Jurgen Klopp Says Loris Karius' UCL Criticism Almost Blocked Alisson Signing

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has said he was tempted to persevere with Loris Karius as his goalkeeper and not sign Alisson this summer after seeing the criticism leveled at the former for his errors in last season's UEFA Champions League final. 

Karius' mistakes in the 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in May were costly and likely influenced the club's decision to sign Alisson from AS Roma for £65 million, which was a record fee spent on a goalkeeper at the time. However, Klopp told Kicker (h/t Liverpool Echo's Sam Carroll) he almost stuck with German compatriot Karius: 

"We simply identified another 'keeper, who is better, and signed him.

"I didn't tell Karius what he wanted to hear, but how it is. The Champions League final had nothing to do with us getting Alisson. Even if he had won it and Alisson would have been on the market we would have still signed him.

"How the people reacted negatively to Karius after the final, tried to isolate him, almost made me not get Alisson and rather stick it out with Karius. But we had to be professional. Our job is to have the best players on every position.

"[Karius] is now 25, at an age, in which 'keepers keep improving. All the best 'keepers make mistakes. But sometimes timing is important in life. If Loris makes a mistake now it isn't cool. In eight years nobody will care. We are totally happy with him."

The comments demonstrate loyalty to his players on Klopp's behalf, though David Maddock of the Mirror reported Karius could still leave Anfield this summer:

The German gifted Karim Benzema the ball for an open-goal finish, as well as failing to stop what appeared to be a routine Gareth Bale long-range shot on goal in the Champions league final.

It later emerged that a coming together with Real defender Sergio Ramos just prior to his mistakes could have impacted his performance, and Klopp asserted his goalkeeper did have a concussion after the clash, per the Telegraph's Chris Bascombe.

Nevertheless, one could have argued a lack of quality between the posts was one of the areas separating Liverpool from the elite, and Brazil international Alisson provides them that class they appeared to be missing.

Alisson is set to feature against Crystal Palace on Monday after keeping a clean sheet in his first Premier League outing, a 4-0 hammering of West Ham United:

Klopp revealed ahead of the trip to Selhurst Park that Alisson has been drilled using rugby tackle pads to get him used to the more physical nature of Premier League penalty areas, per Maddock:

"Set pieces are quite different here—it makes sense to do it because the six-yard area is not a safety box, but rather [just] a proposal...!

"First of all we brought him here because of the things that he is already good at. That is what we want him to do.

"That is what the goalkeepers always do. It is not really rugby, it is goalkeeper training. All the boys did it. When Loris came he did it, all the goalkeepers do it, and Alisson is doing it as well, of course.

"We have these situations in training constantly when we do set pieces the box is full with 22 players. Maybe that is a bit much, but 15 certainly. It is busy, we do it often so that the goalkeeper gets used to that."

Despite the criticism aimed at Karius for his slip-ups against Real, a great deal of Liverpool fans have remained supportive of the player.

Karius appeared in Liverpool's final pre-season fixture at home to Torino, where Klopp's reserve stopper received a standing ovation from the Anfield fans, via Sport1:

The early signs suggest the Reds have signed a star to protect their line moving forward.

Football writer Joel Rabinowitz also looked to the improvement at goalkeeper as one piece of evidence towards the squad's increasing quality:

Head ruled over heart in this instance as Liverpool signed a new 'keeper in place of Karius, whose Anfield future remains unclear as most of Europe's top leagues draw to the end of their transfer windows.