Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool court already has an Irish hero: his young goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher, crucial with his interventions so that the 'red' team defeated Ajax on Tuesday and qualified for the second round of the Champions League as group winners (1-0 ). Klopp surprised by including 22-year-old Kelleher in the starting lineup, who has not yet made his Premier debut, against the 'ajacied' instead of Adrián San Miguel, until now the 'reds' second goalkeeper after Alisson Becker, who has been found injured.
Klopp was clear about the choice of Kelleher, Ireland's Under-21 international goalkeeper: “We needed a goalkeeper like Caoimhin for the pressure from Ajax. He did very well, but in the end it all comes down to stopping and keeping the ball away from the goal and he did it sensational twice. It was difficult to remove Adrián because he has done very well during these seasons ”.
Kelleher was providential against Ajax, stopping a shot from Noussair Mazraoui and a header from Klaas Jan Huntelaar. As of Tuesday, the Cork goalkeeper had not yet played a game this season with the 'red' first team (in the past, he played three League Cup matches and one FA Cup match with Liverpool). Kelleher was even on the point of leaving in the summer on loan to an Eredivisie team because he wanted to play. But Alisson's injury (the one before the current one) prevented it.
That Klopp didn't line up Adrián against Ajax came as a surprise to many. The truth is that the Sevillian goalkeeper immediately showed his support for his young teammate. “He told me: 'I am with you 100 percent and I will support you no matter what happens.' His words and the advice he gave me were a great support for me at that time, ”said Kelleher in reference to Adrián. The Irish goalkeeper explained that “Alisson sent me a message wishing me luck.”
Kelleher joined Liverpool's youth ranks in 2005 from Ringmahon Rangers in his native Ireland. One of his brothers, Fiacre Kelleher, plays for Wrexham Welsh (who plays in the English Fifth Division and played for Celtic.
Kelleher was Liverpool's third goalkeeper in the last two seasons and was on the bench in the Champions League final won against Tottenham in 2019. Liverpool goalkeeper coach John Achterberg said in October “it's not good for Caoimhin not to play, but the coach (Klopp) has a lot of faith in him ”. And indeed against Ajax the German coach opted for the Irish goalkeeper.