Gary Neville has claimed that Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius does not inspire confidence among his teammates.
Karius arrived at Anfield in the summer for £4.7m, and was between the sticks today as Liverpool took on Bournemouth.
However, he was at fault for Bournemouth’s winner when he fumbled Steve Cook’s long-range effort into the path of Nathan Ake who tapped in to give Bournemouth a 4-3 victory after being 3-1 down.
Neville, covering the game for Sky Sports along ex-Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, insists that Liverpool will struggle to win the title while Karius is in the goal.
The former Manchester United and England defender said: ”It’s tough to win the league without a good goalkeeper, it is tough.
‘He’s not good enough that goalkeeper. You could see actually in his first game… was it against [Manchester] United on a Monday night? He looks nervous and he isn’t good enough.
‘Now he [Karius] might get better, he might get better but you watch Thibault Courtois yesterday [against Manchester City]… Courtois is good enough,’ he added. ‘That presence [knowing] when to catch the ball when it comes into the six-yard box [and] kick the ball when it comes to you.
‘Do the simple things well and the basic things because goalkeepers can transmit anxiety all round the ground and can transmit anxiety all the way through a team, and the likes of Karius and Maarten Stekelenburg… that’s what they do.
‘They’re good at it. They are good at transmitting anxiety because they basically do things that unsettle everybody. The crowd then start getting a little panicky. Courtois, David De Gea and [Edwin] van der Sar, those types of goalkeepers you trust them because they are reliable.
‘They are the types of keepers that you do win leagues with. And I have to say the challenge for Liverpool is the defence, which it always has been, but also now the goalkeeper as well.’
By Steve Osborne @BlizzardSteve75
