Loris Karius

[Fredo]

What you think Karius would be up to here if he was 3rd choice then?

Surely not sitting around doing nothing as was alluded in the post.

I think we should be looking to find him a new club as he is better than a number 3 at most clubs. I don’t disagree with this.

[dom9]

I think we should be looking to find him a new club as he is better than a number 3 at most clubs. I don’t disagree with this.

That's his agent's job.

[Alex]

Surely not sitting around doing nothing as was alluded in the post.

I think we should be looking to find him a new club as he is better than a number 3 at most clubs. I don’t disagree with this.

Love that you made a point, and the agreed with yourself. All in the same post

[Exiled_red]

I don't think it does him or us any favours him sticking around, unless Adrian decides that he wants to leave Karius will be 3rd choice. If he ever gets another game for us it will be his return after that final, everything he does will be magnified and analysed in minute detail by fans, pundits and the press. Until then he is just waiting for that chance and when it comes there will be huge pressure that has built up. I honestly don't think he can play for a club in England again until he has rebuilt his career and put that behind him. I don't think that loan moves really help, IMO he needs a clean break.

[Big-Red-Ed]

I wish him well but we now have a squad full of winners. The last thing we need is him hanging around reminding him and us of failure. It would be best all around to let him re build his career elsewhere

Sent from my SM-G965F using Tapatalk

[Cormack74]

https://en.as.com/en/2020/04/15/football/1586957633_755751.html?omnil=resscrlltit

Loris Karius made headlines in the aftermath of the Champions League final in 2018 for all the wrong reasons. The German goalkeeper didn't have his best night against Real Madrid and two years after that forgettable game for him, he has given an interview to Sport Bild and has spoken about that night along with the blow to the head he took from Sergio Ramos, which caused him concussion.

Reaction after the final: "I received death threats. But I can't take them seriously. They are from people who send them anonymously and never show their faces on their profiles. When people see me, they don't open their mouths."

Nightmares after the Real Madrid game: "In retrospect, I should have told people what was happening much quicker. I had a concussion after the blow from Sergio Ramos and it limited my vision. That was confirmed after a test by brain experts. At first, I was happy that I knew why but I didn't want it to be public. When it was finally confirmed, I had a lot of insults and anger. I never used it as an excuse. But when people laugh at someone who has a serious head injury, I don't understand it."

Social media: "If you read all of the publications, you can't sleep for days after. It's crazy the things people say from anonymous accounts with insults and discriminatory comments and racism. If there are death threats or personal threats, it crosses a line."

The future: "I don't talk about speculation. The fact is that I have a contract with Liverpool until 2022. At the moment, I am concentrating on this season at Besiktas. It's too soon to say anything about the summer. Especially now that nobody knows what will happen with coronavirus."

Contact with Liverpool: "The goalkeeping coach John Achterberg writes to me, almost weekly. He is my main point of contact. But sometimes I speak with Jürgen Klopp, I am in contact with everyone.

[brightred]

God love him.

[Kenneth]

Hopefully someone with actual money to spend will too.

[Chris]

Alisson out to pay the bills from this mess and Karius redemption starts. Would be cool with that.

[brightred]

Missed you Chris

[Chris]

Missed you Chris

Hope you and yours are well mate.

[Charly]

It sounds more like rehab than a loan

[Cormack74]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/52495326

Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius says he has "terminated" his two-year loan deal at Turkish side Besiktas.

The 26-year-old was in the second year of his spell in Istanbul and had made 30 appearances before the season was stopped because of coronavirus.

Karius said on Instagram it was a "shame it comes to an end like this".

The German added: "I was very patient for months telling the board over and over again. Same things happened already last year."

Last month the German reported Besiktas to Fifa for unpaid wages for a second time, although a deal between the two parties was reportedly close to being agreed without Fifa's intervention.

That deal involved Karius' contract being cancelled, with Besiktas paying him £400,000 in outstanding salary.

Karius, whose last game for Liverpool came in the 2018 Champions League final loss against Real Madrid, said Besiktas had "even refused my suggestion to help by taking a pay cut".

