--- title: "A Look at Karius (from someone who’s never seen him play)" canonical: "https://readliverpoolfc.com/articles/look-karius-someone-whos-never-seen-play/" type: "post" language: "en-GB" author: "Paul W" section: "Articles" published: "2016-05-17T16:27:04Z" modified: "2016-05-17T16:27:19Z" --- # A Look at Karius (from someone who’s never seen him play) According to the German football magazine [*Kicker*](https://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/652017/artikel_karius-mit-liverpool-einig.html), Liverpool are close to agreeing a deal to sign 22-year-old Mainz goalkeeper Loris Karius. I know, as an avid Liverpool fan, that we all want to read about Karius as much as we possibly can, simply because of how giddy we are at the fact that Simon Mignolet may not longer to Liverpool’s first-choice goalie. So I’ve done the hard work for you. I’ve decided to give you all a comprehensive look at Loris Karius – despite the debilitating fact that I’ve never actually seen him play a game of football before. To start with, a quick *Google* search led me immediately to Karius’ [incredible Instagram account](https://www.instagram.com/lorisk21/) – the first step to finding out more about our potential new keeper. It consists of over 100 pictures of one of the most handsome men I have ever seen; a man whose life seems to be momentarily interrupted on the odd occasion whenever he’s asked to play in goal for a professional football team. I’m not being facetious either – there’s photos of him on beaches; holding puppies; kissing equally beautiful women; and looking pertinently introspective in front of some of Europe’s most recognizable cityscapes. The guy is an unabashed dreamboat. > Instagram: [https://www.instagram.com/p/\_7KGIFzJ5y/](https://www.instagram.com/p/_7KGIFzJ5y/) Then I done what every other excitable Liverpool fan would do – I went on YouTube. I searched for Karius and – lo and behold – a plethora of highlight reels and videos of fine saves appeared before my eyes! “We’re on to a winner here,” I muttered. Normally one can tell the quality of a good YouTube highlights reel by the standard of music that supports it. I’m typically fond of videos which are backed by some of the most terrible electronic beats or dubstep tunes, but this video I stumbled upon here was different – the amazing highlights were carried effortlessly by the soothing melodies of the pan flute. > YouTube: Loris Karius ● Best of 2014-2016 ● Mainz ● Best Saves || HD “This guy is different,” I thought, “this guy could bring a lot to Liverpool. No techno here”. So I decided to actually watch his video. What I seen in the video was save after save after save. No fumbling; no palming of the ball towards the opponent’s feet – actual saves. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that Karius didn’t put a foot wrong for the entirety of the 3 minutes, 39 second clip that I’d just watched. That may very well be the explicit point of a YouTube highlight reel – to accentuate the good side of a player’s game – but I’m sold. Looking back at it, I’d be really surprised if Mainz conceded at all this season, because I certainly haven’t seen Karius let a shot in yet. That would make me wonder how Mainz didn’t win the Bundesliga this year, mind, but football is a crazy game after all. Here’s where things get serious. No, I’m not going to sit and watch a Mainz game for 90 minutes – that’d be mental – but I’m going to get down to business. I opened up [Squawka’s stats comparison matrix](https://www.squawka.com/comparison-matrix#bundesliga/2015/2016/loris_karius/169/169/2006/0/p|bundesliga/2015/2016/manuel_neuer/169/169/124/0/p|bundesliga/2015/2016/timo_horn/169/169/15228/0/p|premier_league/2015/2016/simon_mignolet/165/165/790/36/p|premier_league/2015/2016/david_de_gea/165/165/590/0/p#saves/errors_leading_to_goal/clean_sheets#total) and began assessing Karius’ goalkeeping ability through statistical analysis, comparing him against literally every other good keeper alive (that I could think of) – including Mignolet. ![Matt King/Getty Images Sport](https://cdn.readeverything.co/readliverpoolfc/2016/05/481365254.jpg) The results were eye-opening. The first statistic I decided to look at was ‘errors leading to goals’, and I found out he’s literally the best keeper on Earth. He’d made none – zero – compared to Manuel Neuer, Timo Horn and David De Gea, who all made one each, and Simon Mignolet, who’d made four (FOUR). He’s also made more saves this season than all of those keepers – so at this point I’m fairly certain that the supposed €10m buy-out clause in his contract is more than fair, considering he must be worth at least ten times that amount – at least from what I’ve seen anyway. Oh, and he’s definitely not Simon Mignolet. For Liverpool fans who at one point were calling for Adam Bogdan to have a run in the team, that’ll always go in a new goalkeeper’s favour. So I’m all in.