Over the weekend, Liverpool registered its 4th consecutive victory for the first time during Jurgen Klopp’s managerial tenure, beating Swansea City 2-1 at the Liberty Stadium in a tightly contested affair. However, one major talking point that came out from the game was the performance of new goalkeeper Loris Karius.
The 23 year old German had a very shaky away debut, rife with indecision and hesitancy. As people who follow the showstopper on social media know, Karius cuts a very confident figure, bordering on the line of cockiness. However, not much of that same boldness was seen on Saturday with Karius often stuck in no man's land.
There is a lot of skepticism among the Liverpool fanbase with many doubting whether the former Mainz man is an upgrade on the heavily criticised Simon Mignolet. However, it is important to recognise that a keeper like Karius will need time to truly bed in and acclimatise to new teammates and a new backline.
What must be realised is that Karius has only played three games for Liverpool Football Club. He is not instantaneously going to have a command of his box, no matter how good or talented he is. Goalkeeping is a position that relies on communication, chemistry and a sense of trust. These are not easy to immediately establish in a few games.
Take Petr Cech as an example. Cech is widely regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of all time. He came to Arsenal last season having played 333 games for Chelsea and 124 national caps. However, even with so much experience and quality, Cech struggled during his first few games for Arsenal, making some costly errors that directly led to goals. Even the France captain, Hugo Lloris, needed two months to settle in before taking over from Brad Friedel.
It is worth remembering that Karius also had his preseason cut short due to injury and even in the games he did play, his teammates and opposition were of a vastly different standard to the ones he has now. While many attribute goalkeeping to the number of saves one makes, a very important and crucial part of goalkeeping is the ability to have command over the box and communicate clearly with your teammates.
This is one position where Simon Mignolet has had a lot of issues, which eventually led to Karius taking over from him. Even after three seasons, Mignolet could not establish himself like Gianluigi Buffon or Manuel Neuer do. Karius has all the tools be able to succeed in this department as he does not seem to lack in confidence. At Mainz, Karius had the trust of his defenders, with him often coming out to claim crosses. Even though he did not do this against Swansea, his past performance shows he has the potential and certainly, the ability to do it.
Additionally, what needs to be acknowledged is that Karius, like Jurgen Klopp, is the not the Messiah who will solve all of Liverpool’s problems on his own. He is a young, promising goalkeeper in the Manuel Neuer mould, with “mould” requiring special emphasis. As seen on Saturday, he has rough edges to his game that will need to be fine tuned.
We, as fans, need to afford Karius that breathing space to be able to do this. One comparison that comes in mind here is that of Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea. De Gea, like Karius, came to England with a lot of hype on his young shoulders and struggled initially. Physically weak, susceptible at crosses and indecisive, De Gea was harshly and vociferously criticised during his first season with many United fans calling for a “proven” replacement. However, Sir Alex Ferguson stood by him and it is clear for all to see where the Spaniard is now.
Like Ferguson, Liverpool have the right man in Jurgen Klopp to allow Karius to develop in the right way. If there is one thing Klopp knows, it is the Bundesliga with his knowledge of the league unparalleled. Out of the plethora of quality ‘keepers in the Bundesliga, Klopp chose Karius for a reason.
We, as fans, cannot be so short-termist in our thinking. Karius cannot go from Oliver Kahn to Massimo Taibi in just one game. There has to be a middle ground somewhere and if we are prepared to give Klopp and Karius time, I am sure he will prove all of the doubters wrong.
This has been said so many times that it borders on cliche but we have changed our doubt into belief for Klopp and we have to believe that we can do the same for Karius.
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