Loris Karius faced persistent jeering from the Bury fans during Liverpool’s third pre-season game on Saturday. The Liverpool goalkeeper has endured a dismal start to his pre-season, making several very noticeable mistakes. One came in the 3-2 win over Tranmere Rovers last week when he parried a tame effort into the path of an opponent.
Eagle-eyed Liverpool fans also noticed Karius fumbling the ball through his legs during the warm-up before a friendly against Chester. The stopper has well and truly become a target with Liverpool fans pleading with their manager to sign a new goalkeeper this summer. And Bury fans were hoping to expose what could be a confidence crisis for Karius as they relentlessly jeered the German during the first half.
Every touch drew a reaction from the home supporters, but Karius seemed undeterred by the attention. And when the 25-year-old emerged for the second half he was given a massive welcome by the Liverpool supporters. Klopp is now considering handing Danny Ward the chance to be Liverpool’s No.1, but he has always thrown his weight behind Karius.
‘Loris conceded that goal, but we cannot create a story after every mistake. Mistakes will happen, I don’t like it – he doesn’t like it, but it will happen. So let’s carry on and make the best of these situations to learn from them,’ Klopp said after the Tranmere game. ‘You [the media] can all stop that immediately. Promise? You [the media] never ask again. That would be one little step. ‘Yeah, it will happen until he has a few fantastic games. We cannot change that. Our job is to preform. That you [the media] do what you do, we have to deal with it.
‘It’s obvious, we don’t have to hide it, yes, he could have made that save. But that shot, it was not easy to deal with it. ‘I’ve seen this situation at least 500 times in my life [when the ball] hits the chest [of a goalkeeper].’ A nightmare performance against Real Madrid in the Champions League final seems to have left it’s mark on Karius. The stopper will have further chances to banish his old demons as Liverpool jet off to the US in the next few days.