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Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp raves about Caoimhin Kelleher’s after penalty shootout heroics
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp heaped praise on goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher following his heroics in the penalty shoot win over Derby County last night.
The Reds fielded a very young side against the Rams yesterday. Kelleher, Liverpool’s Cup hero from last season, proved to be the star of the show again, and Klopp was beyond delighted with his heroic display.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp raves about Caoimhin Kelleher’s after penalty shootout heroics
Liverpool tried long and hard, but they just couldn’t break Derby down. After 90 minutes of action, the scores remained 0-0, and the game went to penalties.
The Rams went first and David McGoldrick scored from the spot. Liverpool suffered an early setback as Stefan Bajcetic missed his penalty kick, but from that point, it was the Kelleher show.
The Irishman saved three of Derby’s next four penalties and won his side the game. Kelleher has now won the most shootouts of any goalkeeper in Liverpool’s history – despite the fact that he has played just 18 games.
That is an amazing stat and Klopp too was amazed when he was asked about it. “Wow,” he said, as per the .
“Let’s just talk about tonight, I can’t remember the others [saves in shootouts], but of course they were good as well. Tonight they were three really good penalties, they all go in the corner, so it’s not like it’s a bad one and they mishit the ball or slip a little bit before they shoot.
“No, they were really good and he saved them anyway, so that’s massive. I think we never hold it back somehow and said Caoimh could not play – no, no, no, he is exceptional, he is absolutely exceptional.
“He has still a lot of goalkeeper years to come so if he could keep that record it would be exceptional and they would be completely insane numbers. So, he did really well.”
TBR View:
Liverpool fans have always said that Kelleher is the best second-choice goalkeeper in the Premier League. After seeing his record, it’s hard to argue against it, isn’t it?
The young Irishman was absolutely incredible in the shootout last night. He’s the reason why the Reds won the game, and he’ll be key in the remainder of the competition as well if Liverpool go on to defend it.
The problem for Liverpool is how long will Kelleher accept a second-choice role at the club. Alisson is the undisputed number one and he still has at least four years left at the top level.
Whether Kelleher will be willing to stay as a backup until then remains to be seen.
