Mignolet on Europa draw, trophy hunger and return to Wembley
Simon Mignolet spoke to reporters at Melwood on Friday afternoon to preview Sunday's Capital One Cup final against Manchester City at Wembley - here's the best of what the goalkeeper had to say...
On the Europa League draw with Manchester United…
It’s a fixture to look forward to. Obviously if you play in Europe then you want to get drawn against a European team, but with it being Manchester United and being a derby, it’s two big games so we will look forward to it. I was in the gym and we were watching it [the draw] in there. Everybody was doing their own job, others were in the gym, others were having their lunch so we were all scattered over, but I think everybody got the message that it was Manchester United!
On what winning the Capital One Cup can do for the side...
If we were able to win then it would make everyone even more hungry for other trophies in the future. At the same time, you can only think about that if you win the game on Sunday and, therefore, we have to focus on that and not look to see what is going to come after that. It’s more about making sure we put in a performance on Sunday that can win us the game - that’s the only thing we are focusing and thinking about at this moment in time. We know it’s Wembley and we know it is going to be a big day, especially for the fans [who] will enjoy the day out at Wembley, but we have to look and see it as a professional football match, like we do every week.
On the influence of Jürgen Klopp on Sunday…
He’s got the experience of playing finals both domestically and in Europe. He knows what it is like to play a final and to be there. But at the end it is down to the players who have to play the game and who have to do the job on the pitch.
On whether the 4-1 victory in November against City gives the team a psychological advantage…
I think every 90 minutes and every football match is totally different. Obviously we showed there [the Etihad Stadium] that we could win against Manchester City and we learned a lot of things in that but I’m sure Manchester City did the same. It’s a final, first of all, and that’s always something different. Every game is completely different and on Sunday we won’t think about what happened in the previous game.
On winning his first trophy with Liverpool…
The first year we fought for the Premier League until the last game of the season and in the second year we managed to play two semi-finals, so it’s another step in the right direction. We have to look into it professionally, not get flustered by the occasion and make sure we perform on the day. Hopefully that will be enough to win the medal and win the trophy.
On playing at Wembley…
It’s the third time I’ve played at Wembley, I’ve played there once with the national team and obviously in the FA Cup [semi-final last April]. Every time you go to Wembley it is a huge occasion and you can’t get flustered by the fact it’s Wembley. The trophy will be decided on the day, that’s something different from the Premier League so you have to show up and perform at the best level. Therefore we can’t get carried away about the fact it’s a final. During the 90 minutes or 120 [minutes] you have to focus on your job and hopefully that will give you the edge to make sure that we beat City.
On last season’s disappointing trip to Wembley…
Every competition you go out of and you lose a game [then] it’s a disappointing feeling, like it was against Aston Villa last year. It doesn’t make any difference. Every 90 minutes is totally different so the next game against Manchester City will not be the same we played against Aston Villa. Therefore, we need to make sure we focus on that game rather than what happened in the past at Wembley.