John Achterberg calls it his ‘mad passion’ and then tells a story that backs up this colourful description.
Liverpool’s head of goalkeeping is discussing the period of his life when the first career he forged in football began to merge into the second; his time as a player/coach with Tranmere Rovers, a club at which he is revered as a legend.
Driven by the pursuit of perfection that he exudes to this day - “He’s one of the hardest-working people I’ve ever met, he works as a coach 25 hours a day,” as Jürgen Klopp once put it - Achterberg refused to bow to circumstance.