Caoimhin Kelleher has suffered the plight of all great goalkeepers, because no matter what you have done in previous games, you will be ing out to dry for any mistake made.
Over a seven day period, Kelleher kept two clean sheets against the two most feared clubs in world football, Real Madrid and Man City, and even saved a penalty from one of the best strikers in the planet in Kylian MbAppe.
However, just one week on from that save, the Irishman misjudged a free kick, opting not to catch it, as it flew over his head and onto the Newcastle player's foot, who converted it to salvage a draw for his team late in the game.
Now, the knives are out as the Cork native has had to deal with a backlash of criticism, and despite spending the last six weeks performing brilliantly, a cohort of liverpool fans are calling for Alisson Becker to be reinstated as the team's number one immediately.
Speaking after the game, Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk has came out in support of the shot-stopper, and believes that the criticism is "too much."
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"These things unfortunately happen in football and he has to keep going.
"Don’t listen to the reaction of the people – they will be very harsh on him, in my opinion. He has had an outstanding season, so just keep going
"He will learn from this, like we all have to learn from the first half especially and hopefully be ready for a very, very big one on Saturday which will be very tough."
Liverpool manager Arne Slot has also defended his goalkeeper, and reminded everyone about the important saves that he made earlier in the game.
"I think like all the players, [Kelleher is] disappointed.
"Like I said, two times we were a goal down, so in these moments, you would have been happy with a point. But if you’re one minute before the end, 3-2 up, then you are close to a win.
"He made, again, some important saves for us, but he made the wrong judgement in the cross and still it was unbelievable how this defender, with his wrong leg, could score that goal."
Liverpool take on Everton in the early kick-off this Saturday, and all eyes will be on Kelleher to see how he reacts to the set back, or if Allison will be back in pole position.
