Having played for Schalke since January 2025 at the time of writing, goalkeeper Loris Karius is best remembered for his time with Liverpool. In his early 20s, Karius moved to Anfield from Mainz in 2016 in the early days of Jurgen Klopp’s reign, something that would prove to be a legendary managerial tenure.
Karius spent six years on the books at Liverpool, though did not feature for the club after 2018. The German was a mainstay as, in Klopp’s third season at the club, he guided Liverpool to the Champions League final, where the Reds faced off against serial winners and defending champions Real Madrid.
To this day, that final is still what Karius is best-remembered for. The shot-stopper collided with Sergio Ramos early in the match, something that was later cited as the cause of his calamitous errors in the game. Karim Benzema blocked Karius’ attempted roll of the ball, which deflected off the Frenchman into the net, before misjudging a long-range strike from Gareth Bale in the second half, Real’s third goal in a 3-1 win over Liverpool.
Loris Karius Liverpool Stats
Competition
Premier League
Champions League
FA Cup
League Cup
Loan spells with Besiktas and Union Berlin followed before, in 2022, Karius was released by Liverpool. While that Champions League final left a lasting mark on Liverpool fans, the goalkeeper had shown worrying signs in the months prior. In 2021, pundit Gary Neville apologised, as per the Daily Mail, for comments he had made about Karius in 2016.
‘He Isn’t Good Enough’
Neville blasted Karius for performance
Loris Karius pushes ball into net
In December 2016, Liverpool were beaten 4-3 by Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. In the game’s dying embers, Karius spilled a weak shot from midfielder Lewis Cook into the path of on-rushing defender Nathan Ake, who scored to give the Cherries an incredible victory.
His displays in the game left Neville far from impressed, the ex-Manchester United defender saying just days after the match:
“It’s tough to win the league without a good goalkeeper, he’s not good enough, that goalkeeper. He looks nervous and he isn’t good enough.”
Neville’s comments, at the time, sparked responses. Not only from Klopp who, as per the Daily Mail, questioned whether Neville could comment on his players given his disastrous stint as Valencia manager, but from Karius himself, who stated that he did not care about Neville’s remarks.
On an episode of Match of the Day 2 that covered the aforementioned clash between Liverpool and Bournemouth, Neville’s brother Phil responded to what had been said and the reactions since.
“I think my criticism of him is not the mistakes he’s making, it’s maybe the article he did. When you’re a young player, and you’re making mistakes or breaking into the team, you do your training, you do your practice, you work as hard as you possibly can, play on a Saturday and say nothing to nobody, until you’ve got a couple of seasons under your belt. That’s where I think he’s made the biggest mistake, keep your mouth shut, do your job.”
‘I Thought I Went Too Far’
Shot-stopper received an apology from Neville
Gary Neville working for Sky Sports
Five years after his original comments, Neville admitted that he had been too harsh on Karius, a young player that had not only moved to a new country but in doing so, had signed for Liverpool, one of England’s biggest and most successful clubs. Neville said:
“I think I have overstepped the mark once in punditry when I have attacked a player that was above and beyond what I should have done as an ex-pro, a coach and an owner. I think I’m a respectable human being. I thought I went too far with Karius. I said Liverpool would never win the league with him. He criticised me after and so did Jurgen Klopp. No problem.
“I look back now and think I criticised the lad too much for his age. I actually think I was right. They signed Alisson and Virgil van Dijk and won (the Premier League). But that doesn’t mean I should have done it.”
( All stats are fromTransfermarktand are correct as of 04/06/2025 )
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