Alisson Becker has been one of the premier goalkeepers in the world for the past several seasons. He shared the golden gloves award in the Premier League last season, sharing the award with Brazilian compatriot Ederson.
Like so many of Liverpool’s players, Alisson has looked human during the start of this season after superhuman efforts the past few years. Against Manchester City, however, the Brazilian was at his best with his positioning, shot stopping, and distribution.
Liverpool’s garrulous left back, Andy Robertson, spoke after the match about how much confidence he and his teammates have in Alisson with the ball at his feet.
“Ali on the ball is unbelievable and you have to trust him in those moments,” said Robertson of the goalkeeper.
“It came from their corner or free-kick and Ali has got it in his hands and you trust him to make the right decisions. It’s something we trust Ali with, he’s unbelievable with the ball at his feet. He’s got great vision as well and when he sees something, then we have to react off it and we all pushed up and luckily the ball has ended up in the back of the net.”
The keeper is an important outlet for the defenders when they are being pressed, but also can quickly flip the field and jumpstart Liverpool’s attack with his long passing and frozen-rope punts. He did just that yesterday, making a save from a free kick, and then driving the ball to Mohamed Salah who turned his defender before racing forward and finishing past Ederson with aplomb.
It certainly should come as no surprise that Salah was ready as soon as Alisson got hold of the ball. This was the third time that Alisson has assisted the Egyptian, with the other two coming against Norwich last season, and of course against Manchester United in 2020 when Alisson famously beat everyone else up the field to celebrate with Salah first.
Alisson now has the most goal involvements of any goalkeeper in Premier League history. He has four assists to go along with the memorable header he buried for a goal against West Brom.
Of course, while Alisson’s main function is as a shot stopper. With the defensive frailties Liverpool have suffered this season, he has been seeing a lot more shots with high xG chances. Yesterday, Robertson and the rest of the defense did a much better job of limiting the big chances.
“I think Ali’s the best in the world for sure in what he does. We’ve all probably let him down this season in that he’s faced too many shots, he’s had to be making too many saves. I think he’ll be a lot happier.”
Hopefully the Manchester City match was not just a one-off showing. Andy Robertson feels that the match is hopefully a turning point for the squad going forward.
”We were obviously brilliant but we need consistency. We’ve had a couple of performances this season where people have said, ‘Can this kickstart the season?’
“It’s important, it’s such a big win for us against an unbelievable team that put us under so much pressure. But it’s only a massive three points if we use it to our advantage. “
“This performance was an excellent performance but it’s important we all don’t get too carried away. We have to do it consistently now. That’s what our success has been built on in the past: being consistently good, consistently getting results and when you don’t play well, still getting results. We’ve not done that this season and that’s why we’re in the position we’re in.”
Source: SBNation
