Life before Alisson: Remembering some of Liverpool’s worst goalkeepers

(Image via https://twitter.com/Get_Goal_Side)

The modern-day Liverpool has a reliable goalkeeper in Alisson Becker. A world-class operator for many and a good, solid goalkeeper for some, the Brazilian has made a well-documented difference since his arrival from AS Roma in 2018. Liverpool haven’t always been so lucky, though. 

Liverpool Football Club is steeped in history, with an array of talented players to have pulled on the red shirt over the years. When it comes to goalkeepers, the club has largely made several successful acquisitions in its time. The likes of Jerzy Dudek and Pepe Reina will immediately spring to mind with younger fans of the club, while the more grey-haired supporters will reminisce about the good old days with some past heroes like Tommy Lawrence, Elisha Scott and Ray Clemence in-between the sticks. 

There has been a number of failed goalkeeper signings over the years also. Sadly, they can’t always be forgotten about, especially at a time when everyone is waxing lyrical about our current goalkeeper at the club. With that in mind, we thought we’d hark back to the days where there were some evident concerns in the goalkeeping department at Liverpool. Thankfully, though, those days are long gone.

Loris Karius 

A lack of confidence, a failure to settle in Liverpool, or simply a case of not having the required ability to be a consistent performer at such a big club, fans are still asking themselves what happened to Loris Karius. His costly pair of mistakes in the 2018 Champions League final are impossible to forget, although at times he did put on the odd impressive display. Still, after arriving with so much promise, the error-prone German sadly never really delivered. 

Chris Kirkland

Chris Kirkland’s a tricky one as he clearly had ability but, sadly, mental health issues and injuries hampered his time at the club. He arrived at Anfield for £6 million in 2001 from Coventry City with the promise of being the club’s number one goalkeeper. Ultimately, due to the aforementioned injury issues which blighted his career, Kirkland failed to take the shirt away from Jerzy Dudek despite all his undoubted promise. 

Pegguy Arphexad

We couldn’t really leave Pegguy Arphexad out despite making just two appearances for the club, but the Frenchman was clearly never going to force his way in at Anfield. The back-up goalkeeper signed on a free transfer from Leicester City in 2000 was, to be blunt, fairly ordinary. Actually, we’re being a bit too kind here, as he was absolutely useless. Still, he probably enjoyed his time at the club at least.

Daniele Padelli

(Image via https://twitter.com/LFCZA)

Another goalkeeper who arrived with so much potential but turned out to be an almighty dud, Daniele Padelli was brought to Liverpool on loan in January 2007. The Italian joined the club from Sampdoria, made one appearance, and looked totally out of his depth.

Adam Bogdan

Remember when Adam Bogdan joined the club and everyone wondered who he was exactly? Thankfully, the Hungarian goalkeeper was released as recently as 2019 after making just two appearances for the club. One of those appearances came against Exeter City, where he directly conceded from a corner against the lower league side. Overall, despite being highly rated at Bolton, Bogdan was clearly just tagging along for the ride at Anfield. 

Simon Mignolet

Oh, Simon. Probably one of the most heavily criticised players to have worn a Liverpool shirt, the Belgian goalkeeper didn’t inspire much confidence, with a string of notable errors occurring in some massive matches during his time at the club. Jurgen clearly didn’t rate him much, did he?