Besiktas manager Senol Gunes has questioned the enthusiasm that Loris Karius has for the game after the Liverpool loanee produced a substandard performance for the Turkish giants on the weekend.
The woes of Karius at Liverpool have been well documented, none moreso than in the harsh spotlight of the Champions League final against Real Madrid last May.
After that moment, it was clear that Karius needed to get away from the club, more so for his own mental state that anything else.
In the aftermath of his calamitous performance, Jurgen Klopp made a passionate defence of his player.
Despite displaying the loyalty which is one of his trademarks, in his heart of hearts, Klopp knew a world class keeper had to be brought in.
The summer signing of Alisson saw Karius go on loan to Besiktas where the German would have hoped to rebuild his career away from the bright lights of one of the top leagues in the world.
However it has not been a happy arrangement for both parties, with reports as early as October saying that Beskitas wanted to cut the loan short immediately.
While that did not eventuate, more poor performances have transpired, to such a extent that Gunes has publicly slated him.
The Liverpool Echo has reported the manager saying that he would drop the loanee if he could after he conceded a soft goal in the first half of their 3-2 win over Konyaspor on Sunday.
The 25 year-old was heckled by his own fans and reportedly asked to come off at the interval.
Gunes bemoaned the unavailability of reserve goalkeeper Tolga Zengin for the clash saying that he would have replaced Karius if he was on the bench.
Alarmingly, the veteran manager also questioned the enthusiasm that Karius has for the game.
"He was at fault for the goals he conceded. Karius has gone a bit stagnant, something is wrong with his electricity, motivation, enthusiasm for the game. He does not really feel a part of the team.
"It has been like that since the beginning and it's something we haven't been able to work out and, of course, I am partly to blame for this.
"He is talented but something is wrong and we have a problem.
In this day and age of teams looking to keep everything in-house and control the narrative, it is a ruthless opinion that the veteran Turkish manager has made public.
Besiktas currently sit in third position in the Turkish Superliga, but are 13 points behind leaders Istanbul Basaksehir with just nine games remaining.
They have also conceded more goals (36) than Bursapor (28), Goztepe (33) and Buyuksehir Erzurumspor (34) who currently occupy 15-17th on the table respectively.
Being loaned out can work both ways for a player.
If it is a success, confidence builds and helps pushes them to the next level as we have seen many times in the past.
Conversely, if the player struggles, they run the risk of becoming of football 'journeymen' bouncing from one club to another, and never really fulfilling their true potential.
It seems that Loris Karius looks to be entering the latter category.
While he obviously made his share of mistakes in a game situation for the Reds, it would certainly be unfair to hold that against him on a personal level.
Let's hope finds some happiness in wherever he ends up playing next, or whatever he ends up doing away from the football pitch.
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