Liverpool fans will breathing yet another sigh of relief that the club managed to sign Alisson Becker.
Alisson won’t be spending much time looking over his shoulder next season because nothing is going to displace the Brazilian from his status as Liverpool’s new undisputed No 1.
Loris Karius has not looked right since the Champions League final, when two errors handed the trophy to Real Madrid.
And while Karius’ mistakes in Kiev have since been explained by a reported concussion picked up by the ‘keeper in a clash with Sergio Ramos, his confidence has clearly taken a beating over the summer.
A clip of Karius making a shocking mistake in the warm-up for the Reds’ first pre-season friendly against Chester went viral and his shakiness was on full display again in their next game, when he dropped an atrocious clanger against Tranmere Rovers.
It seems like the 25-year-old is a long way off recapturing any semblance of composure and he made another error against Borussia Dortmund on Sunday night, although he was let off the hook on this occasion.
Shortly before Liverpool took the lead in the friendly, Karius scuffed a clearance directly to Dortmund forward Maximilian Phillip but the striker wasn’t able to punish the error.
https://twitter.com/DrKevinLynch/status/1021125634704269312
Karius. My word. He's broken. Completely. Probably needs to be moved on. #lfc pic.twitter.com/9Zix7aMn2B
— S@int (@Sa1nt_7) July 22, 2018
Last week, supporters recommended a scenario in which Simon Mignolet is sold and Karius is loaned out to regain some confidence, which would have left Danny Ward as Alisson’s deputy.
But Ward has since been sold to Leicester, meaning that Karius will almost certainly be Klopp’s second-choice goalkeeper for the coming season.
Fans will have their fingers crossed that Alisson doesn’t pick up any injuries…
