Alex Rogers provides three reasons as to why Loris Karius will be hugely important to Liverpool next season.
Loris Karius. I’m not going to lie, before we signed him I knew next to nothing about our new keeper. However, after a good deal of research on the German shot-stopper, it’s hard not to see him being a star for us. Here are three reasons why our new goalie is exactly what we need.
Despite being a good few years younger than Mignolet, it seems almost guaranteed that Karius will be our starting goalkeeper and it’s hard to argue otherwise.
Karius seems to be a nice upgrade on Mignolet. The years Mignolet has spent with Liverpool have been very turbulent for the Belgian. Sometimes he looks like a fantastic shot-stopper, other days he looks like he should’ve stayed at Sunderland.
I just want to point out that this article isn’t to say that Mignolet is bad, but rather how good Karius is. Now with that out the way, let’s push on to why Karius is the man and Mignolet isn’t.
What Karius excels at and Mignolet doesn’t is at being consistent. The 22-year old’s consistency was a huge factor in Mainz getting to the Europa League group stages for the first time in the club’s history. Consistency is what we’ve been lacking hugely in the goalkeeping department – and every other department for that matter – for a while now and hopefully Karius marks the end of this.
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Karius was voted by his fellow professionals in the Bundesliga as the second best keeper in the league behind Manuel Neuer. At the age of 22 that’s quite an achievement! How people had not heard of this man before, myself included, is difficult to believe.
Another reason why the former Mainz number 1 is a great signing is his age. Again, just like with Matip, the potential to be a world class player is there. With Klopp’s ability to get the best out of players, young players especially it seems, Karius may well be a gem to hold onto.
With goalkeepers more likely to retire at an older age and with Karius already a great keeper, it’s a surprise to me that a team like Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich didn’t put a cheeky bid in for the German.
He also seems to outdo Migs in being able to command his box confidently and efficiently. We’ve seen many times our Simon look shaky, nervous and hesitant. Karius caught 99% of the catches he attempted from corners compared to Mignolet’s 87%. That says in itself says a lot.
One of the most important aspects of goalkeeping, apart from being able to stop shots, is to be vocal, commanding and have a good relationship with your defenders. From what I’ve seen and read, Karius has this ability to command in abundance.
With Karius’ consistency, ability to command his box and his young age, it’s fair to say that £4.7 million is a steal. The fact that he may be the most attractive man on the planet is a bonus.