"It is important to me that you know I really enjoyed playing for this club a lot. Besiktas can be proud having such passionate fans behind them always giving amazing support," he added.

"You always supported me in good and bad times and I will always remember you in the best way.

"Also I want to say thank you to all my team-mates, coaching staff including all people working for the club. You welcomed me with arms wide open from day one."

[Cormack74]

Beeb gossip:

Hertha Berlin are interested in signing Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius after the 26-year-old German's two-year loan deal at Besiktas ended early. (Goal)

[Irishnev]

Languishing on pg 14 - even Kev Stewart was ahead of him

“I’m sorry,” mouthed Loris Karius, his hands apologetically held up to the devastated supporters in the stand in front of him.

As the tears streamed down his face, he was begging for forgiveness. The biggest night of his career had turned into a nightmare.

“I know that I messed it up with the two mistakes and let you all down. I’d just like to turn back the time but that’s not possible,” he later posted on social media.

The Champions League final is the pinnacle of club football. Shine, and your heroic deeds echo for eternity. It’s why names such as Jerzy Dudek, Djimi Traore, Vladimir Smicer and Divock Origi are now cemented in Anfield folklore.

But when it goes so painfully wrong, there is no hiding place.

From the depths of despair against Real Madrid in Kyiv, glory soon followed for Jurgen Klopp’s side, but it was achieved without Karius after Liverpool invested £65 million in Alisson less than two months after that 3-2 defeat to Gareth Bale and company.

Over three years later, the German goalkeeper continues to be defined by the events of May 26, 2018.

Medical tests carried out in the days that followed showed Karius was concussed when he inexplicably rolled the ball straight to Karim Benzema, who scored the first goal of the night, and then made a hash of Bale’s long-range strike that made it 2-1. Moments before the Benzema goal, he had been struck in the head by Sergio Ramos’s stray elbow at a corner, and the offence had gone unpunished.

“We don’t use it as an excuse, we use it as an explanation,” insisted Klopp, who vowed to help Karius get his career back on track.

LORIS-KARIUS-KIEV
Karius has not been seen in a Liverpool first team since his errors in Kyiv (Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images)
However, more than 1,200 days on, there has been no shot at redemption.

That final in Kyiv remains Karius’s most recent competitive appearance for Liverpool. There will not be another one.

Three seasons out on loan at Turkey’s Besiktas and Union Berlin in his homeland failed to lead to a permanent move and the summer transfer window closed with the 28-year-old, who has entered the final year of his contract, still on the club’s books.

The Athletic understands there was an offer on the table from Basel, but Karius could not agree personal terms with the Swiss club. Basel then tried to negotiate a loan but that did not materialise either because the player was only willing to sacrifice a small part of his salary. “That’s not a criticism of Loris,” insisted one senior club source. “That was his choice to make.”

Karius has effectively written off the first half of his 2021-22 season. Liverpool have no intention of paying up his contract so he will train under the guidance of goalkeeping coach John Achterberg until January at least.

In recent weeks, he has been given permission by the club to spend time in Berlin as he recovers from a shoulder problem that hampered him at times in pre-season. Staff speak highly of the attitude and work ethic he showed during July’s training camp in Austria.

When he returns to Kirkby, he will find himself behind Alisson, Caoimhin Kelleher and Adrian in the pecking order.

From life as Liverpool No 1 and starting a Champions League final to vying with Brazilian 18-year-old Marcelo Pitaluga to be Klopp’s fourth-choice goalkeeper.

It has been some fall. But has Karius been dogged by misfortune or is he his own worst enemy?

There was a murmuring of disbelief on the Kop.

It was late November 2016 and Liverpool were en route to a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Sunderland in the Premier League.

As full-back Nathaniel Clyne moved to the right-hand side of the home penalty area ready to accept a pass, new-boy Karius took the goal kick and… knocked it straight out for a corner. Que looks of bewilderment.

It did not prove costly, but it was another sign of the nerves affecting the man who had arrived from Mainz, one of Klopp’s old clubs, for £4.7 million that summer.

Karius’s Anfield career was far from plain sailing long before Kyiv.

