Iker Casillas and Mohamed Salah both issued their support to goalkeeper Loris Karius after Liverpool lost 3-1 to Borussia Dortmund on Sunday. Karius has been under fire since Liverpool lost to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.
It’s the goalie’s curse: No one remembers your triumphs and no one forgets your failures. The American 19-year-old wonder Christian Pulisic hammered in two goals on Karius with Jacob Bruun Larsen scoring a third late in the game. Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk opened the scoring at the 25-minute mark — a not so meaningful loss for Liverpool, but for Karius, it’s an addition to the snowball of criticism.
That’s some bad concussion Karius still has
— Totally Man Utd (@TotallyMUFC) July 23, 2018
Fan favorite and modern day Pharaoh Mohamed Salah tweeted his support to Karius.
Stay strong Karius, it has happened to the best of players. Ignore those who hate.@LorisKarius
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) July 23, 2018
It's been a difficult preseason for Karius. During a friendly match against Tranmere Rovers FC, Liverpool was leading 3-0 until Rovers’ Jonny Smith and Amadou Soukouna both took advantage of what many called yet another series of Karius mistakes. The match, which seemingly was an easy win for Liverpool, ended at a 3-2.
Karius fumbled the ball after a free kick which later became an easy goal for Rovers.
Karius howler against Tranmere Rovers #LFC #LFCPreSeason pic.twitter.com/inDPPULCuv
— DIE hard REDS (@WerDhr12) July 10, 2018
Real Madrid’s legendary goalkeeper Iker Casillas, having been accustomed to criticism, jumped to Karius’ defense. Casillas, who has over 700 appearances for Madrid, also took to Twitter in his native Spanish tongue.
The Porto goalie and five-time consecutive winner of the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper (2008-2012) award had this to say:
“Will this attack ever end? I’m talking about him like so many goalkeepers. There are many more serious problems in the world, f*ck! Leave the kid alone! He’s also a person. As we all are!”
Karius refused to be quiet as well. On Instagram he had a message for his haters that was relayed by fans across Twitter:
Loris Karius on Instagram. #LFC pic.twitter.com/7n6lVjSIZV
— Oliver Bond (@Oliver__Bond) July 23, 2018
The 25-year-old is stuck in a double whammy of a dilemma along with this criticism. The signing of Alisson Becker, the most expensive goalkeeper transfer ever, will probably see Karius sidelined as benchwarmer or worse — sold to a less prominent club.