View: 78% Caoimhin Kelleher faces tough decision on Liverpool future amid ‘shame’ comments
New Republic of Ireland manager Heimir Hallgrimsson thinks it would “be a shame” if Caoimhin Kelleher stays at Liverpool this summer.
Hallgrimsson wants his number one to play regular first-team football next season and believes an Anfield exit is the best solution.
Speaking to the Irish Daily Mirror (13 July), he was asked whether Kelleher needed to move on to further his career.
He said: “Of course, especially when he showed everyone that he can play at the highest level.
“It would be a shame if he’s not playing regularly after he has already shown everyone how good he is, the level he played at.”
Kelleher faces a tough decision on Liverpool future
The 25-year-old played the most first-team football of his career last season with 26 appearances across all competitions.
He proved to be a capable deputy in the absence of Alisson and kept five clean sheets for the Reds with one of those being in the Carabao Cup final win against Chelsea.
Before last season, Kelleher was restricted to the odd cup competition appearance and only featured in the league in place of Alisson.
The Brazilian missed 19 matches for club and country last season with three spells on the sidelines but a hamstring injury suffered in February (Transfermarkt) gave Kelleher the perfect opportunity to showcase his qualities.
Kelleher hardly produced performances that would make Slot question his choice for number one this upcoming season. Still, he proved he can become a starter in the Premier League.
In his 10 appearances in the league he finished in the top 78 percentile for goals conceded and 71 percentile for goals prevented (Fotmob).
He continued Alisson’s role in the build-up play at Anfield with a 79.3 per cent pass completion and ranked in the top 76 percentile of Premier League goalkeepers.
In comparison to his peers, he ranked third among all goalkeepers in the league with a 71 save per cent rate (FBref).
His most impressive contribution in a Reds shirt was a +0.13 post-shot expected goals rate, proving that Kelleher can dispose of the danger in his penalty box once he has made the initial save.
But, at times, Kelleher was found out and looked out of his comfort zone in the Anfield goal, especially against Atalanta.
The match against Atalanta at Anfield in the Europa League quarter-final was a low point for Jurgen Klopp’s squad.
No more so than Kelleher, who allowed Scamacca’s shot to go under him for the first goal of the night.
He was also left helpless as Scamacca fired past him again to double the Italian’s lead, then he parried Ederson’s shot into the path of Marco Pasalic, who scored past a stranded Kelleher and put the final nail in the coffin.
Kelleher has produced Hollywood-style moments for Liverpool, from his Carabao Cup final heroics last season to his three penalty saves against Derby County in the same competition (9 November 2022).
But with a clean sheet percentage of 19 and two errors leading to goals last season alone, he is in no position to displace Alisson in the Liverpool goal and if first-team football is on the cards, he should seek a move away from Anfield this summer.
In other Liverpool news, an expert has provided an update on Darwin Nunez’s situation following his recent antics.
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