GkNexus
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Loris Karius, the human footballer
Whilst the errors are clear to see, we must take ourselves out of the ‘bubble’ so many of us often live in. This is a sport, players are not robots and mistakes do happen.
When the referee blew that full time whistle in Kiev, Loris Karius would have felt like the loneliest man on the planet. Condemned to the floor through physical and emotional exhaustion, emotions of doubt and anxiety overwhelming his body, it was hard to watch.
Nobody needs to tell him the technical aspects of his errors, this is not the time. He knows the magnitude of the game and what it meant to Liverpool fans all over the world. You only had to look at the reaction from the Goalkeeper post match to see how much this has effected him. You simply can’t question his commitment with that outburst of emotion, he knew the significance of the match and that of his performance.
To see the overwhelming support from the Anfield fans within the stadium, as Karius pleaded for forgiveness, was emotional to watch and I applaud them for that because that is exactly what he needs right now, an arm around the shoulder.
With football at the top level being the results driven sport that it is, it’s often easy to detach yourself from the fact that athletes have the same physical and psychological barriers to face as the rest of us, which are unfortunately magnified in situations like this, due to the social media crazy world we now live in.
Many people expect near perfection from athletes, which simply isn’t feasible. Having the thought process that because player ‘X’ earns ‘Y’ amount of money, they should not be making mistakes in the biggest matches or tournaments, is a difficult view point to connect with.
Yes, you would hope that errors would not happen on the biggest stage. But guess what, they do. And, more often that not when a Goalkeeper makes a mistake, it results in a goal. This only strengthens my belief that the position still is and always will be, the most difficult position on the park. The physical demands of the position are increasing and along with that comes the psychological demands too.
It’s also very important to highlight, that contrary to misinformed reports online, Liverpool Goalkeeper Coach, John Achterberg, consoled and supported his Goalkeeper within moments of the final whistle.
Having interviewed and spent time with John on several occasions now, I have listened intently to our own conversations and those of which he has shared with others and the overwhelming message I take away from each one is his passion for his position and that of his Goalkeepers that he works with.
Having had these experiences, combined with the images of John with Loris Karius last night, never further than a few yards away from Karius whilst he was experiencing the most difficult moment of his young life, allows me to be confident in my prediction that the German Goalkeeper will be given every opportunity to recover both mentally and physically from this unfortunate experience.
I wish you the best of luck Loris. And, it goes without saying, the #Gkunion is behind you.
David, Director at GkNexus
And, to also go on record, some of the outright disgusting abuse I have seen online has no place in the world, let alone football, and I hope it is dealt with appropriately.
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