Liverpool's Goalkeeping and Defensive Dilemmas: Kelleher and Collins

Andoni Iraola hasn’t even taken his first training session at Liverpool, yet two familiar Premier League faces are already being pushed towards his in-tray.

From Brentford, no less.

The new head coach signed a two-year deal on Thursday after Arne Slot’s abrupt dismissal, and he inherits a squad rich in talent but dotted with uncertainty. Nowhere is that more obvious than in goal and at centre-back – two areas where former Republic of Ireland midfielder Andy Townsend believes Liverpool could turn to West London for answers.

Kelleher, Alisson and a goalkeeping puzzle

The Alisson Becker question has hovered over Liverpool for weeks.

Juventus have been strongly linked with the Brazilian, even after Liverpool triggered an option earlier this year to extend his contract through the end of next season. Slot had hinted that a decision might be looming this summer. Inside the club, though, the stance has been clear: they want Alisson to stay. Reports in Brazil now suggest the 31-year-old has chosen to resist Juventus and remain at Anfield for at least another year.

That choice, if it holds, shapes everything.

It affects Giorgi Mamardashvili, the Georgia international who made 20 appearances this season and whose representatives, according to claims in Italy, have been offering him on loan. It also reopens an old door for a very familiar face.

Caoimhin Kelleher left Liverpool for Brentford a year ago in a £12.5m deal, determined to escape the shadow of Alisson and play every week. He did exactly that. The Republic of Ireland No.1 delivered an outstanding season for the Bees, fully justifying his decision to leave the comfort of the Liverpool bench.

Townsend, though, can see the story looping back.

“I think he's a very reliable goalkeeper,” he said, speaking to OLBG. “He's developed into someone that I could see a bigger club than Brentford coming to take.”

That line is loaded. Townsend namechecks Chelsea and Newcastle as clubs where Kelleher could walk in as a clear first choice, and he doesn’t stop there.

“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.”

The warning for Liverpool is obvious. Kelleher has lived the life of a back-up. He doesn’t want it 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.”

That is the tension Iraola must weigh. If Alisson stays, Liverpool’s No.1 shirt is taken. If Alisson changes his mind, or if Liverpool cash in, Kelleher instantly becomes a compelling – and familiar – option.

“If Alisson does decide to leave Liverpool, they could do a lot worse than Kelleher,” Townsend said. “They know him very well and whenever he played for Liverpool, he was always very dependable.”

Liverpool’s goalkeeping department, once the most settled part of the squad, suddenly looks like one of the most delicate. One decision from Alisson could flip the entire plan.

Centre-back shortage and a Brentford captain in the frame

While the goalkeeper situation simmers, Iraola’s most obvious structural problem sits right in front of it.

At centre-back, Liverpool are light. Very light.

Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez stand as the only senior central defenders following the departure of Ibrahima Konate. Behind them, there is promise but also risk. Jeremy Jacquet and Giovanni Leoni are highly rated, yet both are working back from serious injuries. That is not the platform on which a new head coach wants to build a Premier League title challenge.

Townsend has a solution for that too – and again, his gaze lands on Brentford.

Nathan Collins, the Bees’ captain and another Republic of Ireland international, has impressed him enough to believe the 23-year-old is ready for a major step.

“He's done really well, Nathan Collins,” Townsend said. “I know that Spurs have just signed (Marcos) Senesi from Bournemouth. I think Nathan Collins would have been a good fit for them.”

Collins’ profile ticks a lot of boxes for a modern Liverpool centre-half. Tall. Mobile. Comfortable on the ball. And, crucially, learning how to cut out the errors that once threatened to define him.

“I think he could be a very talented centre-half,” Townsend continued. “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.”

The question, as ever in the Premier League, is cost.

“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.”

Townsend has watched Collins harden.

“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.”

For Iraola, that is the reality of the job he has walked into: a squad good enough to compete, but thin in key areas, and with the market aware of Liverpool’s needs.

Two Brentford players, two different ends of the pitch, both carrying the same question.

Are Liverpool prepared to pay the price to turn old connections and outside admiration into the spine of a new era?