He broke a hand accidentally punching team-mate Dejan Lovren during a pre-season friendly four weeks after his transfer and the required surgery sidelined him until the end of September. “The timing couldn’t have been worse,” he admitted.

When he belatedly replaced Simon Mignolet in the team, he struggled to adapt to the pressure and expectation of life at Liverpool. Rather than command his penalty box, he spread uncertainty.

“You don’t realise until you’re here how big this club is, followed by millions all over the world and everyone wants to understandably have an opinion because of their passion,” Karius said. “In Mainz sometimes when we lost a game, people would say, ‘Don’t worry. All good. We’ll do better next time’.”

Some glaring blunders, most notably in a 4-3 loss away to Bournemouth in early December, resulted in Mignolet being recalled before Christmas. It was the Belgian who grasped his chance and helped Klopp’s men kick on and secure Champions League qualification one point ahead of fifth-placed Arsenal.

To his credit, Karius rallied.

He had become the youngest keeper ever to play in the Bundesliga after being handed his debut by Thomas Tuchel at 19. He played 95 more times for Mainz, keeping 32 clean sheets, and represented Germany Under-21s. Klopp had watched his development closely and believed he would fulfil his potential at Anfield.

For the 2017-18 season, Klopp announced Mignolet would be the No 1 for the Premier League but Karius would start the Champions League matches. It was a compromise that suited neither keeper, and there was friction between them.

In the January, before the knockout phase began, Klopp ditched that approach and put his faith solely in Karius.

“It was tough to take. It wasn’t easy to sit and watch,” Mignolet told The Athletic last year. “You ask questions. You want to know why. You try to find answers but they aren’t always given to you. One minute I was being told I was just being rested, and then I wasn’t playing again for the rest of the season.”

Personality-wise, the two players were polar opposites. Karius had an array of tattoos, an affinity for fashion and model-level good looks. He hung out in Miami with Justin Bieber and had a TV-star girlfriend. Mignolet in contrast kept his head down and lived the quiet life.

Karius struck up a friendship with countryman Emre Can but was close to few others in the Liverpool squad. “He just seemed comfortable being on the outside of things,” one dressing room source recalls. “Not in an arrogant way, as he’s a nice guy; just a bit of a lone wolf.”

It should not be forgotten that Karius helped Liverpool get to Kyiv, starting all 13 Champions League games and keeping six clean sheets, but there were alarm bells ringing.

When the first leg of the semi-final against Roma at Anfield was still goalless, he lost the flight of Aleksandar Kolarov’s strike and unconvincingly helped it onto the crossbar. In the crazy second leg, when Liverpool survived a late scare to go through 7-6 on aggregate, he gifted Edin Dzeko a goal that made it 2-2 on the night early in the second half by pushing Stephan El Shaarawy’s shot straight out to him.

Many were sceptical when, a week after his calamitous errors in Kyiv, Liverpool made public the details about his concussion.

In the immediate aftermath of the match, Karius had not complained of discomfort and the club’s medical staff had not picked it up.

It was four days after the final that Klopp had taken a call from German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, who first alerted him to the possibility that Karius had been concussed in the Ramos incident. By then, the distraught keeper had flown to America on holiday. He was advised to visit specialists Dr Ross Zafonte and Dr Lenore Herget at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Brain scans showed Karius had visual spatial dysfunction, which can result in an inability to judge where objects are.

“Loris had 26 of 30 markers for a concussion still,” Klopp said. “He was influenced by that knock, 100 per cent.”

As well as the best medical treatment, Liverpool ensured Karius, who had received death threats on social media following the final, had all the emotional and psychological support required.

Klopp felt that duty of care keenly. “We start completely new,” he assured Karius when the player reported back to Melwood for pre-season in the July.

But the psychological scars of Kyiv were clearly evident and the spotlight unforgiving. Team-mates felt Karius did not help himself by releasing a compilation video on Instagram from his summer holiday in Los Angeles as he dived into a swimming pool, played table tennis and ate ice cream. “He should have just kept his head down. It just drew more attention to him,” says one senior player from that squad.

