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Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images
The Irishman spoke ahead of Liverpool’s clash with Southampton.
The Liverpool squad that Arne Slot inherited isn’t perfect, but everyone knew it was talented and deep. At nearly every position, there are two ready made options for the head coach to select from. And while Slot has preferred to run a very tight rotation, one could see a chance to rotate a full XI between two matches with relatively little drop-off.
One of the positions that the world knows Liverpool have an abundance of riches is at goalkeeper. Alisson Becker, arguably the world’s best for approaching a decade now, has been out injured and, in his stead, Coaimhin Kelleher has put in a terrific run of performances across all competitions. Similar to last year, Kelleher has made a very big claim for a starting role and more than proven that his desire to leave the club in search of being a number 1 is not a case of inflated egos - the lad can absolutely ball. Many pundits have remarked that he could likely start in goal for all but maybe three Premier League clubs right now. And while we might waffle maybe on if there are 3 or 5 goalkeepers in the league better than him, no one can doubt that Kweev’s got the goods.
Ali is back in training and Liverpool sought to shore up the department knowing Kelleher’s positioning likely handed changed by purchasing (and immediately re-loaning) Giorgi Mamardashvili. Liverpool are an incredibly strong position leverage-wise, but it does mean that we’re likely looking at the last season with Kelleher minding our net.
Season’s not yet over, though, and I’m opting to just ride this time with Ol’ Kweev in the side by soaking it all in. Thankfully, his prominence in this team’s great run of form has afforded more opportunities to get his thoughts on things. In this interview on the official site, Kelleher was asked about the head space of the locker room ahead of the Southampton match.
“You need to take every team in this league very seriously or else you’ll end up not getting good results. We’re going to prepare as if we’re playing a Man City or a Chelsea or an Arsenal. For teams [in the bottom half of the table] we’re going to prepare the exact same and give it our all.”
Kelleher’s remarks will no doubt be music to most ears, even if it is a bit boiler plate. The whole conversation itself is a fun read, including a little bit that seemed to be more positive about this moment at Liverpool than his pre-season remarks have been.
I’m not fooling myself into thinking that all is good and Kelleher will be around for longer. But I’m also wondering if he’s recognizing his performances along with the age of Alisson Becker, and sensing an opening for himself as well.
Only time will tell, but one thing that would certainly help his case is putting in another good performance that hopefully enables the Reds to open up an eight point lead over second place Manchester City.
