How Caoimhín Kelleher made the right choices with the help of his Liverpool mentor

“I was speaking to him three or four years ago and told him that he was already better than David de Gea. He just needed to play and prove it,” he said.

It was significant that those sentiments were shared by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, yet that backing alone was not enough for Cork-born Kelleher as he weighed up a decision that would define his career.

Alisson Becker’s status as Liverpool’s No 1 and his reputation as one of the world’s elite keepers meant Kelleher faced the prospect of spending a large chunk of his football career warming the bench for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

So Kelleher needed to decide whether he was happy to be a Liverpool reserve or take his chances by starting a new career away from Anfield.

Achterberg played a key role in the development of Kelleher’s career and when he looks back over the story of a kid who became a serial trophy winner in Klopp’s squad, he is convinced the right decisions were made at the key moments in this story.

Kelleher has won every major trophy in the game in his time at Liverpool and stands alone as the most decorated Irish footballer of this current generation.

That would not have been possible if he had cashed his chips in and moved to a lower-level Premier League or a second-tier team in England.

Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and double League Cup glory are all on Kelleher’s CV, with the 2022 Carabao Cup final win against Chelsea and a second victory in the same competition and against the same opposition the matches Achterberg highlights when he picks out Kelleher’s golden moments.

“I never had any doubts that Caoimh would be a top keeper, but the question was whether he could do that at Liverpool,” begins Achterberg, in an exclusive interview with the Sunday World.

“There was a lot of talk that he might go out on loan a couple of years ago, but the manager was always clear that we need two top keepers to have a chance to win trophies and, of course, he was right to make sure we kept Caoimh here.

“We have created the game time for him and when you look at what he has achieved, that would not have happened at too many clubs.

“The day he won the (2022) League Cup with his penalty in the shootout was very special and then in this year’s final, he made some vital saves against Chelsea and was probably man of the match again at Wembley.

​“We work so hard for days like that and when I look at him now, he is very much an all-round goalkeeper.

“His training levels are always so high and we can see the goalkeepers here are learning from each other.

“He has a great friend to train with in Ali and we do what we need to do to prepare for everything that is coming their way.

“Also, I have to say Caoimh is an unbelievable guy. He is humble and is a great person to work with.”

Kelleher has now played 43 first-team games for Liverpool and while that is a relatively modest total for a 25-year-old footballer, the quality of the environment he has been in since his arrival at the club’s Academy in 2015 has allowed him to take his game to the elite level.

The kid who put Ringmahon Rangers FC on the football map as he emerged through their set-up and secured a dream move to one of England’s true giants is now a mature performer who has impressed after starting the last ten games for Liverpool in the absence of the injured Alisson.

“He has always done well when he played, but now he is getting a chance to show it on a regular basis,” continued Dutchman Achterberg, who was a fine keeper himself in a career that saw him star for Merseyside club Tranmere Rovers.

“It’s difficult if you play a League Cup game and then don’t play for two or three weeks, as you can’t get into a rhythm.

“The reality is you need two good goalies to have a chance to win something and I believe we have the best goalkeeper line-up in the history of Liverpool right now.

“I was speaking to Caoimh three or four years ago and told him that he was already better than David de Gea.

“The only difference was De Gea was playing every week and he was getting a chance to show it.

“I think Caoimh was laughing about it when I made that comment, but I always believed in him and it was just a case of him showing it day in, day out.

“For a long time now, I would say he is as good as anyone in the game, but the problem here is he had one of, or maybe the best, goalie in the world ahead of him.

“The standards we set for our goalkeepers are so high because this is what you need to have if you are at a top club.”

Kelleher’s run in the Liverpool first team is set to continue as Alisson is not expected to return immediately after the international break, with Achterberg suggesting he is now ready to take over from Gavin Bazunu as Ireland’s first-choice keeper.

“Hopefully he gets the chance to show he can be the No 1 with Ireland,” added Achterberg.

“Obviously, when he was just playing the League Cup, it may not have been enough for the Ireland manager to pick him for big games.

“Then in the last few weeks, we can see what he is capable of doing consistently when he has been the No 1 for us and he needs to take his chances when they come with Ireland.

“It’s not in my hands whether he is the Ireland No 1 from now on, but I know what I would do if I was making that selection.”

In an era when Irish kids may fear the dream of lining out for the world’s biggest clubs has never been more distant, Kelleher’s success story could not have been more timely.