Would This French Goalkeeper Solve Liverpool’s Problems Between the Sticks?

We teamed up with Timothy Bailey, an expert tipster over at FootballPredictions.com. According to his insights Liverpool have had a problem in goal since the days of Pepe Reina, and the summer arrival of Loris Karius has only complicated the situation further, rather than giving the club an established number one.

Simon Mignolet and Karius have shared the burden of the goalkeeping jersey but according to reports, Liverpool could again look to improve their options in this position with the addition of a new signing.

Ruffier is 30 years old and has been involved in the national team set up on numerous occasions, but has only 3 caps having been stuck behind the likes of Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda over the last decade. Ruffier has been a mainstay in the Saint-Etienne eleven over the last 6 years, notching up a stunning 190 appearances. Before that he racked up more than 100 appearances for Monaco.

Liverpool fans may be a bit hesitant about invest in another goalkeeper that is not quite of the highest calibre. I would suggest that Ruffier is very talented and a more reliable number 1 than both Mignolet and Karius – however like Karius, he would need a period of time to adapt to the Premier League. Karius was one of the best goalkeepers in Germany, a league that is arguably stronger than France. The Premier League is a completely different environment, and it has proven on many occasions to take a long time for players to adapt to the league, particularly goalkeepers.

You could say that if Liverpool are just going to go and buy another foreign keeper, they would be better sticking with Loris Karius and trusting his potential to come through at some stage. We saw at Manchester United, David De Gea seriously struggle in his first few months at the club. Despite excelling in Spain, he really struggled to adapt to English football and that led to many pundits and fans writing him off. Now, the Spaniard is widely considered as the best goalkeeper in the league and perhaps even the whole world.

Ruffier is 30 years old and unlikely to improve in the future. I feel Liverpool would need to be sure he will be a substantial improvement on Karius to invest in him – otherwise they would be better allowing Karius to improve, because unless he goes out on loan, his progression will stagnate playing on the bench every week.

The best option may be signing a Premier League proven goalkeeper. I’m surprised Liverpool aren’t interested in Asmir Begovic. The Bosnian international was a top quality goalkeeper at Stoke, and is said to be keen on finding first team football again, as he is now consistently stuck behind Thibaut Courtois in the pecking order.