‘Big decision to make…’ – Liverpool legend says Arne Slot could soon face ‘difficult’ dilemma

Arne Slot could soon be facing a ‘difficult’ dilemma when it comes to one ‘really big decision’ that he’ll have to make at Liverpool.

That’s according to John Aldridge, who’s been so impressed by Caoimhin Kelleher’s form in recent weeks that he thinks it’d be unfair on the Irish goalkeeper to automatically drop out of the team once Alisson Becker regains full fitness.

The 25-year-old has been enjoying a prolonged run of starts while the Reds’ number 1 has been laid low with a thigh injury, although the Brazil international appears to be getting close to a comeback judging by an image he posted to Instagram on Monday.

Aldridge makes the case for Kelleher

In his latest column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldridge made the case for Kelleher to retain his place in the starting XI even when Alisson is fully recovered from injury.

The former Reds striker wrote: “Caoimhin Kelleher has been magnificent and I actually think Arne Slot has got a really big decision to make in the next few weeks. Once Alisson is fit, I don’t think it’s fair if Kelleher gets demoted to the bench.

“I think he’s been absolutely first-class. He’s been faultless with everything he has done in the games, and I think Ali will be looking at it and be embarrassed if he went back in because he’s done such a good job.

“It’s a big dilemma what he does in that position. Just say, for instance, Ben Doak had come in when Mohamed Salah was injured last season and scored 10 goals in five games. What would you do? Put Mo straight back in?

“It’s sleepless nights because football always used to be that if you were scoring goals, you stayed in the team. If you’re keeping clean sheets, you stay in the team. It’s going to be really interesting and it’s going to be difficult for the manager.”

Slot has already made his stance clear

We fully agree with Aldridge when he says that it’d be very harsh on Kelleher to drop back down to the bench purely because of Alisson’s return, given how excellent the Irishman has been in recent weeks.

He’s come up with massive saves in clutch moments, such as his one-on-one stop to prevent Georginio Rutter from doubling Brighton’s lead at Anfield and the outstanding quickfire double save against Aston Villa on Saturday when Liverpool were only one goal to the good.

Unfortunately for the 25-year-old, he plays in the one position on the pitch where there’s no room for flexibility. For instance, Slot was able to move Luis Diaz to centre-forward recently to accommodate Cody Gakpo on the left, while Joe Gomez has been used in every position across the backline as needed.

Kelleher is most unlucky to be at LFC at the same time as the world-class Alisson, and Aldridge will likely be disappointed with the head coach’s weekend assertion that the Brazilian will be the team’s ‘first goalkeeper’ whenever he’s fit.

That the Republic of Ireland international has even prompted debate over the possibility of our number 1 not automatically going back into the team once back from injury is a testament to how magnificent he’s been for Liverpool.

Alas it seems inevitable that he’ll soon resume his place on the bench, but he really couldn’t have done anything more to try and convince Slot to stick with him on a long-term basis.

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