It’s the nickname that Caoimhin Kelleher is loath to take as his own but the Liverpool goalkeeper is yet again needed to showcase exactly why, in the words of Jurgen Klopp, he remains “the best No. 2 goalkeeper in the world”. The former manager memorably gave the appraisal after Kelleher had helped the Reds win the Carabao Cup against Chelsea in 2022, keeping a clean sheet before rifling home the decisive penalty in the successful shootout.
“Alisson Becker is the best goalie in the world for me,” said Klopp. “There are other good goalkeepers out there but this goalie is absolutely insane. But to be honest for me Caoimhin Kelleher is the best No. 2 in the world as well.
“The game he played tonight was absolutely incredible. I can remember at least two incredible saves, and probably there were more. So he proved that the decision to line him up (ahead of Alisson) was absolutely right.”
That triumph came with an immortalisation of sorts at Liverpool as he got his face painted on to the goalkeepers’ mural at the club’s AXA Training Centre, which seeks to recognise shot-stoppers who have won silverware with the Reds. But if that victory came with wider recognition across football, Kelleher remains largely in the same place over two and a half years on from that Wembley success.
It was a well-meaning attempt at praise for Kelleher and a school of thought that many would subscribe to but the Irishman himself is admittedly reluctant to be known for being a back-up, regardless of how good first-choice Alisson Becker is.
In a chat with talkSPORT last week, Kelleher said: “It’s not a title I want – I want to be playing week in, week out. At the moment the situation for me is I’ll get these opportunities and I need to do well when I get these opportunities and play well, so that is my main focus obviously. Just when I do get that chance, play well.
“It is important I play week in, week out now and get that No.1 position. I have to show everyone I am capable and good enough to play week in, week out. I feel I have the quality to play well whenever I am needed, even if that means I’m not playing a game in a few weeks I can come in and still show my quality and do well. So that’s the most important part – to be ready when called upon.”
For someone who is generally viewed as one of the most laid-back and low maintenance players in the Liverpool squad, the goalkeeper’s comments on international duty last month were about as close to an outburst as possible for someone who is well liked and respected at the AXA Centre.
Kelleher said last month: “I think I’ve made it clear in the last few years that I want to go and be a number one and play week in, week out. The club have made that decision to get another goalkeeper in as well which, obviously from the outside looking in, looks like they’ve made a decision to go in a different direction.
“So yeah, my ambitions have always been clear and has been clear the last few seasons that I want to go and be a number one and play week in, week out. Sometimes from the outside looking in, it looks like maybe that’s 100% my decision but maybe at times it’s not always in my hands as well.”
Liverpool turned down what was viewed as a derisory offer from Nottingham Forest in January before once more rejecting the advances of the same club at the final knockings of the summer transfer window. Forest’s offer to toss Matt Turner into the mix alongside a bid of around £9m was promptly dismissed by Anfield officials, who have remained insistent that their No.2 goalkeeper won’t be sold on the cheap.
The predicament Kelleher finds himself in is understandable and for all the goodwill towards a goalkeeper who has been integral in two League Cup wins in recent years, his current situation highlights how cutthroat a business football can actually be.
Anfield officials are sympathetic to his cause of wanting to play more regularly but they won’t be moved to sell him at a fee they feel is way below his market value and with the injury history of Alisson, there has always been a belief that Kelleher will be needed at some stage.
