“Caoimhin! He’s gotta catch it or punch it, Caoimhin, he thinks its going out.”
Unsurprisingly, Roy Keane had an exasperated reaction to Caoimhin Kelleher’s late mistake against Newcastle, which earned the Magpies a 3-3 draw against Premier League leaders Liverpool on Wednesday night.
In the 90th minute of their clash at St James’ Park, the Cork keeper decided to leave an in-swinging free-kick – believing it was going dead – only for Fabian Schar to nip in at the back post and squeeze the ball into the net.
While Trent Alexander-Arnold did poorly to let Schar get ahead of him so easily, a simple fist or away from Kelleher would have seen off the danger.
Keane – who is well known for his unfavourable views on goalkeepers – had his say during a Stick to Football watch along with Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, and Ian Wright.
Keane said:
“If you’re the goalie, you just catch it you don’t leave it.
“What are ya doing? He has to catch it you don’t just leave it.
“If you can catch it, it’s like a defender when it comes in, if you can header it, header it.”
The fickleness of professional sport and the scrutiny placed on top-flight football has hit Kelleher with full force, after weeks of praise.
In the absence of the Reds’ No 1 Alisson, the Irishman has been lauded for his performances for his club – and country – with a penalty save in the Champions League from Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe a particular highlight.
For die-hard Liverpool fan Carragher, the disappointment in his voice was palpable: “The keeper, why has he left it. Did he think it was going out?
“Caoimhin! He’s gotta catch it or punch it, Caoimhin, he thinks it’s going out.”
Liverpool boss Arne Slot acknowledged the mistake of the 26-year-old and was magnanimous after being denied a crucial win.
He said: “He has done remarkably well for us and even today he was good for us,” he said.
“Unfortunately, he misjudged the situation. He will learn from that.”
“I have mixed feelings, we were outstanding in the second half but we were not good enough in the first half. Maybe 3-3 is what the game deserved.
“They were really aggressive and forced us into mistakes but we were so much better in the second half. I knew the game could be changed around, we were much better with the ball.
With Alisson expected back at the end of the month, Slot has said previously that the Brazilian will be straight back into the side, but reiterated again that he will not rush him given the positive performances from his stand-in.
He added: “But it’s a long season. A goalkeeper is a different situation. We are just as happy with Caoimhin as you are. He’s done outstanding and that’s what we should talk about now instead of what’s going to happen in a week or in two weeks.”
