With both Karius and Mignolet fit, and Klopp expressing the difficulty of man-managing goalkeepers, who starts in goal for Liverpool in the near future?
There were some very interesting comments made by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp last week about the management of goalkeepers. While he expressed his desire to have two good stoppers battling it out for the club’s number one spot, he also spoke of the challenges of man-management when it comes to such players.
Loris Karius was ruled out at the start of the season because of a broken hand, allowing Simon Mignolet to retain his place in the starting XI. Karius was finally given his opportunity to impress in a competitive game for the first time following his summer move from Mainz, with the Reds running out 3-0 winners against Derby County in the EFL Cup.
Klopp has something of a dilemma now, and before that EFL Cup tie, he was quoted in the Liverpool Echo, saying: “I really don’t want to make a big battle of these two goalkeepers, why should I? Goalkeepers need to feel secure but you can’t play your whole life as a keeper without conceding goals.
“You will always feel a bit guilty, more or less. But you need a manager who will say you can still stay and feel confident. I can’t say ‘today, him and then today him’. The pressure on the players is big enough.
“I don’t have to make any more, they have to do their best and then when I have a feeling for something I will change or not. It is not because we paid money for Loris and did not pay money last year for Simon that I make the decision.”
So, the big question is: Does Karius retain his place for the weekend’s Premier League clash with Hull City at Anfield? It is a hard decision to make. Karius did nothing wrong, nor did he particularly impress as there was not much of an opportunity to do so.
It was understandable to retain Mignolet for the games against Leicester City and Chelsea; games which saw Karius on the substitutes bench. The German had only just recovered from a broken hand, but he would have been thrown in at the deep end if he made his debut against either the Premier League Champions or in a difficult Friday night test against a side tipped to challenge this season. Mignolet, after all, had not committed a howler in the opening few games.
For now this seems a reasonable run of games following Derby, with Hull City and Swansea City coming up in the Premier League before the international break.
Then Klopp will have a decision to make for the game that follows in a huge encounter against Manchester United. Mignolet is likely to link up with Belgium, while the chances are Karius will remain at Melwood with at least three of Liverpool’s back four and could give Klopp licence to work on defensive drills ahead of a huge encounter.
For now, it would make sense for Karius to retain his place. He has not come in to just sit on the bench, but mid-October might give us a big clue as to who the Liverpool boss really does see as his number one.
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