Why Alisson is so important to Liverpool
Surprising speed off mark has helped the outstanding Liverpool keeper go clear of field, says Chris Bascombe
Consider the most rapid Liverpool players and it is unlikely goalkeeper Alisson Becker would top many lists. Yet while the Brazilian naturally leads the way with Premier League save percentages and looks set to retain his Golden Glove with six clean sheets in 13 appearances this season, it is perhaps a more surprising facet of his game which has enabled him to dethrone today’s opposite number, Manchester United’s David De Gea, as the league’s best.
“Ali is actually one of our quickest players,” says Liverpool goalkeeping coach John Achterberg. “There have been games when sprinting-wise he has had the highest speeds. It’s a very good and important tool to have.”
Achterberg is studying Alisson’s heat map from last weekend’s victory over Tottenham Hotspur to make the point. The image shows how much time the South American spends outside his penalty area, while his passing stats are more akin to a midfield playmaker. The natural ability to sense and avert danger before a minor threat becomes an alarm means Alisson (right) makes the difficult look mundane.
“That’s true. It is because he has fast speed reactions and is powerful with his take-offs,” says Achterberg. “Knowing the right position to take helps a lot. If your positional play is really good and you combine that with your reaction speed, it helps. Because we play so high, the keeper has to take that position high up the pitch, too.
“Obviously, if the team defends deeper, it is a different situation. Ali is really fast off the line, so when the ball goes over the defenders he is there. He had this in his game already, but we have asked him to do it far more. Now it gets noticed more. He is good at reading the game, knowing when to make the right decision.”
Alisson’s save percentage is higher than any Premier League goalkeeper in the past 10 years (he currently saves 79 per cent of shots on target), but it is the saves-to-shots ratio rather than the number of saves in total that singles him out. “There are keepers who make hundreds of saves a season, but they spend all year on their line in a team that invites shot after shot. That does not tell you how good they really are,” says Achterberg.
“If you face 500 shots, you have a good chance of making over 400 saves. The most important save in a match is the first one, when the game is 0-0, giving your team confidence. You do not want a keeper who can only make saves and kick the ball as far as possible. Coaching now has to be about ensuring goalkeepers can adapt to all the styles – keepers who can do everything. Then they can play in any team. As well as the obvious ability, the best keepers now can pass with their right and left feet, take crosses, read the game and play on the edge of their penalty area to see danger in a team playing a high line.
“That is what the top coaches are looking for – all-round goalkeepers. Teams like Liverpool Man City, Barcelona, PSG and Bayern Munich will always want this type of keeper in future.”
In such a dominant side, it is the Liverpool keeper’s mental strength that is tested most.
“You have to be ready every second. Playing for Liverpool, you can have 89 minutes doing nothing and you have to be there, so that needs maximum concentration,” says
Achterberg. “We say to him, make sure you stay warm and talk to your defenders so you are ready when you are needed. There is a routine in your mind you must develop. You have to keep moving to make sure your body does not get cold. You keep your mind in the game, watch the game and move with the game. It becomes automatic.
“You are always working on the speed reactions with coaching, but there is a lot of training of the brain as much as the body, with the game being 100mph now. You also make sessions depending on the opponent.
“Because we play a high line, there are a lot of one-on-one situations we work on. Other occasions you might play a side who do a lot of far-post crossing, so we would focus more on that in a week and there would be a lot more reaction saves in training, thinking of the positions you might be in a crowded penalty area. A lot of the best goalkeeping is about decisionmaking.”
Liverpool’s 30 years without a Premier League title have been plagued by goalkeeping mishaps and erratic No1s. The best during that period, Jerzy Dudek and Pepe Reina, had excellent starts, only to be undermined by loss of form before their departures.
United, meanwhile, found the world-class stability of Peter Schmeichel, Edwin van der Sar and then De Gea, before the Spaniard’s issues in recent years. Where once United’s No1 was the gold standard when he headed to Anfield, now the roles are reversed.
“Alisson showed over the year he is the best in everyone’s eyes, but maybe it is better everyone else says that rather than I say it,” says Achterberg, who was first alerted to Alisson by another Brazilian, former Liverpool back-up keeper Doni, in 2013.
“I see how good he is and I think there are a lot of good goalkeepers now behind him. But the message we tell him is focus and repeat. He has done it to this point, and now you need to keep doing it again and again. It is like the manager to the players. When you win, you go to win again and again, doing the right things all the time. The moment you take the foot off the gas is when the level will drop.
“Motivation comes from new challenges, keeping you at the highest level. Five clean sheets is a good first target. Then you aim for 10, and so on. It is a good competition to aim to be better than the opposition goalie, keeping more clean sheets in a season. If you look who has the most clean sheets in the Premier League, you want to do better or stay at the top.
“From a goalkeeper’s perspective, it is pretty clear. A clean sheet means you do not lose the game and you have a better chance to win.”