Loris Karius has certainly been talked about a lot recently. In fact, the Liverpool goalkeeper has been a constant talking point since those high-profile errors in the Champions League final. There is no getting away from the fact that the errors were awful and pretty much lost Liverpool the game, although an injury to Mo Salah hardly helped that out. Regardless, the errors were bad but the torrent of abuse he has received has been much, much worse. Here in Room 433, we lock away anything from football in the aforementioned room, such as away goals, so Karius haters, you are next.
It is important to remember that first and foremost and despite their immense riches and talent, footballers are people. Underneath it all, they are fairly similar to, well, you and me. The abuse that Karius has received online is nothing short of disgusting, yes he made some bad errors, but you would think he had killed somebody with the torrent of abuse the German has received. Luckily, I’ve never been put in a position where a chunk of Twitter has just bombarded me with abuse but I can only begin to imagine how horrendous that experience would be. Unfortunately, abuse is part and parcel of being a public figure on social media, but this went beyond that.
So on a human level, the abuse is awful but on the pitch, things are not much better. Karius has made a number of high-profile (well for pre-season friendlies anyway) errors already against Tranmere and Dortmund and the fact the bloke’s confidence is so far through the floor has surely persuaded Klopp that Alisson was worth the extra cash that Roma were demanding. Liverpool needed an improvement in the goalkeeping department regardless but it now appears that Karius is actually getting worse rather than even stagnating on the pitch.
It has been excellent to see teammates like Mo Salah coming out and publicly backing Karius and an excellent touch from Spain legend Iker Casillas to support his fellow ‘keeper too. Football needs more togetherness not division, which is why it is even more depressing to see this abuse sent at him by Twitter accounts of people claiming to be Liverpool fans. In actuality, I’d be surprised if any of these people were actual Liverpool supporters but social media for all its benefits, has really made things a whole lot worse for Karius.
So if you are sending Karius abuse or threats online think about what you’re actually doing and maybe show some human decency. There is no place for this sort of thing in football, or indeed life, which is why the Karius haters belong in Room 433.
