Paul Merson told Soccer Special (01/12/20) that it was ‘a bit of a shock’ when Jurgen Klopp opted to pick youngster Caoimhin Kelleher over Adrian in the Champions League last night.
The writing is perhaps on the wall for Adrian at Liverpool now because when a 22-year-old academy product is playing ahead of you then you know that your time is up.
What doesn’t help Adrian’s cause is that he hasn’t exactly been in top form this season and that was proven during Liverpool’s 7-2 defeat at Aston Villa when he deputised for Alisson Becker.
Merson shared his thoughts on Klopp’s decision last night, which seemingly came out of the blue, and ended proving to be a masterstroke.
“At, 22, that is very young for a goalkeeper,” said Merson. “Great goalkeepers are usually 27, 28 and onwards.
“But for a kid at 22 to go in and he has gone in instead of Adrian, which, for me, is a bit of shock. So, they must really like this goalkeeper.”
What was even more impressive about Kelleher’s performance last night was that he didn’t really have the comfort of a natural backline playing in front of him.
Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Trent Alexander-Arnold are all missing through injury, and on top of that, it was a pressure game given that the home side needed a point to progress.
The only downside on Tuesday was the fact that Liverpool’s young Irishman didn’t have the Kop in full voice behind him because he deserved a standing ovation for his performance.
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