Karius was mercilessly mocked online after viewers on the club’s own LFCTV channel saw him allow a weak shot to squirm through his legs in the warm-up before the opening friendly of that summer against Chester.

More brickbats followed after he gave away a goal in the next warm-up game, against Tranmere Rovers three days later, by spilling a free kick.

Behind the scenes, plans had long since been in place to buy a new No 1. Liverpool had first contacted Roma about Alisson during the January 2018 window. “If Alisson was on the market and we’d won the final, we would have still gone for him because he’s the goalkeeper we want,” insisted Klopp.

Achterberg had built up an extensive dossier on Alisson over five years, after Liverpool old boy and fellow Brazilian Alexander Doni had urged him to keep tabs on the then-21-year-old goalkeeper for Porto Alegre club Internacional in 2013.

What delayed the process was Roma’s £90 million asking price, one year after Liverpool had got them to part with Mohamed Salah for £34 million.

Sporting director Michael Edwards sat tight and once the fee dropped to £65 million, they got their man.

Klopp was going to keep Karius as the back-up and sell Mignolet. But, despite strong interest from Italy’s Napoli, the club’s £10 million valuation of the Belgian was not met so, in late August 2018, the decision was made to offload Karius instead.

Liverpool pocketed a £2.25 million fee for a two-year loan to Besiktas. It was also agreed that the Istanbul outfit would pay £7.25 million to make the move permanent in 2020 if certain performance criteria, based on appearances and qualifying for Europe, were met. In order to protect his value if Besiktas did not end up buying him, Liverpool gave Karius a one-year extension on his contract to take him up to 2022.

The move to Turkey offered a fresh start, but Karius’s time there was turbulent.

LORIS-KARIUS-LIVERPOOL-TRAINING
Loris Karius trains with Liverpool in the summer (Photo: John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
“Karius was a world-renowned goalkeeper, so Besiktas fans were very surprised when he first transferred here,” Istanbul-based football journalist Gokmen Ozcan tells The Athletic.

“However, a significant number of the fans were worried about what happened in the Champions League final. And those fears were realised. Overall, his Besiktas career was a disappointment. His first season was promising but after that it was a disaster.”

Karius made 35 appearances for Besiktas in 2018-19, as they finished third. After being left red-faced when a deflected cross dipped over him against Malmo in a Europa League group game, he posted to his 1.6 million followers on Instagram: “ To succeed in life, you need two things: Ignorance and confidence.”

In the March, he was publicly criticised by Besiktas’s manager Senol Gunes, a former goalkeeper himself, who accused him of going “a bit stagnant” following a game against Konyaspor.

“Something is wrong with his electricity, motivation, enthusiasm. It has been like that since the beginning,” Gunes said. “He does not really feel a part of the team. He is talented but it hasn’t worked out and we have a problem.”

Around the same time, Karius was asking FIFA to take action against Besiktas after it emerged he was owed four months wages. He did return for the second loan season, playing another 32 matches, but he terminated his loan early during the COVID-19 lockdown in May last year due to the club’s failure to pay their debts.

“It’s a shame it comes to an end like this but you should know that I have tried everything to solve this situation without any problems,” Karius posted on social media. “I was very patient for months telling the board over and over again. Same things happened last year. Unfortunately, they haven’t tried to solve this problem and even refused my suggestion to help by taking a pay cut.”

That cuts no ice with journalist Ozcan.

“He performed poorly and left the team in the midst of the pandemic, citing economic problems. His self-confidence was very high, but he conceded many amateurish goals,” he adds.

“Senol Gunes is one of the most important goalkeepers in Turkish football history. He’s a teacher and tried to help Karius with his problems, but he went even further back with his performances.

“Karius belittled the Turkish League. He thought he could easily succeed here. But when everything went bad, he fled at the first opportunity. Even if Karius had completed his contract at Besiktas, they wouldn’t have bought him because the new administration decided to downsize economically and they were also dissatisfied with him.”

Anfield officials have always felt Karius was unfairly treated in Istanbul.

“The fact is that Besiktas didn’t want to buy him. It was too much money for them, so they wanted to create a situation where him staying wasn’t an option,” one senior source tells The Athletic.

