Liverpool have struggled with goalkeepers for a long time now. Jurgen Klopp bought Loris Karius from Mainz last summer with the young German doing well in Bundesliga. Karius was primed to be Liverpool’s number one keeper but the goalkeeper strugged to get going and Simon Mignolet remained the first choice for Klopp in most competitions.
Last weekend, Klopp restored Karius in goal, against Manchester City and made it clear that the position would be Karius’ if he proved himself.
The Reds have since been linked with moves for a host of keepers across Europe but the German manager has put it on record that if Karius manages to do well, the starting spot would be his to keep.
“The games he played, the performances he had in training. It’s easy,” said Klopp.
“I don’t have any other opportunities to judge the situation. That is enough. That is what a football manager does most of the time – he watches training, he watches the games. If he has an opportunity to play a few games, it makes sense.
“My favourite solution, always, is that we do it with our boys. They deliver, they improve,” said Klopp.
Klopp admitted that Liverpool goalkeepers were always held to a higher standard and scrutinised more than others in the league.
Pepe Reina left, great at Napoli. Brad Jones left, great at Feyenoord. Karius was voted the second best goalkeeper in Germany, and now he struggles to distribute the ball properly, let alone prevent a goal. John Achterberg, our goalkeeping coach, is the problem. A big one too.
— Dharma Bhagalia (@Kloppholic) January 16, 2018
“The problem they have is that everyone is watching them (through a magnifying glass) and saying ‘still not good enough’.
“It is not a case of get somebody else, it is get the right solution and the right solution is the one that we already have here.”
Klopp said Liverpool goalkeepers are held to a higher standard than others. Liverpool have been consistently linked with Stoke’s Jack Butland, but Klopp used his example to make his point about harsher judgments at Anfield.
“I will only mention one name. Everyone talks about him with us, and that is Butland,” said Klopp.
“Fantastic goalkeeper but was he perfect? No. He wasn’t in that game (I saw). But everyone says ‘still better than our boys’.
“It makes no real sense if he comes in and makes a mistake in his first game. Everyone then says ‘we need another and another one and another one’. We have to cool down.
“It is a difficult job being a goalkeeper or centre-half at Liverpool because no-one forgives you one mistake”.
Meanwhile, Simon Mignolet appears to be weighing his options for the future since Klopp made it known that Karius would have the chance to prove why he should be the club’s number one choice.
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