The summer of 2024 will see a huge change for Liverpool, with manager Jurgen Klopp leaving and most of his backroom staff leaving Anfield.
John Achterberg is one of those who left the club alongside the 57-year-old, with the Reds’ former goalkeeping chief team-mate having teamed up with Steven Gerrard at Al-Ettifaq, but he has now revealed there is continuity behind the scenes that has been instrumental in keeping key players at the club.
Interviewed by EOTK’s Peter Kenney-Jones on The Football Historian Podcast, he claimed keeping Claudio Taffarel on Arne Slot’s coaching staff helped keep Allison Becker at the club.
Speaking about the move to Saudi Arabia and the 1994 World Cup winner’s stay at Liverpool, Achterberg said: “It was a good thing. It was the right thing to do in the end, because Liverpool basically wanted to change the whole department.
“They were smart to keep Taffarel at least. If they had changed Taffarel too, they would have basically told Ali to find a new club. You have to be smart too. It’s a good thing. Taffar is a really good guy and it’s perfect for them to have him there.”
It is frightening to think that Allison might have been ousted had Liverpool not retained Taffarel in their backroom team, and it is particularly pleasing to see the former Brazil goalkeeper stick around despite the bulk of Klopp’s coaching staff having left.
It says everything about our current No. 1 that the excellent Caoimhin Kelleher seems obsessed with moving away from Anfield and establishing himself elsewhere. Were it not for the former Roma goalkeeper, the Irishman would be a regular for the Reds by now.
You can see Achterberg’s comments below (starting at 52:10) on The Football Historian Podcast on YouTube:
