27 May 2018 10:57:16
Karius and his Liverpool career.

Loris Karius arrived at Liverpool with a lot of good will, the incumbent Simon Mignolet is one of the most unpopular keepers we've ever had and fans were desperate for Karius to be an improvement. A lot of hope was invested in the German which I believe has clouded some people's judgement over the past couple of years.

Fans used a German poll from the 14/ 15 season to justify this hope but my view was that this was never a critical assessment of the player but a reflection of a nation supporting a young player who'd had a good first season. It was equivalent to the good will received by Kirkland, Carson and, dare I say it, Butland when they broke through in England.

A broken hand meant that Karius' debut was delayed but, once he was fit, he received a run in the team. Sadly critical mistakes against Bournemouth and West Ham saw Mignolet brought back, Karius wouldn't play again in the league that season. In an attempt to protect the player Karius' supporters blamed other fans for being over critical but this overlooked the fact that there was something to criticise in the first place. It was at this point that comparisons to David De Gea started, if one young player could recover from a poor start to become world class why couldn't Karius? Clearly the experience of one player has no bearing on another's but the comparison was a crutch for the fans who were desperate for Karius to succeed.

Fast forward to the start of the 17/ 18 season and Klopp announced Mignolet would be no.1 going into the season but Karius would play in cup games. This was a suprise call but it was assumed that Karius' was being eased into the job rather than dropped straight into the team as he had the previous season. For me this cast significant doubt on the player, could he really be that much better than Mignolet if Klopp didn't trust him or, if Klopp wanted to protect the player from pressure, what did that say about Karius' temperament?

For the first half of the season Mignolet was adequate but he used up his last life against Arsenal when his error was a key factor in Liverpool dropping points. Mignolet was given a couple more games (I expect to try and avoid a media circus) but Karius was recalled against Leicester and was first choice by the City game. Karius has been solid in the league since conceding just 14 goals in 19 games and keeping 10 clean sheets in the process, Karius' supporters were satisfied that this was proof that he was the answer to our keeper problems.

I was impressed as well, I hadn't expected Karius to do this well based on his previous form and the lack of faith shown in him by Klopp. However I could never shake the nagging doubt that Karius was the recipient of excellent defensive work in front of him rather than being the cause of the good record himself. There were a number of nervy moments where he made ball control or handling mistakes but he was never punished. It's worth noting that in the 10 games Mignolet played in before he was dropped he had conceded just 7 goals, 4 in 9 if you excluded the horror show that was the Arsenal game. Liverpool's defence was improved irregardless of who the keeper was.

In the final months of the season I stated that, whilst I still had my doubts, I would be satisfied if Karius was given another season to prove himself, he'd done enough to earn that opportunity, then the CL final happened. This game was the perfect expression of my fears about Karius, he demonstrated poor technique, poor judgement and a failure to handle pressure.

Next season the stakes are the highest they've been since 2014, it's time for Liverpool to stop being a project and start bring a genuine challenger. Klopp has a choice to make, Karius can be given another chance but what's more important, trying to win the title or giving a player of questionable ability a chance? The goalkeeper is too important a position to gamble on and to me the answer is obvious, the time for sentiment is over and we need a world class keeper now. That doesn't mean we go out and buy just anyone, I feel that would be a repeat the mistake we made with Karius two years ago. If the right player is available we should pay the asking price. If the right player isn't available then Karius gets a stay of execution and we hope he improves significantly between now and August.

{Ed025's Note - really good post that putney mate..

1.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:19:31
Top post Putney, as always. I'm all for posts like this, what I'm not all for is uneducated idiots been damn right insulting to the man. Thankfully there's people like you Putney, otherwise we'd be doomed. Very well said mate. Hope you have a great day!

2.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:21:56
great post and a really good read
thank you mate.

3.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:26:37
The only question is who do we bring in? There isn’t a whole lot of top keepers around and hardly any are obtainable, point in case being Real Madrid who are arguably the biggest team in the world and they have a dodgy keeper.

