PLAYING FOR KEEPS
Alisson’s goal now to save season and Kop top four
IT IS TWO years tomorrow since Alisson scored his shock header against West Brom to propel Liverpool’s late charge into the Champions League.
But the Kop keeper is now getting more joy from the clean sheets and big saves which are helping the Reds push for a topfour berth this season.
Jurgen Klopp’s side looked out of the race just a few weeks ago but six wins on the bounce, and some slip-ups from Manchester United and Newcastle, have given them a glimmer of hope.
The Merseysiders have Alisson to thank for keeping them in the hunt after back-toback clean sheets against Fulham and Brentford helped earn 1-0 wins and took him to 13 for the season.
It also took his Liverpool clean-sheet tally to a ton which puts him alongside some of the Kop’s greatest keepers.
The two performances included some stunning saves, most notably a second-half stop from Fulham’s Carlos Vinicius at pointblank range two weeks ago.
And while he might enjoy watching his towering stoppage-time header at the Hawthorns from two years ago which constantly pops up on his Twitter timeline, he is getting more pride from the ones he is keeping out now.
“It is more important for me as a keeper to keep a clean sheet, that’s logical, and why I place a lot of value on keeping clean sheets,” he said ahead of tonight’s must-win clash with Leicester.
“Keeping clean sheets keeps you closer to victories. If you keep one then at least it is one point and I know with the quality we have in the team it is rare that we will not score a goal in a match.
“We did that against Fulham and making that save was massive for us.
“When I save like that [goalkeeping coach] John Achterberg always says it is a matchwinning save. The goal is special but the clean sheets are better.”
He was presented with a shirt with ‘100’ on the back after Brentford to mark his achievement of joining a list that includes Elisha Scott, Tommy Lawrence, Ray Clemence, Bruce Grobbelaar, David James and Pepe Reina. But his ambition is to do more. “It would be special to be alongside them or to beat them,” he said.
“I admire a lot what the great goalies did, but I’m writing my own story here at Liverpool and I’m focused on that.”
Still, it’s hard for the Brazil keeper to forget about that goal. Not that he would want to.
“A lot of times when I look on Twitter for news, all the time it appears in my timeline that goal,” he said. “It makes me think how crazy it is that I scored a goal.”
The goal helped Liverpool beat the Baggies, pushed them closer to qualifying for the Champions League in a season which they underperformed hugely. The comparisons are similar to this season.
But it would help set up a campaign in which the Reds went on a Quadruple quest.
So now the belief is not just what getting back in the Champions League can do for their transfer plans this summer but also what it could lead to next term.
That’s if they can overhaul the four-point gap to United and Newcastle.
“It was a sign something special was coming,” said Alisson. “I know now I can head a ball – hopefully we won’t need it again.”