Former England and Liverpool ‘keeper Chris Kirkland believes that the Reds should upgrade their goalkeeping despite being sympathetic to Loris Karius.
Kirkland believes that some of the criticism that Loris Karius has received following his costly errors in the Champions League final has been harsh.
The Liverpool stopper made two errors that led to defeat against Real Madrid in Kiev and the media spotlight has remained intensely pointed at the German even more than a week and a half later.
There was a new twist this week after the Red goalkeeper visited a Boston hospital five days after the defeat to undergo a series of neurological tests. These tests highlighted that Karius had suffered a concussion during the game which could possibly explain the errors.
These conclusions drew both sympathy and derisions from certain quarters but Liverpool’s former ‘keeper, Chris Kirkland, believes the support Karius receives will be vital for him to get through this difficult time.
“You need support,” the former Reds goalkeeper tells Goal. “You need your manager, your team-mates, your friends, your family. It’s vitally important.
“What can you say to somebody after a game like that? Not much, in truth. I can remember when I made mistakes, it didn’t matter what people said to me because you just feel awful, terrible. But time is a healer, I can say that.”
Asked whether he thought Liverpool still needed an upgrade in goal, Kirkland was pretty certain that the club will do something this summer.
“Yes, of course,” says Kirkland. “But the only opinion that matters is Jurgen’s!
“There are a lot of question marks at the moment, not only with Loris but with Simon [Mignolet] and even with Danny Ward too.
“If you’re asking me ‘will Liverpool sign a new keeper?’ then I would be surprised if they didn’t. But it’s easy to say ‘let’s get a world-class keeper’ isn’t it? Where are they? They’re at top clubs! So why would they leave top clubs? And why would top clubs want to let them go?
“I do expect a signing, but it’s never as straightforward as people think.”
Loris Karius had not made a single error in the Champions League this season until the final but those high profile mistakes could lead to Liverpool renewing their interest in Roma stopper Alisson, a target they were reportedly chasing in January.
Will Karius bounce back? Chris Kirkland wasn’t sure but he reiterated that mistakes are part of the game and the club should do all they can to help the German get through it.
“Sometimes you can’t explain the mistakes, but they happen. I’m sure he’ll have re-lived it all in his mind and thought ‘what the hell did I do that for?’ but there’s no explanation. It happens.
“The important thing, as I say, is that the club gives as much support as they can, and that Loris himself is able to ask for help if he needs it. It’ll be a tough summer for him, but he can come back. We’ve seen it with other goalkeepers in the past – Jerzy Dudek for example – and there’s no reason why Loris can’t use this and come back stronger.
“I can remember the worst I felt in my career, being beaten 9-1 by Spurs when at Wigan. I was embarrassed, devastated. But we came back, we worked hard and the following game we beat Sunderland and I kept a clean sheet. It can turn around. Now Loris needs to show that he can take it and bounce back, which I’m sure he can.”
