Loris Karius Will Reportedly Remain Liverpool’s First Choice Goalkeeper

Before the Champions League final kicked off, Loris Karius had won over most Liverpool fans. If a goalkeeper the calibre of Jan Oblak or David De Gea couldn’t be had, well, the 25-year-old Karius seemed to have proven himself to be at least capable.

After all, Liverpool were in the Champions League final. And from January on in the league, the Reds had the second best goals against record—better than Tottenham and Manchester City and everyone else bar Manchester United. Then, the final happened.

And now, very few Liverpool fans could be said to still be won over by Karius. Word today, though, has Jürgen Klopp having decided he will persist with the goalkeeper. With Roma stopper Alisson unavailable and Oblak not an option, Karius will keep the job.

If one is willing to accept concussions are a thing and Karius was in fact concussed during the final against Real Madrid, elbowed in the head by Sergio Ramos before a sting of errors and two costly howlers against, then logically this isn’t the worst result.

If Karius was good enough to be Liverpool’s goalkeeper before, then a concussion caused by an opponent assault shouldn’t be disqualifying any more than Mohamed Salah’s inability to perform in the same final due to another Ramos assault should be.

Yet football fans and logic don’t always go together, and even beyond that it can for obvious reasons be easier to forgive a separated shoulder—a thing any fan can clearly see—from a concussion—a thing which they cannot. We are now where we are, though.

Barring something unexpected happening in the coming weeks, Loris Karius will remain Liverpool’s starting goalkeeper. It’s being widely reported; seems certain. And if Karius was good enough before the Champions League final, he should still be now.