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There was a moment during Jürgen Klopp's pre-match press conference yesterday that made me summon my inner Keanu Reeves. The surprising moment came when Klopp brought up the topic of Liverpool's goalkeepers.
"Maybe it's a good moment to talk about goalkeepers at Liverpool FC because I'm absolutely satisfied with our goalkeeper situation. I'm sorry to kill your stories about goalkeepers and German goalkeepers and different goalkeepers from Stoke or wherever." As if that wasn't clear enough, Klopp added for emphasis, "We are not looking for another goalkeeper. We have enough high-quality goalkeepers."
There's no doubting that Simon Mignolet is an excellent instinctual shot-stopper. However, during his time at Liverpool, the Belgian goalkeeper has struggled with command inside the box and distribution. These shortcomings don't seem to concern the new boss.
"I've had a lot of goalkeepers in the last few years, and Simon Mignolet is one of the smartest I ever had. He's open, completely open, as..." at this moment Klopp became distracted by journalists furiously typing "...is it possible now that it's louder with your typing because it's interesting thing to talk about or what? Cool down guys."
Stream-of-consciousness Jürgen is one of my favorite kids of Jürgen. Once Klopp circled around to his previous train of thought, he continued elaborating on why he thinks Mignolet has a future at Liverpool.
"He's young enough to develop and improve. He didn't have the easiest situation before I came here. There's been nothing to criticise since I came here. Absolutely nothing."
Like many other players in the squad, Mignolet has shown improvement since Klopp's arrival, with three clean sheets in nine appearances so far. Granted, a great deal of that improvement has come from an all-around improved defense.
According to reports, Liverpool now seem to be prepared to follow through on Klopp's ringing endorsement, opening up talks with the Belgian shot-stopper to extend his contract beyond 2018. Mignolet is currently on the same 5-year, £60,000 per week contract that he signed when he arrived from Sunderland in the summer of 2013 for £9 million.