If Caoimhin Kelleher was under any illusion over his role at Liverpool, then the week just gone will have made it clear to the Irishman.
By Jack Lusby, ThisIsAnfield.com
After a 14 consecutive starts in the absence of Alisson, Kelleher was immediately demoted to the bench upon the return of the No. 1.
“It [makes it] sound like Caoimh didn’t do well; Caoimh did exceptional, absolutely exceptional, fantastic goalkeeper,” Jürgen Klopp insisted before the miserable 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace. “But of course, we want to have Ali between the posts, that’s really good news.”
Alisson had spent over two months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, during which time Kelleher overtook him in both appearances made and minutes played for the season, but at the earliest opportunity he was restored to first-choice duties.
Three days after the defeat to Palace, Alisson sat alongside Klopp to address the media before Liverpool’s Europa League quarter-final decider away to Atalanta. The Brazilian spoke about the frustration felt during one of the longest injuries of his career.
“It was really hard for me. I am a guy that when I am at home, injured or just resting, I don’t like to watch football because I get too excited and I want to play!” he told reporters, later adding: “Of course, seeing the team fighting for titles, I have a lot of desire to be part of that, to be part of that fight. Thank God I am here and I am looking forward to the rest of the season.”
There may be many others who were thinking ‘thank God’ when Alisson made his comeback, given Liverpool’s worrying lack of clean sheets in 2024. During the 14 games he missed, the Reds only kept three, those coming against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final, Southampton in the FA Cup and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League.
With 17 goals conceded in that time, seven of which came over two games against Manchester United in the FA Cup and the first leg against Atalanta in the Europa League, the overall record was less concerning – but as goals have begun to dry up at the other end, the Reds’ inability to shut opponents down has become more so.
The losses to Atalanta and Palace marked the first time Liverpool had failed to score in consecutive games at Anfield since the 2020/21 season, when a ridiculously depleted squad twice went three games without netting at home. You would need to go back even further, to Klopp’s first season and back-to-back misfires against Stoke City and West Ham in January 2016, for when they last did so in front of fans.
“Keeping clean sheets is the basis for a successful team,” was Alisson’s verdict.
It is far from only Kelleher’s issue, but the manner of Liverpool’s 3-0 loss to Atalanta certainly provided Klopp with a more comfortable opportunity to rip off the plaster and reintroduce Alisson. In his 26 appearances this season, the 25-year-old has kept just five clean sheets – while he may have eclipsed Alisson for game time, it is notable that, ahead of the return leg in Bergamo, the No. 1 had kept nine clean sheets in his 25 games.
Kelleher is far from a bad goalkeeper, but the reality is he is competing with the full package.
There is no room for sentimentality with goalkeepers. Klopp learned that with a delayed handover between Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius in 2017/18; and Karius learned it with the arrival of Alisson immediately after his concussion-induced calamity against Real Madrid in the Champions League final at the end of that same campaign.
That is why, as soon as Alisson was ready to take over again, Klopp wasted no time in returning Kelleher to the substitutes’ bench. His run in the side was as an exceptional stand-in, rather than genuine competition for the starting gloves.
But that only highlights the decision looming over Kelleher as the end of the season nears. The Cork native is too good to spend any longer on the bench at Anfield, and deserves the No. 1 shirt elsewhere. Klopp may have been loath to part with the academy graduate, but his own impending exit provides a clear avenue for Kelleher to seek pastures new.
Liverpool, while publicly adamant they would prefer to keep their No. 62, have long been preparing for the time when he decides he can no longer play second fiddle. There is interest in both Sunderland’s Anthony Patterson, 23, and Wigan Athletic’s Sam Tickle, 22, suggesting the plan would be to replace Kelleher with another young, homegrown-eligible backup.
Alisson may have sparked fears among supporters when his six-bedroom home in the Cheshire village of Hale Barns was spotted on the market, but there is no suggestion that he is selling up with a view to leaving the UK, and the belief is that he has, instead, already moved.
With a contract that runs until 2027, Alisson should be going nowhere; regardless of who takes over from Klopp at the end of the season, there is no manager in the world who would give up a goalkeeper as talented as the 31-year-old Brazil international.
That leaves Kelleher in a difficult but arguably straightforward position ahead of talks with Liverpool’s hierarchy (and likely Klopp’s successor): rather than bide his time for chances during Alisson’s more-frequent-than-desired injury breaks, that run of 14 games will have given him a taste for a starting role week in, week out.
Nottingham Forest and Celtic have already been touted as possible destinations for the Irishman, but Kelleher has proven he can cut it at a level above either of those sides – it may just be about finding the right landing spot when the transfer window opens.
(Cover Image from IMAGO)
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