“There were a lot of games where he did well for them. When you haven’t been paid for months, that’s bound to have an impact on you. They didn’t like the fact Loris got FIFA involved.”

Karius’s return to Merseyside last summer proved to be brief. In late September, he joined Union Berlin on a season-long loan.

“The good performances I showed have been somewhat forgotten in Germany. That’s a shame,” he told reporters at his unveiling. “My goal is to prove myself again. My drive is to show that I’m still a really good Bundesliga goalkeeper.”

Karius was spiky when asked about that night in Kyiv. “That was two years ago. I’ve played over 60 matches since. That doesn’t play a role anymore — I long put it behind me. The only people who want to talk about it are the journalists. It’s boring now.”

But rather than remind his countrymen of his quality, Karius spent most of last season warming the bench, playing second fiddle to 34-year-old Andreas Luthe.

Karius had to settle for four Bundesliga appearances, starting three, when Luthe was absent due to compassionate leave and an injury in February. He conceded just one goal in those matches but as soon as Luthe was available again, he was recalled by coach Urs Fischer. Karius described his plight as “extremely bitter”, yet Union finished an impressive seventh in just their second ever Bundesliga season and qualified for the Europa Conference League.

“He was a bit unlucky during his time here,” German football journalist and author Christoph Biermann tells The Athletic.

“When Union brought in two keepers last summer, everyone expected that Karius would become the No 1. But he was the last to arrive and that meant Luthe had his chance. Luthe did well and Karius couldn’t get into the team.

“When Karius did play, he did OK. He didn’t make any big mistakes and he didn’t look nervous. He looked like a reliable No 2. I know that the goalkeeper coach was happy with Karius but it wasn’t like they were in awe because he was so fantastic.

“You wouldn’t expect him to be sitting on the bench for a just-above-mid-table Bundesliga club.

“Signing him created a lot of interest. Firstly, given he was arriving on loan from Liverpool and secondly because of his then celebrity girlfriend, Sophia (Thomalla, a former winner of the German version of Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing With The Stars). That was one of the attractions for him as she was living in Berlin, but they ended up splitting during his time here.”

Karius confirmed on Twitter in June that his relationship with model and TV presenter Thomalla had “fallen apart”.

LORIS-KARIUS-UNION-BERLIN
Liverpool loanee Karius was second choice at Union Berlin last season (Photo: Boris Streubel/Getty Images)
“I don’t think keeping him at Union was even discussed,” adds Biermann.

“He doesn’t really get talked about in Germany. If he hadn’t played in a Champions League final, it would be a very ordinary story in the world of football.

“It’s sad what’s happened to him. I feel for him. He’s a very decent goalkeeper, just not a top one — not one for Liverpool. But there should be a lot of clubs around who would be happy to have him. One of the problems is that he earns so much money.”

Karius is now back at Liverpool with no prospect of playing any first-team football before January. He may decide to sit tight until he is a free agent next summer. He may not have a choice if there is not another option available.

Although Karius has always dismissed the idea that the Champions League final three years ago still preys on his mind but it appears to affect how he is viewed, given the lack of interest in signing him.

“Clearly, it would have been best for all parties if Karius had found a solution with his agent this summer,” says one senior Liverpool source. “He’s good enough to play somewhere as a No 1. He’s a natural keeper in so many areas. He’s been unfortunate but when you go somewhere, you have to make people want you. You have to make things happen, make your luck, your career.”

Staff who worked with him when he was a teenager at Mainz talk about how his “mental toughness” and “ice-cool character” set him apart.

“Play him in front of a hostile 25,000 crowd and he would be unflinching. He had everything to be a top-class keeper,” one of the coaches tells The Athletic.

“That’s why what’s happened to him since is so strange. The main problem is that he moved to Liverpool too young. He had a fantastic season with Mainz, helping them get into the Europa League. But he was only 22.

“If he had got more experience in a more forgiving environment before making a transfer, maybe things would have turned out differently.”

Not securing a move this summer means more time has been lost in Karius’s mission to change the narrative around him.