Jurgen Klopp Tightrope-Walking After Dropping Loris Karius for Middlesbrough Win

Perhaps more so than any other month, December is one inexorably linked with tradition—and this is certainly the case across England, as the festive season sets in and ritual is implicit.

This can be on an individual level, such as the extended family gathering to bask in the wonder of Frank Capra’s It’s a Wonderful Life; it can be cultural, such as the crowding of shopping malls on Boxing Day, despite a showering of gifts just 24 hours previous.

In the Premier League, tradition comes in the form of an increased demand for football, from both broadcasters and supporters alike—though, it must be said, likely not from players or managers.

For Liverpool, December’s most recent tradition comes with the changing of goalkeepers, and this extended into its third year on Wednesday night, as the Reds took to the Riverside Stadium to take on Aitor Karanka’s Middlesbrough.

While Brad Jones took Simon Mignolet’s place in the final month of 2014, and Adam Bogdan did the same in December of 2015, it was the Belgian’s turn to benefit from this most disruptive of customs, replacing the under-fire Loris Karius to don the gloves for Liverpool’s trip to Teesside.

This comes as more of a drastic decision from manager Jurgen Klopp than that made for his side’s 3-0 away loss to Watford midway through the 2015/16 campaign—that was dictated by Mignolet’s hamstring injury—and one that represents something of a gamble by the German.

By opting to drop Karius on what would have been his 11th Premier League appearance since joining Liverpool from Mainz 05 in the summer, Klopp stepped onto a psychological tightrope.

Karius watched on from the substitutes’ bench as the Reds sealed a 3-0 victory in a fine return to winning ways, and the impact of this likely temporary spell on the sidelines could be pivotal in the 23-year-old’s burgeoning career on Merseyside. 

Klopp’s move to omit Karius from his starting lineup at the Riverside came in the aftermath of an intense media whirlwind regarding the goalkeeper’s form as Liverpool’s No. 1, followed by a staunch defence of his performances.

Speaking to Sky Sports (h/t the Evening Standard’s Tom Doyle) after the Reds’ 4-3 collapse away to Bournemouth on December 4, Gary Neville suggested Karius was “good at transmitting anxiety,” while Neville’s colleague, Jamie Carragher, attested that “this goalkeeper is yet to convince me—in any game—that he’s of the required standard.”

In response, Karius told the Mail’s Ian Ladyman that “I don’t care what Gary Neville said,” drawing further criticism from Carragher, Neville and the latter’s brother, Phil, who offered some stinging advice on the BBC’s Match of the Day 2: “Keep your mouth …

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