Jurgen Klopp has come out to back Karius of his two errors committed during the Champions League in Kiev, Klopp claimed that the concussion Karius suffered in the final was and 100 percent the the reason for his two errors against Real Madrid.
According to former Premier League goalkeeper Shaka Hislop “Backing from a manager makes a lot of difference, If Klopp hadn’t said that, in backing Karius 100 percent, then any possibility of him making a comeback would have gone right there and then.”
He further continued saying, “But a manager backing you in that manner, as good as it is, it’s not what determines how you’re going to bounce back or when you’re going to bounce back.”
However, Liverpool’s long-term seatrch for a goalkeeper started way in January with links to the Brazil international intensifying after Kiev; Karius was also dropped by Klopp partway through his first season at the club and didn’t start the 2017-18 season as first choice.
Now the move for Alisson is done, that public backing has dematerialised. You don’t spend a world-record fee for a goalkeeper for him to be a backup, so Karius has been demoted again. And if he does get back on the pitch this season he would still have the task of removing the sense of panic from teammates and those inside a stadium whenever called upon.
Hislop added saying, “You still have this underlying sense of guilt that you let the team, fans down, at times it can be overriding. Until you’re able to get back between the sticks and put in the kind of performances that can get you can in everybody’s good books, you will always have that.”
In addition he, “The unfortunate thing of making those errors on that big of a stage is nothing makes up for it until you get back to that stage.Even though your teammates and fans might vocalise support for you, you can tell they have doubts — because of their body language. You can tell by the atmosphere around you exactly how they feel, exactly how much confidence they have in you. You’re aware.”
“[This sense] only disappears when you can repay with a defining performance on an equal stage. Again, the trouble being was that this stage was the Champions League final.”
According to Steven Hale, a UEFA Goalkeeping A Licence, Karius is still sufferin g from what happened kin Kiev from his early outings in preseason.
In his interview he said”Every case will be different, every character will be different. It’s down to knowing your goalkeeper, For the ones where you can see things are affecting them, often you just have a very quiet chat with them — on the side of the pitch or before or after training in private. You don’t want to make a scene in front of the group.”
“You’ve made a mistake and you’ve got to get back on the horse and try and put it right by playing well in the next game, the next game and the next game.
“With the Karius case though, I think it’s going to be extremely difficult [to move on]. He’s 25 years of age, he’s at a club that have been doing really well so they’re in the spotlight. At the moment perhaps it’s not right for him to be there.”
Not just because of Karius but also the deterioration of Reina and Mignolet, the role of Liverpool’s long-serving goalkeeping coach, John Achterberg, has continually come under fire.
Achterberg moved to the first-team setup at Melwood in 2011 and remains in his post despite a number of sweeping changes at the club in that time.
“Obviously it is not good what happened [to Karius],” he told ESPN FC in Kiev back in June. “It was unlucky for him. I just tried to pick his head up and show him you have to carry on with it. It is hard to take but that is life in football.
“For everyone it is hard to take. You try to do your best and it’s not a good thing to happen. I went straight to him because you know how it feels and you try to help him and pick him up again. You have to move on and try to think positive.”
And Hale insists the same applies further down the football league system.
“At the top level, I think goalkeeping coaching is less about technique, more about physiological, if I’m honest with you,” he says. “The lower down you go I think the goalkeepers have got more deficiencies and that’s why they’re playing lower down, so there’s more to do not just physiologically, but technically as well.
“I was speaking to a goalkeeper in the Football League the other day about the goalkeeper-and-goalkeeping-coach relationship. For him, it was massive. It wasn’t just about the coach being the best server of the ball, putting on the best sessions.