Alisson Becker was spotting the similarities when others might have cited the differences between arguably the best goalkeeper in the Premier League and perhaps the most criticised. “I went through something similar to what he is living,” he reflected. “Coming from an Italian club to England, to a big club, for a lot of money.” His own £65m fee, then a world record for a goalkeeper, is rarely mentioned these days, a product of his own excellence; he made swapping Serie A for England look easy, winning the Champions League in his first season and the Premier League in his second. Andre Onana’s £43m price, however, has been mentioned more amid his torrid start to life at Manchester United. They will be 100 yards apart on Sunday, opposites in more than just the fact it is Liverpool against Manchester United.
“Onana is, of course, a really good goalkeeper,” Alisson said. “The Champions League he played last season was amazing.” After Onana’s heroics for Inter Milan came some more harrowing times for United – from playing a pivotal part in taking his former club to the Champions League final to a culpable role in his new employers’ early exit.
And yet Alisson empathises with his beleaguered United counterpart. “He came here with the responsibility to be the replacement for [David] de Gea, who maybe was not in the best shape of his career but he was still delivering,” he added. “I think he is capable of this responsibility, but sometimes it takes longer with some than others. You are changing team, you are changing league, they are trying to adapt and discover themselves and that can affect you a lot. I was lucky in that I was coming to a team that was with everything already going in a different way, that was building, so I think he will get there.”
Liverpool are going in the right direction again. They are top of the league and welcoming the historic rivals they hammered 7-0 last season, even in a campaign when United finished above them. De Gea conceded seven goals from eight shots on target that March day. Sunday offers the opportunity for an immediate comparison between his successor and the man who sets the standards, in Alisson.
When, a couple of weeks ago, Erik ten Hag cited the statistics, noting that Onana then had the second-highest save percentage in the Premier League, the best belonged to Alisson. He returned from injury with a stunning stop to deny Crystal Palace’s Jefferson Lerma last weekend and it now stands at 80.4 per cent, the finest ratio in his six seasons at Anfield.
At 31, he might be getting better. “If the numbers talk then maybe,” he concurred. “I feel in a good way, in good shape. I’m working to improve each year as much as I can. I started to play [first team] football at a young age for a goalkeeper, 21 or 22 years old, so I’ve already played 10 years in the posts. That’s a lot of time, but I’m still young for a goalkeeper. Goalkeepers now are playing until they are 38, 39 and sometimes going over that. I think now I am getting to the highest point of my career, mixing physicality, experience and a big desire to keep doing good and to keep improving.”
Alisson is preparing to face Manchester United once more— (Getty)
All of which may drive certain strikers to depression. Alisson wants to continue into footballing old age but he is part of the newer breed of goalkeepers, a fine passer who sees Manuel Neuer as the trailblazer. “Neuer was the guy who was more active in playing, in sweeping behind the defensive line,” he explained. Alisson is nevertheless a traditionalist in some respects. “The main quality of the goalkeeper is making saves and make the team feel safe when you are between the posts,” he said; arguably Onana has failed in that respect.
But Alisson gave an insight into his mentality as he reflected on the 7-0, Liverpool’s biggest win over United in a rivalry that dates back to the 19th century. What was he thinking as the goals went in? “Well, I was worried about not conceding as I always do in every game,” he replied. And, as he can testify, opponents can be overwhelmed at Anfield, whatever the calibre of the goalkeeper. Unprompted, he mentions a Champions League semi-final in Roma’s colours: he conceded five times in 35 minutes, though that proved no deterrent to Jurgen Klopp, who signed him that summer.
He can put himself in the minds of the United players, returning to the scene of a humiliation. The 7-0 could be fuel, he feels. “I would be on fire, I think, and I would try to set my teammates on fire as well,” he said. “As a football player, as an elite athlete, you are going to try to use it to motivate yourself.”
Alisson helped Liverpool record the historic 7-0 drubbing last time Man Utd came to Anfield— (Getty)
In a sense, though, the 7-0 is not his most famous contribution against United. Many a Liverpool fan would rewind a further three years for that. Scarred by a three-decade wait for their 19th league title, the Kop belatedly sang “we’re gonna win the league” after victory was clinched by an injury-time second goal: scored by Mohamed Salah, assisted by Alisson, who picked out his teammate on a counter-attack.
“That game was amazing for that time. It sent a message for our supporters,” Alisson recalled. “Of course it is good to remember and special for me. It is something we always worked for and we always tried to do that, since we played together in Rome. So when it happens, you have a lot of joy and it happened in a big moment for the team and a special moment against a special club as well.”
He does not want to get carried away with comparisons between then and now, with Liverpool’s 19th league championship and what may be their 20th. Personnel have changed – Alisson misses his Brazilian friends Fabinho and Roberto Firmino but has formed a new South American alliance with Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Alexis Mac Allister – and it is tighter at the top this time. “It was a different time and different moment for that team,” he reflected. “We have to slow down, not our pace, but talking about the title race because we are a team that is rebuilding.” But if teams build from the back, then Alisson could give Liverpool an inherent advantage.
