Alisson will make mistakes.
The Brazilian is a very good goalkeeper, but he’s also a bold one. He is reminiscent of Fabian Barthez; always looking to take risks in possession.
Like the former Manchester United No.1, sometimes those risks will lead to mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes will prove costly.
That’s exactly what happened at the King Power Stadium on Saturday. With Liverpool 2-0 and seemingly cruising, Alisson received a backpass from Virgil van Dijk. It was a poor pass from the Dutchman, admittedly, one which put his keeper under pressure with Kelechi Iheanacho sprinting towards him.
However, in a fatal error of judgement, instead of booting the ball out for a throw, Alisson decided to dawdle, get the ball caught between his feet and lose out to Iheanacho. The Foxes striker then squared to Rachid Ghezzal, who fired home to give Leicester hope.
“We talked about that in the dressing room and I spoke to Virgil,” Alisson said. “It wasn’t a good pass but I could have just kicked it long.”
“I wanted to keep playing and keep the possession. Now everyone is going to analyse that. I’m not going to be stupid and make the same mistake. We have to learn from our mistakes.”
Ultimately, it didn’t cost the Reds any points as Jurgen Klopp’s men made it four wins from four to top the Premier League table. The German seemed reasonably relaxed regarding Alisson’s error post-game.
“We all have to learn from that,” he told Sky Sports. “It was clear last week it would happen. I didn’t think it would happen during the next match.
“We could have cleared the situation twice before and then we gave the ball back to them, but he could have cleared it away.
“He knows it, it was his mistake. we need to get used to it. We constantly get the ball to the keeper but the player needs to learn there are other solutions. That is how it is. He is a fantastic goalkeeper, and makes some fantastic saves. He didn’t do what he was supposed to but it’s all good.
“I told him that it was the best game to do it (the mistake) because we won it. It’s all fine now, but we should not always play all the balls to Alisson. I like how cool he was afterwards when the crowd tried to make him nervous, but we could still use him.”
Klopp’s right. It’s fine for now. Should Alisson make another mistake like that, however, and cost Liverpool points, the German coach may not be as unflustered.
