After mistakes in his last two matches, our writers debate whether the German should keep his place...
Will Rook | The argument for
The pundits are right: Loris Karius should be dropped.
The 23-year-old’s performances have clearly not been up to the required standard and Liverpool’s league position is suffering as a direct result of his errors.
Before their matches against Bournemouth and West Ham, Jurgen Klopp’s side trailed leaders Chelsea by four points with a game in hand.
Now, level on matches, the gap has extended to six.
His flimsy showings are not limited to the past fortnight, though.
Liverpool have already conceded 20 league goals this season, the second-most in the top half.
Karius has already failed to keep clean sheets against Hull – the division’s second-lowest scorers – Swansea and Crystal Palace.
The Reds have only allowed 7.8 shots per match against them – the fewest in the Premier League.
That tells you that the goalkeeper has been at fault.
Simon Mignolet has played a part in that, starting five league matches, but that it is easier to abide given three of those were away against Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham respectively.
A spell out of the side would not be to be terminal for Karius’ career at Anfield.
If anything, it should be of great benefit in the long term.
Time off the pitch would take the German out of the firing line.
He would be able to observe from the sidelines and learn from his failings.
His high-profile blunders in consecutive matches have led to an uncomfortable level of scrutiny.
He will be aware of that. So, too, will Klopp.
The sensible thing to do, then, is allow his summer signing to step aside temporarily and alleviate that mounting pressure.
The replacement would hardly be a downgrade, either.
Mignolet, remember, was Liverpool’s first-choice stopper for the past three seasons.
He is not the long-term answer, clearly. Karius is.
But a short break would benefit both club and player.
Jack Green | The argument against
Goalkeeping errors are often so obvious – and costly – that they always elicit knee-jerk reactions.
It is easy to call for a ‘keeper to be dropped when he has made one or two high-profile mistakes, but what often gets forgotten is why he is on the pitch in the first place.
Liverpool bought Loris Karius in the summer after an excellent season for Mainz, in which he kept nine clean sheets and was voted the Bundesliga’s second-best keeper behind Manuel Neuer.
The German came to Anfield with some pedigree – at 19, he became the youngest goalkeeper ever to play in his country’s top flight.
And right now, he is starting because Simon Mignolet is a poor alternative.
The Belgian was dropped by Jurgen Klopp in September because he, too, is prone to the kind of fumbles that Karius is being skewered for.
Mignolet, remember, has been heavily criticised by Gary Neville and Jamie Carragher in the past, and only kept his place as Liverpool’s No. 1 under Brendan Rodgers because his understudy was Brad Jones.
In Karius, the Reds now have a young player who has the potential to develop into a top Premier League goalkeeper.
His mistakes are more tolerable than Mignolet’s because he is capable of so much more than the 28-year-old.
He is making errors in his first Premier League season, not his seventh.
Liverpool have, in fact, been better defensively since Karius’ introduction to the team, conceding only 1.2 goals per game in the league, compared to 1.6 when Mignolet was starting.
The 23-year-old will continue to improve, providing he is given the opportunity to do so and is not dealt a confidence-shattering demotion.
Let’s be fair, Karius is not the first highly-touted young goalkeeper to struggle in his first Premier League season.
David De Gea faced so much criticism during his debut year at Manchester United that he admits he considered moving back to Spain.
He is now the best in the Premier League.
United benefitted from sticking with their raw shot-stopper.
By emulating their fiercest rivals, Liverpool can too.
