• Home
  • /
  • Football
  • /
  • Daniel Sturridge Story Sums Up 'World Class' Caoimhín Kelleher's Transformation

Daniel Sturridge Story Sums Up 'World Class' Caoimhín Kelleher's Transformation

Daniel Sturridge Story Sums Up 'World Class' Caoimhín Kelleher's Transformation
Joshua Bell Curran
By Joshua Bell Curran
Share this article

Caoimhin Kelleher produced another iconic League Cup Final appearance as Liverpool nabbed a 118th-minute goal to beat Chelsea 1-0 and win the 2024 League Cup. Reminiscing about a young Caoimhin Kelleher after the game, former Liverpool star Daniel Sturridge joked about the banter they had and summed up his transformation from a youngster to today.

After the game, the 25-year-old Corkonian who started this afternoon's fixture was heralded by fans, teammates and pundits as being the 'match winner' and unfortunate to miss out on the MOTM award.

From the first whistle, Kelleher faced an onslaught of pressure from Chelsea, making several emphatic saves over the 120 minutes to keep the game scoreless before eventually warding off a few last-minute attempts from the London side to keep Liverpool ahead.

Recommended

While his brilliance had some regular pundits and fans alike surprised, former Liverpool star forward Daniel Sturridge never had any doubt about Caoimhin Kelleher's abilities.

Advertisement

READ ALSO: He Should Have Got It': Kelleher Shows Class Over League Cup MOTM Award

Daniel Sturridge sums up Caoimhin Kelleher's journey to League Cup heroics

Speaking on Sky Sports after the game former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge was reminiscing on the days of being a teammate of the Corkman. Kelleher joined Liverpool when in 2019, in Sturridge's last season at Anfield.  Their careers were in completely different places but Sturridge confirmedhe''d have a bit of banter with Kelleher at the Liverpool training ground, telling his fellow pundits:

The goalkeeping coach used to send Kelleher across we used to have a bit of banter, we used to give him a bit you know, and to see him now.

You know I think when you see a guy and you've seen his ascension and now he's in the final starting being brilliant.

https://www.balls.ie/football/caoimhin-kelleher-daniel-sturridge-588935

When asked if he believed Caoimhin Kelleher could ever be this good, Sturridge left viewers in no doubt about his answer and revealed some fascinating insights into what Kelleher has changed to get to where he is today.

Honestly yes, he was a lot smaller then but he's bulked up quite a lot. His shot stopping is brilliant and he has a lot more command about him now. Whereas before you would've thought he was a little bit frail.

But now he's filled out he's got a huge amount of confidence in his own abilities as well and he made himself so big.

While the sentiments from Sturridge comes as no surprise to us Irish, they show the high regard even a young Kelleher was held in by his Liverpool teammates.

SEE ALSO: Conor Bradley's 'Automatic Yellow' Highlights Football's Worst Unwritten Rule

Conor Bradley Liverpool Chelsea Mike Dean

Head over to Carlsberg's socials to check out the #CarlsbergSavesChristmas giveaways, where you could win some incredible prizes throughout the festive season!: https://www.instagram.com/CarlsbergIreland

Join The Monday Club Have a tip or something brilliant you wanted to share on? We're looking for loyal Balls readers free-to-join members club where top tipsters can win prizes and Balls merchandise

Processing your request...

You are now subscribed!

Share this article

Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Developed by Square1 and powered by PublisherPlus.com

Advertisement