A second Chance? Klopp considered shunning Alisson to stick with Karius

Image result for loris karius

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed that he considered shelving plans to sign Alisson in favour of sticking with Loris Karius.

After seeing his fellow German endure a torrid time in the 2018 Champions League final, serious questions were asked of the goalkeeping department at Anfield.

It was later revealed that Karius had suffered concussion during a 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid – following a clash with Sergio Ramos – but his display will always be remembered for two costly errors.

Image result for loris karius

The criticism he faced led Klopp to weigh up the merits of sticking with an under-fire performer, in a show of faith to those already on his books, but in the end the decision was taken to make a record-breaking £65 million (£83m) move for Brazil international Alisson.

The Liverpool boss told Kicker on the dilemma he faced during the summer transfer window: “We simply identified another keeper, who is better, and signed him.

“I didn’t tell Karius what he wanted to hear, but how it is. The Champions League final had nothing to do with us getting Alisson. Even if he had won it and Alisson would have been on the market we would have still signed him.

Related image

“How the people reacted negatively to Karius after the final, tried to isolate him, almost made me not get Alisson and rather stick it out with Karius. But we had to be professional. Our job is to have the best players on every position.

“[Karius] is now 25, at an age, in which keepers keep improving. All the best keepers make mistakes. But sometimes timing is important in life. If Loris makes a mistake now it isn’t cool. In eight years nobody will care. We are totally happy with him.”

While Klopp eventually opted to bring in a new goalkeeper, he opted against bolstering his defensive ranks.

Image result for loris karius

That is because he had already landed Virgil van Dijk for £75m ($96m) in January and remains convinced that World Cup finalist Dejan Lovren can be a reliable Premier League performer.

He added on links to other big-money centre-halves: “That is continues discussion that I don’t understand.

“There is no discussion when it comes to Van Dijk. Dejan Lovren played the Champions League and World Cup final. To not stick with him after that would be crazy.

“He is a world class defender who once in a while, only once in a while, has his ups and downs. But those are exaggerated to such an extent that I want to ask: have you forgotten that he played fantastic for four weeks in Russia?”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *