When Jurgen Klopp made a special presentation to Alisson in the dressing room to mark a century of clean sheets, the Liverpool manager joked that the numbers on the back of the shirt were actually in recognition of “a hundred life-saving saves this season”.
The proud Brazilian goalkeeper smiled and, much to the amusem*nt of his team-mates, replied: “It might have been more!” He hasn’t been quite that busy over the past nine months, but you can appreciate the sentiment.
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During a rollercoaster season when so many key performers have endured alarming dips in form, Alisson has maintained ridiculously high standards.
Mohamed Salah has deservedly been showered with praise for his record-breaking heroics as the Egypt attacker reached the 30-goal milestone in all competitions for the fourth time in six years.
However, when it comes to dishing out the Liverpool player of the season award, it simply has to go to Alisson. No one has consistently delivered like him.
For much of his Anfield career, concentration was one of the greatest qualities required. When Liverpool were a dominant force, he had significant periods of inactivity.
Not this season.
As the structure of Klopp’s team disintegrated and opponents gleefully tore through gaping holes, Alisson was repeatedly left exposed. Liverpool only faced 107 shots on target (an average of 2.8 per game) in the Premier League last season and conceded just 26 goals. With three games remaining in 2022-23, that figure currently stands at 140 shots on target (an average of 4.0 per game) and 42 goals conceded.
Alisson makes a save against Brentford (Photo: Mike Morese/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Liverpool’s recent resurgence has largely been fuelled by Klopp’s tactical changes, Trent Alexander-Arnold being energised by his new role, the goals of Salah and the return of Luis Diaz. However, they wouldn’t have been in any kind of position to launch a late push for the top four but for Alisson standing tall throughout those dark days of autumn and winter.
Just think back to October and the manner in which he denied Erling Haaland at full stretch in the narrow home victory over Manchester City before keeping out Jarrod Bowen’s penalty against West Ham United in another 1-0 win.
After assisting a goal against Man City on Sunday, tonight Alisson reverted to more traditional goalkeeping fare, including a penalty save from Jarrod Bowen pic.twitter.com/U3cg53JISc
— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) October 19, 2022
It was a similar story away to Newcastle United in February when his hulking presence and sharp reflexes not only repelled the hosts, but he showcased his ability to launch attacks with pinpoint precision when the ball is at his feet. Nick Pope’s red card for handling outside the box came from Alisson’s quick thinking as he sent Salah scampering away.
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It’s a lethal combination. Alisson provided the assist for Salah in that triumph over City at Anfield. Klopp’s No 1 was also heavily involved when Salah pounced on Eric Dier’s error to score away to Tottenham.
The goals may have dried up for Alisson since that iconic, dramatic towering header at West Bromwich Albion two years ago, when he became the first goalkeeper in the club’s history to score in a competitive fixture, but the other parts of his game are slicker than ever.
Of course, he’s not faultless. No one is. There was the error at home to Real Madrid in the last 16 of the Champions League when he slammed a clearance against Vinicius Junior and watched helplessly as the ball flew into his net. A misplaced pass against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the FA Cup was also punished.
But there’s always going to be a degree of risk — it’s an occupational hazard when you are encouraged to play out from the back like he is and wait for space to open up and pick the right pass rather than simply launch it downfield.
Long-serving goalkeeper coach John Achterberg believes it’s Alisson work ethic, eagerness to analyse and improve each day, and the mental strength to get over setbacks quickly which sets him apart from so many of his peers.
When Virgil van Dijk stopped to talk to reporters after the recent win over Brentford which brought up Alisson’s 100th clean sheet in 229 appearances, the Dutch defender was keen to talk about the contribution the keeper makes behind closed doors.
Since Georginio Wijnaldum left the club in 2021, Alisson has been part of Liverpool’s leadership group and an increasingly vocal presence in the dressing room.
“His biggest quality is how he is as a person and how important he is for the group,” Van Dijk said. “He’s a big, big leader in the group. He’s someone who a lot of players look up to. He’s an example to them. I’m very glad that he’s my goalkeeper.”
Van Dijk an Alisson (Photo: Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images)
Klopp added: “His performances speak for themselves. If you know him, he is a better person than a goalie and that’s difficult.”
What a shrewd investment it proved to be when Liverpool bought him from Roma for £65million in the summer of 2018. He’s vying with Van Dijk when the conversation turns to who is the club’s most transformative signing of the Premier League era. The upgrade from Loris Karius was akin to replacing a spluttering Ford Fiesta with a purring Rolls-Royce.
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How different Liverpool’s recent history would have looked without that remarkable point-blank save Allison made from Napoli’s Arkadiusz Milik deep into stoppage time at Anfield in his debut season.
If that had gone in, the Serie A outfit would have marched into the knockout stages of the Champions League at the expense of Klopp’s side. There would have been no final glory in Madrid, no UEFA Super Cup, no Club World Cup added to the trophy cabinet.
“If I knew Alisson was this good, I would have paid double,” beamed Klopp in the aftermath of that win over Napoli in December 2018.
His save from Milik (Photo: PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)
A year later, when Napoli were back on Merseyside for a Champions League group stage clash with the stakes considerably lower, I had the pleasure of spending some time with Ray Clemence, arguably Liverpool’s greatest-ever goalkeeper.
Clemence, who played 665 games for the club and kept 323 clean sheets between 1968 and 1981, was a big admirer of Alisson and his words ring even truer now than they did then.
“He has everything that a goalkeeper needs to have — size, presence, great reactions and a commanding manner,” said Clemence, who sadly passed away at the age of 72 in November 2020. Like Alisson, he was as classy off the field as he was on it.
“Alisson could be Liverpool’s No 1 for another decade and become a real legend here. He’s all the physical attributes you look for in a top keeper and he’s mentally strong.
“If you want to be a top goalkeeper in the modern game then you have to be good with your feet and he is. The players in front of him have total confidence in him. They know that if they make a mistake there’s a good chance he’ll get them out of it.
“He has the ability to make difficult things look easy. I played there — I know what he does isn’t easy, believe me — but great goalkeepers make it look easy.
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“Even more important is his ability to make match-changing saves. You see keepers making fantastic saves at 2-0 or 3-0 down when it doesn’t really matter. Great keepers make big saves in big moments and Alisson does that. He’s as good as anything around.”
Alisson became the seventh Liverpool goalkeeper to achieve 100 clean sheets after Elisha Scott, Tommy Lawrence, Clemence, Bruce Grobbelaar, David James and Pepe Reina. He has shut out the opposition in 43.7 per cent of his appearances for the club — only Reina (44.9 per cent) and Clemence (48.6 per cent) have a better record among keepers who have played at least 50 games for the club.
Further afield, since Alisson made his debut for Liverpool, only Manchester City’s Ederson has kept more clean sheets in all competitions — boasting 111 having played 10 more games. In the Champions League, since Alisson arrived, he sits in third place (19) just behind Manuel Neuer and Ederson (both 20).
At the age of 30, Alisson is only just coming into his prime. He’s under contract until 2027 and by then he should have gone beyond the legendary Tommy Lawrence (390) and Reina (394) in the all-time appearance list. Barring serious injury, there’s no reason why he can’t earn himself another long-term deal beyond that. His family are happy and settled.
“I hope I’m going to reach 200, 300 clean sheets, but this is not only a number for myself; it’s for all the boys, all the staff, goalkeeping coach department, everybody,” Alisson said. “We work together with a common goal.”
It was typically humble. The reality is that Liverpool owe Alisson big time this season. But for his heroics, these closing weeks of the season would be meaningless. He’s been immense.
(Top photo: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images; design by Samuel Richardson)
