How Safe Hands Alisson has made all the difference to Liverpool’s title charge
IT WAS one of those moments when you expected to hear a growl: the home team under pressure, a back pass to the goalkeeper and an away forward spying an opportunity.
Anfield is not famed for its patience. In recent seasons it has been uncomfortable to see Liverpool play backwards in games that have not been going their way, particularly when there has been no faith about the man in goal. So the 67th minute of their meeting with Brighton presented a test.
The visitors had crept into the contest, and suddenly Anthony Knockaert was bearing down on Alisson as Trent Alexander-Arnold’s ball meandered backwards.
But as many around the stadium took a sharp intake of breath, Alisson moved to the edge of his area, dinked the ball over Knockaert and glided around him before returning the ball to Alexander-Arnold with a pass from the outside of his right foot. ‘It was not for showing off,’ Jurgen Klopp insisted. ‘It was the right decision in that moment. If he shoots (his clearance), there could be a block. So he chips the ball and it is all good. It’s fine… of course there was a different heartrate at that moment!’
An older generation of Liverpool fans will recall how Bruce Grobbelaar used to enjoy madcap forays outside his area but Alisson looks so composed he could slot in and play holding midfield. ‘If sometimes there is a situation where I can dribble, I do it carefully,’ Alisson said. ‘It could be too risky, but it’s part of the game, we are a team who play from the back with the ball on the ground. That’s part of the team’s characteristics.’
Alisson cost Liverpool £65million, but straight away the investment is reaping dividends because of the influence and serenity he has been able to exert. When Liverpool needed him against Brighton he was there, such as before half-time when he barged Glenn Murray out of the way and flew through a crowd to punch a corner clear, or in the 88th minute, when he plunged to his left to turn a Pascal Gross header round the post.
To say he was Liverpool’s best performer would be an embellishment — that accolade must go to the ageless James Milner — but Alisson never looked like being taken out of his comfort zone. He is cut from the same unflappable cloth as Virgil van Dijk.
More than anything, he has secured the trust of his team-mates, manager and fans. That was something Loris Karius, whose loan to Besiktas was confirmed shortly after Liverpool’s third successive victory, could not do.
Had Klopp and Michael Edwards, Liverpool’s sporting director, not addressed the weakness in their team, it would have been a dereliction of duty. Without the confidence of those around him, how could Karius have been expected to make big saves or big interventions at big moments?
There is, though, not a goalkeeper who does not make mistakes and there was an incident in the 79th minute when the Brazilian was almost mugged by Murray with the ball at his feet.
‘Mistakes may happen,’ said Alisson, who became the fourth Liverpool goalkeeper in history to start with clean sheets in his first three games. ‘Hopefully I will keep helping the team, it is teamwork. I have my contribution, but I am not the main man responsible for the clean sheets.’
Brighton were impressive and defended with great resilience and it was only the fact that Milner was able to pick Yves Bissouma’s pocket in the 23rd minute that Mohamed Salah ended up with the opportunity to shatter their resistance.
‘We played very well,’ said Brighton manager Chris Hughton. ‘But this is an incredibly difficult place to get something. I accept a lot was good defensive play — stopping them — but we had good spells and to finish as well as we did speaks volumes.’
Brighton made Liverpool huff and puff and this was the kind of game when Klopp regularly saw his team drop points last season.
‘We win or we draw when we are good and lose most of the time when we are average,’ said Klopp. ‘That is what we have to change. We fought for this result and so I’m really happy.’