Newcastle’s manager, Eddie Howe, has challenged Loris Karius “to rewrite the story of his career”. The former Liverpool goalkeeper is preparing to deputise for the suspended Nick Pope in Sunday’s Carabao Cup final against Manchester United.
Karius’s career has been in sharp decline since his calamitous performance in the 2018 Champions League final when he was at fault for two goals as Liverpool lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in Kyiv. He last played a competitive game two years ago for Union Berlin in the Bundesliga and is Newcastle’s third-choice behind Pope and the cup-tied Martin Dubravka.
Pope’s sending-off against Liverpool last Saturday and Dubravka’s unavailability after playing for Manchester United while on loan have propelled Karius up the pecking order.
“It would be a magnificent chance for him to rewrite the story of his career,” Howe said. “There’s been loads of stories through the times in football where these things have happened and there’s been a really positive outcome … or not. We can’t predict what that will be.
“But as soon as it happened [Pope’s red card] there was that feeling there’s another story in Karius’s career – another page or chapter to write – and who knows what that chapter will look like. That’s the beauty of football. This unpredictability is what makes it such an amazing thing to watch.”
Although Howe would not confirm Karius is certain to start at Wembley ahead of Mark Gillespie, he offered a heavy hint that the 29-year-old will be handed the job. “I’m relaxed,” said a manager who admits he might have done things differently when it came to loaning his previous third-choice keeper, Karl Darlow, to Hull last month. “I’ve got a very good goalkeeper with huge experience. It’s amazing how these things work.
“I chat to Loris every day. I talked to him on Saturday night – I felt the need to connect with him and speak with him. He was great, very relaxed. That’s the kind of guy he is, a very cool customer. We’ve been thrown a challenge here. Nick’s suspended and Nick’s been a rock for us but no one, internally, is panicked or concerned.”
