Just How Important Could Simon Mignolet's Penalty Save Be For Liverpool Football Club?

What If?

What if exactly. What if this is the start of something big? If Mignolet's save breeds the confidence and team unity that we've spoken about then what is stopping the Reds from gaining Champions League football this season? This Liverpool squad is easily the strongest put together since Benitez's 08/09 team. One of Rodgers's biggest criteria for a potential target is that they must be versatile. This gives the Liverpool manager a squad depth to challenge without having an overly large and difficult to manage squad. Aspas, Sturridge, Suarez, Borini, Sterling and Ibe can play all along the front three, Coutinho and Hendeson can play in the advanced midfield position and on the flanks and Allen, Gerrard and Lucas can rotate as and when it is correct to do so, Johnson, Kelly and Wisdom provide ample supply at right-back, Enrique and Cissokho will compete for the left-back berth and Rodgers is still looking to add to the central defence and left forward position before the window closes. The point to this is that they have the squad but do they have the mentality? This is something Liverpool's coaching staff have been known to be working on under Rodgers with sports psychologist Dr Steve Peters brought in to help Liverpool's players cope with the added stresses of representing a club with huge pressure and expectations. A win as tough as the Stoke City one can open the eyes and minds of the Liverpool players to what they can achieve even when these high pressures are applied. Mignolet himself should thrive now after defeating the pressure in only his first competitive game - and the feeling should spread. If Liverpool do make the top four, or at least challenge closely all season, then the save from Jonathon Walters's penalty will be seen as a season defining moment. To be brutally honest, we could all be reading too much into this first league win. We could be reading too much into how important Mignolet's penalty save actually was. Maybe, it was just as it was - a penalty save which gained three points and the affects of that save ended when the final whistle blew. Who really knows? I'm just talking about possibilities and what the save COULD mean for Liverpool Football Club. We'll all know come May 2014. On Twitter: @ZAForster