Jakarta - Liverpool memastikan posisi kiper utama jadi milik rekrutan anyar, Alisson Becker . Tapi Loris Karius masih akan diperlukan perannya di tim. Liverpool mengeluarkan dana 72,5 juta euro untuk membeli Alisson dari AS Roma di musim panas ini. Nilai transfer itu memecahkan rekor kiper termahal di dunia yang sudah bertahan sejak 2001 silam. Dengan status Alisson sebagai kiper nomor satu di tim nasional Brasil plus biaya yang dikeluarkan untuknya, Liverpool memastikan menjadikannya kiper utama. Sementara nasib dua kiper lainnya yakni Karius dan Simon Mignolet pun dipertanyakan.
Terkait Mignolet, diperkirakan Liverpool akan mencari peminat untuknya. Mignolet sudah lebih banyak duduk di bangku cadangan sejak musim lalu, di mana Karius mulai lebih dipercaya Juergen Klopp . Sementara untuk Karius, blunder fatal di final Liga Champions diyakini jadi pengalaman traumatis untuknya. Kondisinya diperburuk dengan blunder di laga pramusim melawan Tranmere lalu. Kendati demikian, Klopp mengindikasikan masih akan memberinya tempat di skuat. "Jelas Alisson adalah kiper kelas dunia, jadi kami takkan bilang 'ya lihat saja'. Dia akan bermain tentu saja. Dia adalah kiper nomor satu untuk Brasil dan kemudian ada perihal harga juga," kata Klopp dikutip Sky Sports . "Ketika Alisson siap, dia akan ada di gawang kami. Kami semua perlu membantunya supaya dia bisa tampil sebaik mungkin. Hanya itu mungkin perbedaannya." "Tapi agar itu terjadi, kami perlu skuat yang kuat di sekitarnya dan Loris adalah kiper yang luar biasa. Itulah yang sebenarnya. Tidak ada yang lain," imbuhnya. Karius Blunder Lagi? Simak Videonya:
Laporan Pertandingan: Liverpool 1-3 Borussia Dortmund Meski sempat unggul terlebih dahulu, Liverpool arahan Jurgen Klopp justru kolaps di babak kedua hingga dipaksa mengakui keunggulan tim lawan. Liverpool menelan kekalahan perdananya di pramusim kali ini setelah takluk 3-1 ketika berjumpa Borussia Dortmund di laga pembuka International Champions Cup (ICC) 2018, Senin (23/7) pagi WIB.
Di pertandingan yang digelar di Bank of America Stadium tadi, Liverpool arahan Jurgen Klopp sejatinya sempat memimpin terlebih dahulu lewat tandukan tajam Virgil van Dijk di menit ke-25.
Bek asal Belanda itu sukses mengoyak jala Marwin Hitz setelah menerima umpan silang hasil kiriman Andy Robertson dari sektor kiri. Terkait
Superb cross. Brilliant header. #ICC2018 #LFCPreSeason pic.twitter.com/sZ779RUaXg
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 22, 2018 Akan tetapi, pergantian formasi di saat jeda babak pertama membuat kubu lawan tampil lebih leluasa. Klub asal Bundesliga Dortmund lantas menyamakan kedudukan di enam menit setelah satu jam melalui eksekusi penalti Christian Pulisic.
TOOOOOOOOOR! @cpulisic_10 (66') #LFCBVB 1-1 #bvbusa pic.twitter.com/8UoFwekg2k
— Borussia Dortmund (@BVB) July 22, 2018 Adapun Pulisic, yang di musim panas ini kerap dikaitkan dengan kepindahan ke Liverpool, memberi klub Inggris itu nestapa lainnya menyusul keberhasilannya menjebol gawang Loris Karius untuk kali kedua di menit ke-89.
Here's the @Mastercard goal of the match - Christian Pulisic! @cpulisic_10 #ICC2018 #ChampionsMeetHere pic.twitter.com/WgueoDyO6j
— International Champions Cup (@IntChampionsCup) July 22, 2018 Bintang internasional Amerika Serikat itu mencatatkan namanya di papan skor setelah menuntaskan umpan mendatar Marcel Schmelzer.
Di detik-detik terakhir pertandingan gawang Karius harus kembali koyak. Kali ini pelakunya adalah pemuda 19 tahun bernama Jacob Bruun Larsen, dan gol tersebut memastikan kemenangan perdana Dortmund di ajang ICC 2018 kali ini.