4.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:38:38
Thanks all, I feel desperately sorry for Karius but any decision on his future needs to have emotion removed from the equation.

Cobra, I agree, Alison is the obvious choice but could we get him? I have big doubts about Butland, he may well be an incremental improvement over Karius but we need more than that and I don't want to be having this debate again next summer.

5.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:46:53
I agree that Karius had played well this season when he got a good run in the team. However he proved last night his ability to make stupid mistakes. I think given time and proper coaching he will turn good, ie De Gea.
At this time I'd look at trying to bring Reina in as competion and to shoe karius how to distribute the ball from the back. Yes Allison would be good but he was beaten 5 times by us at Anfield. is that something that happens to a top keeper. I'd sell Mignolet and run with Reina, karius and Ward.

Baz.

6.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:57:01
Does Ward deserve the same chance that Mignolet and Karius have been given?

7.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:59:47
Putney, I have defended Karius from the beginning cos I saw a few things in him that are very good (compared to Migs who was his competition in the end) and tho he had some rough edges, there were things we could do with him to improve him. Any GK coming to the PL will struggle at first esp. if you are young and inexperienced so I was not bothered that mistakes could happen cos news flash: no player is perfect. Even DDG made 5 errors that cost Utd goals this season so even he is not spared from that. Karius had a rocky start esp. after he broke his hand in preseason (no one seems to mention this, ironically) and Klopp may have rushed him in too early from that injury. Migs came back in to only confirm the disaster he has always been so bringing Karius back in was the best thing to do esp. at that time and he improved us overall esp. with a better defence in front of him.

Now since he got the job full time this season, he has had 11 clean sheets in the the 21 games he played before yesterday. Now, is he responsible for those clean sheets? No and NEITHER is DDG for his clean sheet at Utd esp. since they play a more defensive system than we do. Karius skill set fits the way Klopp wants to play, plain and simple even tho he STILL needed to improve on the rough edges like naivete, decision-making and stronger ball handling/ punching.

Ed01 said that he considers Karius as competent which is a fair way to assess him as a whole. After last night? It's up to Klopp now and whatever he chooses to do, I will support. As for a top GK, good luck with that tho as Roma have said Allisson is not getting sold and RM want him as well so again, good luck n btw, Oblack is a none starter as he just signed a new deal. All in all, he made mistakes and he will have to live with that. YNWA!

8.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 12:00:22
I really don't think that Karius has a future at LFC. If he is still first class keeper next season I can just imagine the fans booing when his name is read out over the pa and whenever he touches the ball. Best case scenario is he moves on. If he is adamant that he wants to make it up to the fans. He stays as number 2 and only plays cup games against lower opposition. There is obviously a goalkeeper in there but maybe he just needs to mature?

9.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 11:56:03
Baz, Alisson is a top keeper, are you seriously wanting Reina over him? come on, just like Karius last night we can't go judging them on one bad performance. Alisson is a top keeper, a keeper I'd absolutely love at Liverpool, I doubt it'll happen but my god if it does we'd be laughing. I guess you've only seen him play when they played us?

10.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 12:10:50
I do feel for Karius especially after the brave crowd gesture but I’ve also always had the nagging doubts. The keepers I played with were mostly the biggest, loudest, bravest and craziest people in the team. Full of confidence and mostly the team jokers. Hardly how you’d describe Karius or Migs.

I really don’t know what happens next. This ain’t keeper rehab, we’re trying to build something here and win some titles.

I don’t know much about keepers, but I was under the impression there’s 2 good options at Burnley right now. Maybe one could be tempted?

11.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 12:51:34
Does anyone actually remember the last time we had a proper safe pair of hands even Bruce grobellar was crazy, it's been too long for a club like us not too identify some goalkeeping talent this summer is crucial feel for that.

12.) 27 May 2018
27 May 2018 13:28:14
hailstones - are you forgetting Pepe Reina?
Won golden gloves 2 seasons running.
Reina was a safe pair of hands as was Brucie. You don’t play in goal for LFC winning 13 major trophies for 13 seasons without being a safe pair of hands. He would have been moved on if he wasn’t.