Former Liverpool and Newcastle United star Loris Karius made a comeback to action with relegation-threatened 2.Bundesliga team Schalke after missing more than a full year of activity. The German media has expressed their opinions about the 31-year-old.
The goalie was without a club from July 2022 until the aforementioned Newcastle acquired him for free in September of the same year after he became notorious for that Champions League performance while he was on the books at Anfield.
Before once more becoming a free agent, he only made two appearances for the Magpies. Karius chose to join Schalke in January as Justin Heekeren’s deputy, but he had to wait until late February to make his debut.
Karius made a series of crucial stops at the Veltins-Arena on Friday night, including a double save in the final minute to deny Niko Koulis and then David Kinsombi, giving the impression that he had cleared the cobwebs right away.
The VfB Stuttgart academy graduate finished with three punches, a 45% (14/31) pass accuracy, and five saves in his 90-minute performance, four of which (80%) came from within the box. His highlights are shown below:
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Following their three-point victory at home, the team’s head coach, Kees van Wonderen, waxed poetic about the seasoned goalie. “Changing the custodian is always a difficult decision,” he remarked, according to The Athletic.
However, he has been here for two months, and today he demonstrated his ability to change things. I’m pleased for Schalke, the team, and himself. Today, our goalie was the difference.
Famous reporter Florian Plettenberg has called Karius, one of the three players Gary Neville regrets being too hard on, Schalke’s game-winning goal. “A remarkable return for Loris Karius, two months after his arrival,” he wrote.
“Schalke was the match winner after putting on a strong display in his 1-0 victory over Preussen Munster. Their new number one is Karius. He hadn’t played in an official match for a year until today.
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Karius’s first in-person appearance was also enjoyed by the German journal BILD. They maintained that the way he monitors the penalty area may help them avoid the possibility of relegation.
BILD spent ninety minutes watching the regular snapper: Karius’ debut was fantastic! Playfulness, charisma, and penalty area control. Karius is so strong that he should have eliminated Schalke from the relegation fight!
As of this writing, Schalke is currently ranked 12th out of 18 teams in the league. Karius might play a crucial role for them as they are nine points ahead of the relegation play-off and the same amount behind the promotion play-off.
Following the match, the former Union Berlin and Besiktas goalie gave a speech. According to The Athletic, he stated, “It’s always good for a custodian if you can distinguish yourself.” “I made an effort to provide the team with security and to diffuse the situation near the goal. I would be upset if I didn’t make those saves, but that’s my job. I was okay with that for my debut.