Naby Keita replaced fellow summer signing Fabinho at half-time
Naby Keita is evidently a special player in Jurgen Klopp's eyes.
So keen was Liverpool boss Klopp to sign Keita that he gave the green light 12 months ago to a then club record £50m outlay on the Guinea midfielder - £48m plus an additional fee because RB Leipzig qualified for the Europa League last season.
He also agreed to the Bundesliga outfit's demand that Liverpool wait a year before they could actually have him.
Now Keita is here, he has been given the coveted number eight shirt that was the preserve of club legend Steven Gerrard.
So how did he perform in Sunday's 3-1 International Champions Cup loss to Borussia Dortmund?
An impressive start
There is a buzz surrounding Keita's arrival on Merseyside.
Not many Liverpool fans at the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina were local to north-west England but when his name was read out among the Reds' eight half-time changes, it generated the biggest roar of approval.
Keita paired up with Ben Woodburn and took up an advanced midfield role, in front and to the left of anchorman James Milner.
Naby Keita's record from 2014-15 Club Appearances Goals Red Bull Salzburg (2014-15) 44 6 Red Bull Salzburg (2015-16) 37 14 RB Leipzig (2016-17) 32 8 RB Leipzig (2017-18) 39 9
His first touch was an impressive flick with the outside of his left foot, intended for Alberto Moreno but very slightly over-hit. On the hour mark came a super step-over that created room for a chipped left-footed cross from the byeline that almost brought Liverpool a second goal.
It didn't really come off in this game but Keita needs little invitation to attack the opposition goal, whether he is running at it or sniffing round for scraps from the strikers.
Little wonder he was Leipzig's third top scorer last season with nine goals, a number Liverpool would be grateful for in the coming campaign - last term, apart from star attacking players Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Philippe Coutinho, no-one scored more than three times in the Premier League.
What they said - 'The reaction in Guinea has been crazy'
Jurgen Klopp: "I don't want to give him 500,000 bits of information. Tactical discipline is a big strength and he does the right things in the right moment, which is how good players are.
"First of all, we will let him go and adapt to our system. He can play 10, in the future he might be a six. He played as a winger at Leipzig, which is not his best position but he has the speed for it and football intelligence.
"But we see him as a creative number eight playing the passes, making the runs with the ball. He has the same speed with the ball and without it, which is cool."
Naby Keita: "The reaction in Guinea has been crazy, absolutely crazy. People are buying Liverpool shirts, or any red shirt. The interest is down to the fact no Guinean footballer has ever made it big or played for a top, top club. It is a source of pride back home that I have signed for Liverpool."
James Pearce, Liverpool FC correspondent of the Liverpool Echo: "There is massive expectation, which has been heightened by the fact Liverpool fans have had to wait a year to see Keita play.
"He is expected to add the dynamism and energy the team have maybe been lacking. He is a nailed-on starter and from what we have seen so far, he will be ideally suited to the Premier League. He is only slight but he is strong and if anything, he will have to rein his tackling in."
Christian Pulisic scored twice as Borussia Dortmund came from behind to beat Liverpool
Borussia Dortmund came from behind to defeat Liverpool in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the International Champions Cup.
Virgil van Dijk's first-half header had put Jurgen Klopp's side on course for a fourth win in five pre-season games.
However, Christian Pulisic levelled from a penalty and added a second before Jacob Bruun Larsen rounded off the scoring for the Germans.
The Reds were again without a number of key players after the World Cup.
Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Marko Grujic all watched from the side at the Bank of America stadium after only returning to training on Friday.
Georginio Wijnaldum was also absent because of illness.
Loris Karius, van Dijk and Brazilian midfielder Fabinho all started, although Klopp made wholesale changes at the interval, introducing the likes of James Milner and Naby Keita.
Defender Joel Matip came off early on with an injury and Klopp said: "It's not the same injury as he had before. It's another muscle - it looks like, hopefully, only a little tear.
"It is of course the most negative thing about the day. It's not cool. Maybe tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we will know more, but in this moment we only know that it was too painful for him to carry on."
Liverpool's world record goalkeeping signing Alisson was also unavailable for selection, and in his absence Karius contributed to Dortmund's final goal, diverting a Pulisic effort into the path of Bruun Larsen to complete the victory.
The Reds now face Manchester City on 26 July (01:05 BST) and Manchester United on 28 July (22:05 BST) in the pre-season tournament before returning to the UK.
The International Champions Cup involves 18 teams playing three games each, with matches staged across North America, Europe and in Singapore.
