Liverpool appoint new keeper coach as two more backroom staff members confirmed

Liverpool have continued to bolster Arne Slot’s backroom staff with the appointment of Fabian Otte as head of first team goalkeeper coaching – with the arrivals of Sipke Hulshoff and Ruben Peeters having also been officially confirmed.

Otte will join up with the Reds from his current position as head of goalkeeping with the USA national team once their participation in the forthcoming Copa America comes to an end.

The 33-year-old was chosen as the preferred candidate after a process led by new Fenway Sports Group head of global goalkeeping Hans Leitert in consultation with Liverpool sporting director Richard Hughes and head coach Slot.

READ MORE: Michael Olise transfer fee won’t scare off Liverpool – but jury still out on £60m deal

READ MORE: I fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson after furious Liverpool reaction – then I wanted to leave Everton

The Reds were compelled to overhaul their goalkeeper coaching department after previous first-team goalkeeper coach John Achterberg and assistant Jack Robinson departed along with other members of Jurgen Klopp’s backroom staff.

Otte was recommended by both former England goalkeeper Joe Hart and current Switzerland number one Yann Sommer, both of whom have previously worked with the German.

He had spent last season at Bundesliga side Borussia Moenchengladbach having moved there in 2021 following a year with Burnley as assistant goalkeeper coach. Otte also gained coaching experience with Hoffenheim under-23s and the New Zealand Women’s National Team. Otte has also been a coaching educator and lecturer for the German Football Association and the Oceania Football Confederation.

Meanwhile, Liverpool have also officially confirmed the appointments of both Hulshoff as assistant to Slot and Peeter as the club’s head of performance. The duo have both followed the head coach in arriving from Feyenoord.

Explaining the appointments, Slot said to liverpoolfc.com: “Of course, you want to take some people with you as well because they know who you are, they know your playing style and they can translate this to the other people in the staff as well. But if you go to a club like Liverpool, you can assume – and I already noticed that – that there are a lot of good people working here as well.

“So, we are going to use hopefully the best of both worlds to implement a few things from us and to use the knowledge that is inside this club already because of the nine years Jurgen (Klopp) and his staff worked here.

“I bring in Sipke Hulshoff, who’s been my assistant for a few years now at Feyenoord. I worked with him long ago, I worked with him at Cambuur Leeuwarden as well. He was the assistant of Ronald Koeman of the Dutch national team as well, but he is going to join me now from the start. A bit older than me, I think, not so much but a bit older than me. Because we work together for such a long time, I think the both of us know exactly what we want when it comes to game model, playing style – and I think that helps.

“Then we will bring in a performance coach, Ruben Peeters, who is going to help me and the club with – how would I put this in English words? – the way we are working on the physical side. Us three have worked together at Feyenoord for three years now and we know how we want to work, which is normal.”