Gary Neville has recalled how he ran into former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius after publicly criticising his performances, which left him feeling “responsible.”
Karius was a lightning rod for criticism all through his time at Anfield, and although it peaked with the Champions League last, he had his detractors lengthy earlier than then.
With a sequence of shaky performances on the home stage – together with a aim kick that went straight out for a nook in opposition to Sunderland and an error in a 4-3 collapse at Bournemouth – it was clear he was a goalkeeper in need of confidence.
That defeat to Bournemouth led Neville to argue that Karius “transmits nervousness” all through the Liverpool defence – which prompted the German to retort: “I don’t care what Gary Neville stated.”
Not lengthy after, the pair met in unlikely circumstances, with Neville reliving his embarrassment in an episode of Stick with Soccer.
“I’d been fairly direct about him for a interval of two or three months,” he defined.
“Liverpool had been nearer underneath Jurgen Klopp and getting higher and I simply stated ‘they’ll by no means, ever win the league with that man within the internet’.
“And to be truthful, it’s a robust line that for a younger goalkeeper. It was most likely true [given] he made the error within the Champions League last.
“It was like three or 4 months earlier than the Champions League last and I truly bumped [into him].
“I am going to Italy, to this resort, and I walked into the fitness center, me with Emma (his spouse) and we’re doing a session with the health coach, doing hopscotch and issues like that.
“And there’s simply this huge bloke, huge, actually lifting these huge weights and I’ve thought ‘it’s Karius…’.
“[I went] ‘hiya mate, you alright?’. He may have accomplished many issues there. He may have had a go at me.
“It went proper by way of my head what I’d stated about him and I do know he would have identified that.
“He shook my hand and stated ‘good to see you’. It made me assume, and you are feeling responsible while you stumble upon somebody that you simply assume you’ve given a harsh line.”
It speaks to Karius’ maturity, even then at 23, that he was capable of shake Neville’s hand regardless of his very public and arguably unfair criticism.
This has been the narrative of the goalkeeper’s profession ever since leaving Mainz for Liverpool in 2016 – and talking final month he revealed he has even thought-about retirement as he finds himself a free agent.
