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Kelleher ahead of Adrian
What four remarkable days for Caoimhin Kelleher.
On Saturday, the Liverpool goalkeeper was beaten seven times by Manchester City while playing for the Under-23s.
Fast forward to Tuesday night, and a clean sheet of his European debut might well have solidified the 22-year-old’s place as Liverpool’s new second-choice keeper.
The opportunity arose after Jurgen Klopp received another heavy blow with Alisson Becker, whose durability is now in question, sidelined for a fortnight with a hamstring complaint.
If it hadn’t been a surprise for another Liverpool player who stops lame, that Klopp would have turned to Kelleher rather than Adrian was truly unexpected.
Remarkably, the Irishman was making his Champions League first appearance exactly 18 months after taking home the winner’s medal as an unused Madrid substitute against Tottenham Hotspur.
Kelleher’s performance made it easy to forget that this was just a fifth senior start, with saves from Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and Noussair Mazraoui highlighting the stopping-shooting prowess that has consistently shone at the level. of the Academy.
However, it was the Irishman’s composure on the ball, a key tenet of Klopp’s Liverpool, that convinced the Reds boss to give him a nod, a faith that has largely paid off.
With a clean sheet, Kelleher may have reshaped the Reds’ goaltending hierarchy for good.
Gini not in bottle
As a former PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord player, Gini Wijnaldum reportedly took the opportunity to confront the most decorated club in the Netherlands.
Which is just as good considering the Liverpool midfielder has no choice but to line up at the moment.
The long list of absentees in the center of the squad meant it was the seventh consecutive start for Wijnaldum.
Indeed, only Andy Robertson has played for more minutes for Liverpool this season.
Wijnaldum did what he always does, prioritizing the team and conscientiously carrying out their duties with the minimum of fuss, allowing vocal skipper Jordan Henderson and winner Curtis Jones to draw more attention to its ratings.
But as if to show that his engine and energy remain intact despite the heavy workload, it was the Dutchman chasing Ajax’s defense in added time and keeping the ball as far from the Reds’ goal as possible.
With his contract clocking in, campaign evidence so far suggests Wijnaldum is determined to come out of Anfield in great shape.
However, if there is a way for Liverpool to persuade him to stay, they simply have to.
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Defense deserves praise
Considering the lack of assistance from elsewhere, Liverpool couldn’t afford to pass up a chance to help themselves.
It’s no wonder, then, that Jurgen Klopp made an extremely happy figure with his squad, for the first time under his tutelage, avoiding a last game showdown to earn their Champions League group qualification.
Ajax, who were only making their second visit to Anfield, had demonstrated their attacking threat in Liverpool’s rambling victory at Amsterdam in the group opener in October.
And the visitors would have been encouraged to see the Reds miss four of their five top-choice full-backs, with the full set risking being finished in the first half when Andy Robertson fell before being tied up and sent off.
If the woodwork intervened on one occasion, the performances of Joel Matip and Fabinho in particular deserved such a fortune.
Klopp will rely heavily on the duo as their chief center-back at least until the transfer window opens again in January.
With Europe now sidelined until February at the earliest, persuading Matip and Fabinho within the next month or so could prove crucial to ensuring Liverpool stay away atop the Premier League until the finish any reinforcements.
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