Muslic defends Karius after German coach omits him from squad
Loris Karius has again missed out on selection for the Deutsche Nationalmannschaft, despite being Schalke’s Nummer eins since the Start of last season, while S04 coach Miron Muslic publicly defended the keeper’s performances at a press conference before the home game against SV Elversberg.
Muslic respects the national coach
Muslic told reporters, “We must respect and accept the decision. We do that as well,” after the German national team announced its squad. He added that “Mr Klopp has, I think, over 80 million German national team coaches. He does not need my input. He knows exactly what he is doing.” The omission reflects Jürgen Klopp’s choice to leave Karius out as he prepares for the European Championship in two years. The decision was taken by the newly appointed German national team coach.
Muslic also said, “What belongs to me is to highlight Loris Karius. He has performed at an incredibly high level consistently over the past 15, 16 months.” He reminded that Karius has been Schalke’s Nummer eins since the Start of the previous season and stressed that the club is very happy with those performances.
Schalke celebrates other international call‑ups
Schalke said it is “very proud” of every player who receives a national call‑up. This season the club saw Soufiane El‑Faouzi named for Morocco and Adil Aouchiche for Algeria, while Junior Adamu and Maximilian Wöber earned spots with Austria. Further selections included Edin Džeko and Nikola Katić for Bosnia, Moussa Sylla for Mali, Satoshi Tanaka for Japan, Mertcan Ayhan for Turkey’s U21 side and Hee‑chan Hwang for South Korea.
Although the lack of a German call‑up may frustrate Karius, Schalke can view it as a chance for the keeper to avoid a double workload. The club can treat the international breaks as brief periods of rest for him.
Kevin Müller currently serves as Karius’s direct backup. In his few appearances for Schalke he has not yet established himself as a reliable second‑choice goalkeeper.
Muslic sees the growing number of international nominations as proof that Schalke is moving in the right direction. Photo credit for the accompanying image goes to Ralf Ibing.