Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann, who won the Champions League with the club in 2005, has criticised goalkeeper Loris Karius – for his post-match reaction rather than the two blunders that cost the Reds against Real Madrid.
“My sympathy with Karius is limited,” Hamann, 44, told magazine Sport Bild.
“We don’t have to discuss that he decided the final with his two mistakes. Something like that can also happen to a professional footballer.”
“But what I didn’t like was his behaviour afterwards. To publically show his suffering after the final whistle was just as unnecessary as his tearful asking for forgiveness from the Reds fans.”
The two Karius errors led to two Real goals in Liverpool’s 3-1 loss on Saturday, with Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale the beneficiaries, and the 24-year-old was moved to tears as he applauded the travelling fans once the match was over.
But Hamann was unimpressed with the goalkeeper’s emotional reaction to his mistakes.
“Liverpool fans forgive their stars just as well as any other, the anthem ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is part of life out at the club,” he said.
“With one exception: when your ego doesn’t match your performance.
“Karius drives through Liverpool with the personalised number plates ‘LK1’ and makes waves in the city whenever he steps out.
“Having airs like that is something Cristiano Ronaldo, alias CR7, can pull off in Madrid, because he has won the Champions League five times.
“Someone like Karius has not achieved anything yet in his career and should be happy to have been given the chance by (Liverpool coach Jurgen) Klopp at a world-class club.”
