Liverpool bagged their first trophy this season by winning the League Cup finals against Chelsea on penalties. After the match, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp heaped praise on young goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher for his heroics in the finals.
The Reds clinched the trophy beating Chelsea 11-10 on penalties after both sides failed to break the deadlock even in extra time. Kelleher was preferred over the much experienced Alisson due to his impressive performances earlier in the League Cup. So Klopp wanted to hand the young custodian a big opportunity and he grabbed it with both hands.
The Irish goalkeeper came up with some great saves to keep Liverpool in the game. He did great to deny Romelu Lukaku in the 95th minute to keep the Reds in the game.
Klopp was ecstatic about his backup goalkeeper as he lauded his maturity and calmness in a final like this. The German highlighted how his ‘human’ decision to select Kelleher paid off. He said, “Even in professional football there should be space for some sentiment. Caoimhin Kelleher is a young boy, plays in all the competition, what do I do? I am two things, a professional manager and a human being and the human being won. It is so nice that it [his inclusion] paid off. He deserves it. At the training centre, we have a wall that all goalkeepers are on who won something and Caoimhin can go on it – that’s how it should be – absolutely great.”
It was tough for the young Irish custodian to get game time as he was competing with one of the best goalkeepers in the world, Alisson. But his constant push and consistent performances whenever called upon earned the trust of Jurgen Klopp, who believed in him and gave him the chance to shine.
The 23-year-old custodian will again feature for the Reds in the midweek FA Cup fixture against Norwich City.
It was an intense battle between two in-form teams and it would have been goals galore with Kelleher and Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy. Both custodians were exceptional in goal as he came up with multiple saved to force penalties.
Jurgen Klopp acknowledged that fact and credited Chelsea for being equally strong as he felt that the game could have ended 5-5. He concluded, “I am happy for the people to celebrate something like this. Chelsea are incredibly strong, we matched each other. That is the start, we are not silly. We need to have luck – we had luck, that could have been 5-5.”
