The man he replaced, Simon Mignolet, took his place in goal a kept a clean sheet

The German goalkeeper has been criticised for his

Jurgen Klopp admitted Loris Karius was 'not too fine' after learning he was dropped but insisted his decision had nothing to do with public pressure.

The German lost his place between the posts to Simon Mignolet for the trip to Middlesbrough and spent the 90 minutes brooding on the bench. He was the only member of the Liverpool party to show any kind of unhappiness after one of their most emphatic displays of the season.

Liverpool blitzed Middlesbrough, winning 3-0 thanks to a double from Adam Lallana and another from Divock Origi, and they played with the authority that had been evident before the last international break.

Loris Karius was dropped by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp against Middlesbrough

Karius was pictured ahead of kick-off as he prepared to take his place on the bench

Klopp has replaced Karius having backed him to succeed in the long term this week

Klopp is not putting a time frame on when Karius will be back in goal but he made it clear that, after the 23-year-old had found himself coming in for stinging criticism, it would have been self-defeating to put him in goal at the Riverside.

'LFC is a long-term project – we really want to improve the club,' said Klopp. 'We know we have to be as successful as soon as possible, on the other hand we have to feel comfortable with each other, goalkeeper included. And I know how strong Loris Karius is.

'Unfortunately he could not show it in the last one, two three games – that's not important. I'm not interested in public pressure or something. But I'm interested in the boy and there's no reason to push him through this situation.

The Liverpool goalkeeper spoke to the Daily Mail's football editor Ian Ladyman about the criticism from Neville, which started kickstarted the back and forth between player and pundit

THE STORY SO FAR December 9: Karius is interviewed by the Daily Mail's Football Editor Ian Ladyman December 10: Gary Neville hits back on Instagram December 11: Jamie Carragher tells Karius to 'shut up and do your job' after conceding twice in the 2-2 draw against West Ham December 12: Jurgen Klopp criticises Gary Neville, saying: 'he showed he struggled to judge players [at Valencia] so why do we let him judge players on TV?' December 12: After Klopp's press conference, Neville tweets: 'Haha. I'm not a chef but I know a good steak!' Advertisement

'At the end, its one little mistake but every goalkeeper in the world can make it. What did I say? Final judgement, that's it? I don't what to see him anymore? There's absolutely no reason especially when we have a goalkeeper like Simon Mignolet.

'He has been (performing well in) training, (is an) outstanding character; a really good goalkeeper and he was really good at the beginning of the season.

'There's no reason to push Loris through it. That's why we made this change quite early. We are fine.'

Karius, who headed back to the team bus without saying a word, was left shattered by the decision when Klopp told him.

His manager, however, expects him to show the same determination back at Melwood that secured him a move to the Premier League from Mainz in June.

Karius was criticised by Neville and Carragher for his error which lead to Nathan Ake's late winner for Bournemouth in their 4-3 victory against the Reds

MIGNOLET WATCH 2 mins: First touch for Mignolet. Takes control, easy pass out to Clyne. Stands on the edge of his area, bellowing out instructions as Liverpool move up field 4 mins: TV images on Press box feed captures Karius, sat a row behind Klopp to his left in the seat one along, staring at his manager. A penny for his thoughts. 8 mins: Applause for Dejan Lovren for snuffing out some danger with a firm tackle on Alvaro Negredo. No sign of an early test for Mignolet. 18 mins: 30-yard shot from Fabio easily gathered. 23 mins: Gathers Gibson header from six-yards following free-kick from Adam Forshaw. 25 mins: Comes sliding out to the edge of his area to smother a loose ball. 31 mins: High-five from Ragnar Klavan after he beats away a drive from Viktor Fischer. 90 mins: He's had nothing to do all evening but Mignolet continues to clap and encourage, ensuring concentration is not lost. 93 mins: A double fisted punch confirms that victory has been secured. This is one of the easiest clean sheets he has earned. Advertisement

'You can imagine that he did not immediately want a hug,' said Klopp. 'But this is a normal decision. If it's not the best moment you step aside, improve, get back to your best and we'll see what happens. It's all ok but, of course, in the first moment it's not the best moment in life.'

The subject of Karius aside, Klopp was thrilled with the way Liverpool tore Middlesbrough apart. Aitor Karanka described Liverpool as being potential title winners but Klopp wanted to focus on the input of Lallana, Jordan Henderson and James Milner in particular.

'I think we have the best English players, all of them,' said Klopp.

The young German goalkeeper fumbled a shot at the Chelsea loanee's feet late on

Karius has kept just three clean sheets for Liverpool and conceded six in his last two games

Simon Mignolet hasn't featured for Liverpool in the league since September but will step in

'We really want to improve the club. Middlesbrough had their moments, especially with (Adama) Traore, when we had to defend with three four or five players. That was more intense than it should have been. We could have scored more but 3-0 is the right result.

'Adam Lallana is improving even when he doesn't score, but it's nice he's in that situation.

'About a year ago I had sat him in the office and I was happy with him but he was like "I'm not scoring". I said he wasn't in the right positions. Tonight he was twice in the right position and it was wonderful.'