regularly, so it has to be his category to win. James' sluggishness puts him bottom. James: 3 Westerveld: 4 Mignolet: 5

Tendency To Punch: I am not sure whether the one with the most tendency to punch is the winner or loser in this category. Mignolet is certainly the one most likely to do so, though Westerveld was close behind. James is the one most likely to try and catch a ball that he has no chance of catching and fumble it at the feet of a forward. James: 3 Westerveld: 6 Mignolet: 7

Throwing: James did have an excellent throw on him, with good distance to it, when he got the chance to use it, so he edges this one ahead of the other two. James: 8 Westerveld: 7 Mignolet: 6

Anticipation: I think they will all have to lose on this one! It was one major weakness that they could not be relied upon to anticipate what would happen and were often caught flat footed as a result. James: 2 Westerveld: 2 Mignolet: 2

Bravery: This one goes to James, Westerveld always seemed a bit reluctant to get in where it hurt and Mignolet could be too. James was at least willing to throw himself into places where he could get hurt, usually trying to clear a ball as the defence in front of him never dealt with anything in the air. James: 8 Westerveld: 4 Mignolet: 5

Composure: I think this goes to Mignolet, just. They all lacked it badly, but James was a constant loose cannon with no composure at all. Westerveld and Mignolet just used to get flustered at times. James: 1 Westerveld: 2 Mignolet: 3

Concentration: James is by far and away the loser in this area, his concentration was abysmal, which he used to blame on his addiction to gaming. He would sit up all night playing videogames the night before a match, but he was not so addicted it stopped him going clubbing most other nights and often turning up late or even skipping training the next day. I would suggest that had more of an effect on his concentration than playing videogames. Mignolet is slightly ahead of Westerveld, as the Dutchman would sometimes seem distracted and late to react in matches. James: 1 Westerveld: 4 Mignolet: 6

Decisions: All three of them made many poor decisions, resulting in goals conceded, but James' lifestyle choices were the worst decisions of all. If he had made the decision to apply himself and put in some effort in his career, he could have been a top class keeper. So he loses by a huge margin here. Westerveld has to have the edge here as Mignolet's ridiculous decision to constantly try to get his hands down to shots that would have hit his foot if he just stood still makes him almost as bad as James in this area. James: 0 Westerveld: 4 Mignolet: 1

Determination: This is a tough one, because both James and Mignolet had the determination to keep going after making mistakes, usually bad, sometimes embarrassingly bad ones. However in James case it often felt like his head was so far up his own backside, he was incredibly arrogant, that he just felt like he was so good nothing else mattered. Westerveld seemed to lose heart far too easily. James: 6 Westerveld: 4 Mignolet: 7

Positioning: This is a case of who is the least bad at this, though it is something that both Mignolet and James improved on after leaving Liverpool. During their Liverpool career Mignolet was the best of them, ahead of Westerveld and then James. James relied on his athleticism too much to get to shots, rather than concentrating on being in the right place. Mignolet suffered because of his tendency to forget he had feet and often move them out of the way of a shot that would have hit them in an attempt to get his hand to the ball. If he had just used his feet, his positioning would have been very good. So that gives the edge to Mignolet, as he was in the right position, just making the wrong choice about what to use to stop the ball. James: 2 Westerveld: 4 Mignolet: 8

Teamwork: Another tough one to choose, none of them were particularly great in this department, though all were hampered by the team they were playing with. James at least tried to be vocal, whereas Mignolet and Westerveld were far too quiet and passive. James: 5 Westerveld: 3 Mignolet: 3

Vision: To be fair to Westerveld, when he first came into the Liverpool side he showed some excellent vision. I can remember one game in particular when he was constantly able to pick out brilliant passes to Titi Camara up front. James was also decent, using his long throws quite effectively at times. Mignolet showed little ability in this area. James: 6 Westerveld: 7 Mignolet: 3

Work Rate: James was a shirker, which is why his career stalled so badly at Liverpool. Westerveld was badly hampered by poor coaching practices at Liverpool during his time, as Houllier's coaching set-up failed the players badly, but he lacked the wherewithal to really put in the work on his weaknesses. Mignolet has gone on to be a much better keeper in recent years due to his hard work. So the win in this is Mignolet's. James: 1 Westerveld: 4 Mignolet: 7

Acceleration: They could all be a big on the sluggish side. James had the disadvantage of having a bigger frame to get up and running. There is very little to choose between them though. James: 3 Westerveld: 5 Mignolet: 4

Agility: When he was up for it, James had a clear advantage here, his agility was excellent. Especially considering his bulk. You could see that his childhood as an exceptional all-round sportsman helped him here. Mignolet has decent agility from playing handball, but Westerveld was not bad in this area either. James: 9 Westerveld: 6 Mignolet: 7

Balance: I am really not sure how to judge this aspect to be honest. It is not like any of them needed to show balance to dribble through challenges. I will just call it equal and leave out the mark altogether.

Jumping Reach: James was an excellent high jumper in his youth, good enough for it to have been a potential career for him before he chose to concentrate on football, and it showed. Westerveld and Mignolet were both fairly decent but not great. James: 9 Westerveld: 6 Mignolet: 7

Natural Fitness: This is an extremely difficult metric to judge, how much is natural and how much is down to the work they did? I think I can only base this on the injuries they picked up in my perception, though James' fitness must have been negatively impacted (even if only slightly) by his smoking, partying and lack of effort in training. I think Mignolet must take this one. James: 3 Westerveld: 6 Mignolet: 7

Pace: Not something you really got to see any of them showcase while at Liverpool, though Stuart Pearce's bizarre (and failed) decision to play James up front while at Manchester City did show that he was a lumbering brute of a player, with little pace. James: 3 Westerveld: 5 Mignolet: 6

Stamina: As stamina is not really examined during a match, I am instead going to base it on the way their performances were affected by fatigue during the season. James would often struggle as the season went on, making more and more silly errors or picking up injuries and missing periods, making him the worst of the three. Mignolet, on the other hand, was able to maintain his level throughout a season. Unfortunately a very low level, but his ability to let in the first shot on target was able to stay intact throughout a season. James: 2 Westerveld: 5 Mignolet: 6

Strength: A lumbering brute he may have been, but James was a brute of a man. A big, powerful, strong goalkeeper who was capable of battering his way through players to make a (usually failed) attempt to take crosses. James was a clear winner in this area. Mignolet did toughen up a bit at one point in his Liverpool career and so that gives him the edge of Westerveld. James: 9 Westerveld: 3 Mignolet: 5

Technique: A clear win for James, as he did have very good goalkeeping technique, when he could be bothered. Mignolet, on the other hand, lacked basic goalkeeping technique, which is why so many shots went straight through him. James: 7 Westerveld: 5 Mignolet: 4

Totals:
James - 134
Westerveld - 151
Mignolet - 158

Conclusion: A clear loss for James, while the other two are fairly equal, it should be taken into account the difference in ages and experience that they signed for Liverpool. James was a promising youngster who let the move to a big club go to his head and lost his way. Westerveld was a bit older, but suffered due to the incredibly poor quality of coaching at Liverpool during the Houllier era. In fact I cannot think of a single player that was improved by the coaches in that period. Mignolet was also more experienced, but was clearly a poor keeper who was out of his depth. At times he looked like a rabbit in the headlights. However, that does not disguise the fact that James was the biggest failure of them, as he was potentially by far and away the best of the trio but has ended up being remembered as the worst. It just shows how important attitude and effort is, no matter the ability.

Suggested by Johncrow Junior

Written by Tris Burke July 07 2023 07:15:36