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Achterberg: Kelleher has all the attributes to be a top keeper

Caoimhin Kelleher will get first team opportunities according to his goalkeeping coach John Achterberg.

With the untimely injury to Allison which is set to rule him out for the best part of six weeks, there have been discussions whether the Reds should sign a free agent gloveman with doubts over the consistency of current No 2 Adrian.

But Achterberg says that the 21 year-old Irishman who made four appearances for the club in domestic cup competitions last season is ready and waiting for his opportunity and has the full faith of all the coaching staff.

The Echo (via Sunday World) reported the former NAC Breda and Tranmere keeper as saying:

"This manager shows great interest in everyone in his squad. He appreciates that you need a big squad to win anything and it might be that we need to play our third-choice keeper in a big game at some point.

"What I would say is we would have no issue putting him into a game and I know the manager has faith in him as well."

 

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Being the first reserve keeper is a difficult enough position to fill, but for a youngster like Kelleher being third in line means opportunities to impress against seasoned professionals are at a premium.

There were a school of thought that the youngster be sent out on loan to get regular first team experience but Achterberg said there was plenty of pros and cons that had to be assessed. 

“He would like to play games and obviously that would be easier if he went out on loan, but the problem for us is we need three good goalies and he is one of our three.

“For his development, a loan move would be his next step, but the club have to make sure they have everything covered in case we have a problem with our keepers and we know it would be hard to find a keeper as good as him if we let him go out on loan.

“It's not the ideal solution for him and maybe playing matches would be what he needs now, but he is training with top players every day at Liverpool, playing in our under-23 games and that will allow him to continue to progress.

“Working with someone as good as Alisson every day for the last couple of years can only help him. He sets such high standards in everything he does and you can only learn from working with someone like that.

Achterberg identified a area that Kelleher could improve on but has no doubt that he has the attributes to make it at the highest level.

 

"Caoimhin has all the attributes to be a top keeper.
 

“He is a very quiet guy, a calm guy and very down to earth.  He is really not a big talker, but he has improved a lot in that area on the field in the last couple of years.

“There can never be enough talking on the pitch, in my opinion, so that is an area he can work on, but I see big improvements in all parts of his game. He has become more like a man now and we have high hopes for him.


 "Maybe he will get his chance to play in the first team at Liverpool sooner than we expect."







 

 

 

 

 

Edited by TLW

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I know we give achterberg stick but he’s survived a number of managers and I’m sure Klopp would spot a blagger a mile off, so he must be doing something right. Have any of our keepers ever said anything about him?

 

also that article sounds like we’re bigging him up for a sale.

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No harm to the young lad but he may have all the attributes to be a good goal keeper but so did David James and Chris Kirkland. 

Absolutely nowhere near ready for deputising for first team. 

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I watched him closely in warm ups and the odd game he's played and he looks totally shit, like a little scared boy. This level of shitness leads me to believe he's actually brilliant.  No way they would be keeping him around otherwise. 

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He needs to go on loan. He needs to be tested by some alehouse league 1 or 2 teams and hit the gym and put on a bit of muscle. He is meant to have great qualities but as no2 said he looks scared and intimidated.

 

I hated myself for some of the stuff I shouted at Adrian during the Villa game. I don't want to do it to a kid playing in the derby.

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He’s looked nowhere near being a good goalie in the league cup matches I’ve seen him in. obviously got time to develop but I’m not counting on it.

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13 hours ago, JagSquared said:

I know we give achterberg stick but he’s survived a number of managers and I’m sure Klopp would spot a blagger a mile off, so he must be doing something right. Have any of our keepers ever said anything about him?

 

also that article sounds like we’re bigging him up for a sale.


Or for the derby?

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On 14/10/2020 at 05:56, JagSquared said:

I know we give achterberg stick but he’s survived a number of managers and I’m sure Klopp would spot a blagger a mile off, so he must be doing something right. Have any of our keepers ever said anything about him?

 

also that article sounds like we’re bigging him up for a sale.

We signed a top goalkeeper coach from the FA, Jack Robinson, to work with Achteburg now.

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20 hours ago, Ronnie Whelan said:

He needs to go on loan. He needs to be tested by some alehouse league 1 or 2 teams and hit the gym and put on a bit of muscle. He is meant to have great qualities but as no2 said he looks scared and intimidated.

 

I hated myself for some of the stuff I shouted at Adrian during the Villa game. I don't want to do it to a kid playing in the derby.

Saw him on the bench for ROI.  Is he Ireland's usual number 3?

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2 hours ago, Rotpeter said:

Saw him on the bench for ROI.  Is he Ireland's usual number 3?

Not sure about Ireland to be honest. A look on wikipedia tells me that they have an 18 year old keeper with Man City who is currently on loan with Rochdale. He seems to be doing well there so Kelleher is probably a bit down the pecking order. 

 

As Docker said he needs to bulk up big time. A bit of experience with alehouse football could be the makings of him because you are going up against snide bastards week in week out. 

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If its any consolation, I know someone who does be around the Irish international training groups. 

 

He was telling me kelleher seems more than capable between the sticks, but did stress that his control of the ball with his feet was light years ahead of Darren Randolph, he was saying in training kelleher was pinging balls around like a central midfielder. 

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He looks like that tall skinny kid at school that was so shit outfield that you just put him in goal because he's tall. He has a real Gareth Keenan feel about him. 

 

All that being said if he's decent on the ball I'd start him ahead of Adrian. 

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