“AND a good boy too, otherwise he would not be in our team. Good character, yeah.”
Pep Lijnders, Liverpool’s assistant boss, standing in at a press conference for the award-winning Jurgen Klopp this week, was talking about Rhian Brewster.
But he so easily could have been talking about Adrian, the 32-year-old keeper bound for Real Valladolid just over a month ago, who has now carved a place for himself in Liverpool folklore in lightning-quick time.
Eight games into his Anfield career, it’s the biggest testament of all to the Seville-born stopper that he already feels part of the furniture. Who doesn’t like him? Who doesn’t want a pint with him? Who doesn’t secretly wish it was them who collared the grinning goalkeeper for a smiling selfie in the supermarket?
I wasn’t completely convinced at first but since Alisson’s injury, Adrian has won us a trophy, made some world-class saves and been one of the best keepers in the league.
There’s no need to rush Alisson back. Adrian San Miguel has earned my respect. pic.twitter.com/0Iez1nRDGl
— Laurie (@LFCLaurie) September 24, 2019
And he’s already played his part in a trophy win, saving the crucial Super Cup penalty from Tammy Abraham no less, with a medal to show for it to boot. He even slept with the cup.
Valladolid looks nice this time of year, 26 degrees no less, yet 13th place in La Liga isn’t quite top of the table in England and a first major honour of a long professional career.
When you consider Adrian spent the last two seasons watching on in the wilderness at West Ham, failing to register a single Premier League appearance in that time, his click-of-the-finger adaption to Anfield life is all the more remarkable.
Other clubs, so the story goes, checked out Adrian’s credentials over the summer and – of course, what else would they do? – “baulked” at his wages (reportedly relatively moderate in Premier League terms).
Liverpool, meanwhile, saw something else. It’s well documented now that behind the scenes at Melwood much homework on personality and attitude, as well as aptitude and ability, is routinely carried out.
And to go full Scouse for a second, it’s pretty clear Adrian is “sound”.
Look already how he celebrates with team-mates, how he conducts himself in interviews, his little salutes to the crowd. He gets it. And for a freebie signing that no-one thought was any more than back-up, it appears coming in arms out for a Klopp hug from day one is doing him the world of good.
Yes, there have been mistakes, most obviously at Southampton when he gifted Danny Ings a goal from nothing. A misjudgement offered Arsenal a chance at Anfield, too.
But from coming in cold in the 39th minute of the opening day match versus Norwich, the Spaniard has already taken great strides. Equally as important, those mistakes haven’t rattled him in the slightest. His mental resilience is clearly key among his top attributes.
Klopp, as many a manager would, stood by his man during those moments. He even fired public shots at his defence for feeding the ball back to a man playing with a less than 100 per cent ankle following the over-exuberant celebrations of a pitch-invader in Istanbul.
“Adrian had a swollen ankle and we played too many balls back to him in that period,” said Klopp.
“I was happy with everything he did, all the saves, all that stuff. The other players have to then feel more the responsibility for the build-up and cannot give all the balls back to him and hope the painkillers still help.”
The gaffer had a point that day. Virgil van Dijk alone in that game passed back to Adrian nine times. A week later against Arsenal he only once opted to involve the goalkeeper.
Since then though the pendulum has tellingly swung back, and Liverpool’s most diligent of defenders has again been happy to involve the man between the sticks.
At Burnley, he passed to him 13 times. In the defeat to Napoli, when Adrian produced a showreel save to deny Dries Mertens, the Dutchman played the ball to him three times with his defensive partner Joel Matip passing to the stopper seven times.
All this is important. This week, Klopp moved away from his traditional ‘one for the kids’ film reference of Rocky to another when he referenced Back To The Future in a well-received interview with The Players’ Tribune.
Using the artistic licence of the highest grossing film of 1985 for a moment, imagine an alternative reality where Simon Mignolet stayed at Anfield and Adrian continued to bask in the Spanish sunshine.
Imagine it was the Belgian who took to the pitch with a few minutes remaining of the first half against Norwich City.
With the greatest will in the world, there is no way that the sight of him entering the fray as Alisson left it would have sparked the generous applause – and song – that it did for Adrian.
By all accounts, and what we know from newspapers, websites and social media, Mignolet was well liked. His attitude was spot on, he trained well. And that was fine when – as harsh as it sounds – he wasn’t actually playing for Liverpool.
Broad brush opinions about thousands of supporters are always dangerous, but it seems fair to suggest that most, if not all, of the match-going throng of Liverpool fans that regularly attend at Anfield had more than had their fill of Mignolet.
When he played, you could hear it, you could feel it, you could almost reach out and touch it. Especially on corners.
The players, too, for all their positivity in public, did not look assured playing in Mignolet’s presence. There was uncertainty, a lack of trust. They knew it and we knew it.
We unfortunately don’t have the option of jumping in a silver sports car born in Texas to find out if history repeated itself once again with Mignolet but, unlike time machines powered by lightning strikes, it doesn’t feel like a big reach to suggest that would have been the case.
Instead, back to reality, we have Adrian. A man who has grasped his opportunity, embraced Klopp’s culture and appears to be working hard to right any wrongs as Alisson continues his recuperation.
Game by game, Adrian appears more confident, and defenders more confident in him. Supporters are relaxed. And the saves keep on coming. Alisson says he is “nearly there” in terms of his recovery, and his return will be welcome. But the Brazilian also doesn’t need to rush. There is no need to panic.
Klopp loves an unlikely hero. As he said himself, who doesn’t love Rocky? In Adrian he has another one. A good boy, a good character – but also a good goalkeeper.
