Loris Karius has conceded that he has “to consider retirement” due to his inactivity at the top level, and the Champions League final incident of 2018 is partly to blame.
The German goalkeeper has endured a rollercoaster six years since the fallout of the 2018 Champions League final, playing just 74 games at club level since May 26, 2018.
Karius, 31, is now without a club after his two-season spell at Newcastle came to an end over the summer. Retirement is now a possibility, although he has yet to make a final decision.
Speaking candidly to Sport Bible, the former Liverpool goalkeeper explained how he feels his mistakes in that final have led to managers steering away from him to avoid added pressure.
“It has been difficult to shake off,” he said of the 2018 final.
“Even at other clubs when I was trying to gain a manager’s trust or get game time when I felt like, in my opinion, I deserved it… there have definitely been moments where I’ve thought that was my disadvantage.
“It might not even be the manager’s fault, but if you know you have a player that is going to draw so much attention then it’s going to add pressure. They’ve probably thought, ‘I’ll take the easy and safe way rather than go the other route.’
“You can understand in some ways, but it’s frustrating when there isn’t much else you can do to change their mind.”
With just two senior appearances since 2022, Karius conceded, “If you’ve been out for as long as I have then you obviously have to consider retirement.
“I haven’t made a decision yet because there’s no need to. I’m still fit. I still have all the potential and the ability.
“But if a door doesn’t open, then I have to be honest and say to myself, ‘Listen. I’ve got many other things that I can pursue that excite me, that I enjoy and put effort into.’
“I don’t think it would hit me that hard because I’ve already been going through this process over the last few years.”
“The experience made me stronger as a person”
Reflecting further on the aftermath of his role in the defeat to Real Madrid, Karius added: “My confidence was knocked in the days after and in pre-season, for sure.
“Everything I did was getting looked at. It was so extreme. It all got a bit too much.
“I was trying not to pay any interest, but you couldn’t get away from it all. You still notice. People are telling you. I was getting confronted all the time.
“And that’s why I wanted a fresh start rather than staying at Liverpool, where I could have been behind Alisson, and still getting game time.
“Maybe, in the end, that would have been the better step, but it’s difficult to say at that stage.”
Karius went on two loan spells to Besiktas and Union Berlin before permanently leaving Liverpool in 2022, and while his career has not panned out how he’d imagined, he feels “stronger” for what he’s been through.
“It was a game. I made some mistakes,” Karius said. “I was probably injured when doing so.
“What am I going to learn from this? To not make the same mistake next time? Or signal when I received the hit? It’s not easy.
“But the experience made me stronger as a person. It’s part of my story. It’s part of my history. At the end of the day, I was a Liverpool player.”
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