SINGAPORE - Buying a new goalkeeper will not solve Liverpool's defensive problems, former Reds custodian David James told The Straits Times on Friday (Nov 3).
Simon Mignolet, as well as Loris Karius, have been criticised in some quarters this season for the English side's leaky defence this season.
"When we bought Simon Mignolet, he was one of the highest-rated goalkeepers in the Premier League; when we signed Loris Karius he was one of highest-rated goalkeepers in the Bundesliga," the former England No. 1 said in an interview at the Crowne Plaza Changi Airport hotel.
"If you have a diamond, and you haven't got the right fixing for the ring, the diamond is going to fall off. It is not going to work."
The 47-year-old thinks that the lack of communication among the goalkeeper and the defenders is the root cause of Liverpool's defensive woes, and can be sorted out in the training ground.
James, along with former Reds team-mates Jari Litmanen and Phil Babb, as well as former Arsenal players Robert Pires and Nigel Winterburn, were in transit in Singapore on Friday. They left for Indonesia hours later for the Balikpapan Masters Cup on Sunday (Nov 5).
All five former Premier League players will be back in Singapore for the Battle of the Masters tournament at the National Stadium on Nov 11.
