Liverpool's Goalkeeper and Centre-Back Dilemmas: Iraola's Early Challenges
Andoni Iraola has barely had time to find his parking space at the AXA Training Centre, yet the shape of his Liverpool rebuild is already being debated – and Brentford sit right at the heart of it.
A new head coach, a restless fanbase, and a goalkeeping department balanced on a knife-edge. It’s a very modern Liverpool storyline.
Alisson decision looms large
Alisson Becker remains the dominant figure in Liverpool’s goalkeeping picture, but his future has invited more questions than answers in recent weeks. Juventus have been strongly linked with the Brazilian, even after Liverpool triggered their option earlier this year to extend his deal to the end of next season.
Arne Slot hinted before his departure that a decision might be required this summer. Inside the club, the stance has long been clear: they want Alisson to stay. Reports in Brazil now suggest he has chosen to resist Juventus’ advances and remain at Anfield for at least another year.
If that holds, it stabilises one pillar of Iraola’s first team. It also sends a jolt through the rest of the goalkeeping hierarchy.
Giorgi Mamardashvili, the Georgia international who made 20 appearances this season, suddenly finds his own path clouded. Claims from Italy suggest his representatives have been offering him on loan, sounding out Serie A clubs who might be ready to give him a more permanent stage.
And in the middle of all that, one familiar name has re-emerged.
Kelleher backed for Anfield return
Caoimhin Kelleher left Liverpool a year ago for Brentford in a £12.5m deal, trading medals for minutes. It was a brave move from a goalkeeper who had collected six major honours with the Reds but lived mostly in Alisson’s shadow.
At Brentford, he proved his point. Week after week, he justified his decision to chase regular football, turning in the kind of consistent, composed performances that make recruitment departments sit up.
Andy Townsend is convinced the 25-year-old has outgrown his current surroundings.
“I think he's a very reliable goalkeeper,” the former Ireland, Chelsea and Aston Villa midfielder said. “He's developed into someone that I could see a bigger club than Brentford coming to take. When I look at Chelsea's goalie (Robert Sanchez), I don't think he even comes close to Caoimhin Kelleher.
“Brentford know they've got a good one, but it's got to be a bigger club. Brentford had a good season, but it's got to be a club like Liverpool or Chelsea. I remain convinced that he could do that.”
The catch is obvious. Kelleher walked away from Anfield to avoid exactly the scenario that could await him again.
“He doesn't want to go anywhere now where he isn't the number one, he's shown he can handle that,” Townsend added. “He's the national team number one by a distance. The last thing he wants to do is go to a club like Liverpool and find himself playing only 10 or 15 games a season. He's done that already. If he goes anywhere, he wants to go in as a number one.”
Townsend can see him leading the line at another ambitious club.
“I could totally see him going to Newcastle and being number one there, or Chelsea. If Alisson does decide to leave Liverpool, they could do a lot worse than Kelleher. They know him very well and whenever he played for Liverpool, he was always very dependable.”
For Iraola, that’s the crux. If Alisson stays, Kelleher’s path back to Merseyside looks blocked by the same wall that forced him out. If Alisson goes, Liverpool already know where to find a ready-made successor.
Centre-back puzzle points to Brentford again
The goalkeeper debate is only one problem on Iraola’s desk. Centre-back is another, and it’s arguably more urgent.
Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez stand as his only senior central defenders after Ibrahima Konate’s departure. Behind them, the club are excited about Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni, but both youngsters are working their way back from serious injuries. Promise, yes. Reliability, not yet.
That’s why Townsend believes Liverpool should again be looking towards Brentford – this time at their captain, Nathan Collins.
“He's done really well, Nathan Collins,” Townsend told OLBG. “I know that Spurs have just signed (Marcos) Senesi from Bournemouth. I think Nathan Collins would have been a good fit for them.
“A boy playing in London, going to another London club, that can help. I think he could be a very talented centre-half. He had too many mistakes in him 18 months ago, but he seems to have eradicated a lot of that. And he's a tall lad, he's quick enough, and he can play. So I think he's ready for an opportunity now to go and show that he can go up a notch. I think he can do it, I really do.”
Collins has long been viewed as a defender with high potential but rough edges. Townsend believes those edges have been sharpened.
“I said a couple of years ago he was a little bit soft with his defensive work, giving away easy goals. I think now he's got better in that respect. There is a more ruthless element to what he's doing defensively now, he's a bit more solid.
“Because of that, I think certainly there's a number of clubs that could do with a player like him and would benefit.”
The question, as ever, is price and ambition.
“But whether Liverpool will be that and whether they would pay Brentford the sort of money they would want, I'm not sure, that is the only concern. But I think Nathan's got a lot of ability.”
Iraola’s early tests
So Iraola steps into Liverpool with two clear recruitment fault lines and one club, Brentford, sitting at the centre of both.
Does he push for Kelleher as a trusted, known solution if Alisson’s situation changes? Does he ask the club to stretch for Collins as Van Dijk’s next long-term partner? Or does he trust internal options and a different market?
For a coach only days into the job, these are defining early calls. The answers will say plenty about how quickly Liverpool intend to move from transition to contention.
