Alisson Becker

[sir roger]

No excuse for that top.

 

His wife is nice.

[A_S]

5 minutes ago, sir roger said:

No excuse for that top.

 

His wife is nice.

Maybe his wife is the excuse? 

[Kevin D]

This goalkeeper is ridiculous.

 

Still 5 years away from his prime and the trajectory has him smack fucking bang as the better than Scott and a top 10 of all time Liverpool player.

[AngryOfTuebrook]

I do like clean sheets.

[aws]

Great keeper. I just wish he'd take less risky options sometimes with his kicking short.  

[TheHowieLama]

Some hipster had a thing showing he is worth a half a gola a game in the league. Top quality in every way.

[dockers_strike]

2 hours ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

I do like clean sheets.

Deffo never sleep in a bed where the sheets have skiddies!

[DJLJ]

Each time he kicks it long he looks like he is sliding around. There was one time today where he tried to launch it long and he slid again and kicked it over the other side than he should have. Needs to get the boots checked. 

[dockers_strike]

Alli's normally very good with his kicking but I thought sometimes today, he over hit them.

 

Still we won today which is the main thing.

[Kevin D]

9 hours ago, aws said:

Great keeper. I just wish he'd take less risky options sometimes with his kicking short.  

Doesn’t matter.

 

He’ll make for any slip ups with his obscene 1v1 cat like agility.

[Reckoner]

Glad to see he made it through tonight’s match unscathed.
What?

[m0e]

Hahahaha

[dockers_strike]

I forgot Alli's outstanding contribution on Watford's first half header which he was perfectly positioned to catch and his even better full body block.

 

This piece from Bascombe:

 

Alisson Becker spends so much time watching Liverpool, one wonders if he receives a season ticket renewal request this time every season.

Prolonged periods of inactivity behind a defence which has only conceded four league goals in 2022 are interrupted by the occasional mini dramas in Liverpool’s penalty area.

 

Only four Premier League goalkeepers have made fewer saves - one of them Manchester City’s Ederson - which serves to underline that when searching for world class quality, timing matters more than frequency.

 

Alisson and Ederson are currently the best around because any striker dashing towards them must feel like they are experiencing a once in a lifetime opportunity.

 

One imagines it was similar for those fortunate enough to go one-on-one with Peter Schmeichel in the 1990s, or Ray Clemence in the late 1970s. So infrequent were goal-scoring situations for opponents forced into wholesale retreat, the attackers were reduced to foraging for scraps. When the chances came, their surprise eroded their composure as the intimidating number one dared them to conjure a finish. They were often defeated by Schmeichel’s aura before they needed to react, the forlorn centre-forward reviewing the replays and wondering how and why they missed a sitter.

 

Watford’s Juraj Kucka and Joao Pedro could relate to that at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.

 

Although Liverpool emerged as deserved and comfortable 2-0 winners, not for the first time in their ten-match winning stretch, Alisson was summoned after a prolonged period of inoccupation. He has mastered the art of making highly consequential, game-changing interventions appear routine.

 

Alisson’s most meaningful save here was at Kucka’s expense. The score was still 0-0 when the midfielder broke through Liverpool’s defence on 21 minutes and had only Alisson to beat. The finish was dire, comfortably dealt with by the Anfield keeper.

 

Within a minute, Liverpool were ahead thanks to Diogo Jota’s header, securing an advantage they would never surrender.

 

Watford would have one more chance early in the second half. Pedro’s miss after being cleverly assisted by the lively Ismaila Sarr - the number ten woefully off target when an equaliser looked inevitable - spoke to the psychological challenge of facing the greatest keepers. Pedro would gleefully take such chances against less formidable opponents, relaxed in the knowledge that if he did not take that one, another would be shortly following.

 

Jucka and Pedro could share their experiences with other recent Liverpool opponents with laments of what might have been but for that pesky South American goalkeeper.

 

Liverpool’s win at Arsenal will be remembered for the second half masterclass led by their strikers, especially when Klopp had the luxury of bringing Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino off the bench.

But it was Alisson’s save to prevent Martin Odegaard in the 51st minute which gave Liverpool the platform for what may later be considered one of the most defining nights of this season. Three minutes after Odegaard had his head in his hands, Jota scored. It is becoming a recurring double whammy.

West Ham manager David Moyes had never seen one of his teams create so many acceptable chances when his side was beaten 1-0 at Anfield in March, Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini the culprits. They did not force Alisson to save on those occasions, but there is no doubt his presence meant they were not as composed as they would normally be.

 

Another narrow Liverpool win at Burnley in February included Alisson denying Wout Weghorst and James Rodriguez, while Crystal Palace might have overturned a 2-0 deficit at Selhurst Park in January had Alisson not denied Michael Olise and Jean-Philippe Mateta. The keeper was man-of-the-match in the eventual 3-1 win.

 

What is most reassuring about Alisson’s form is how he may have felt some responsibility for points lost before Christmas - the set-piece goal conceded at West Ham and penalty at Tottenham Hotspur, especially.

 

Now Liverpool head to the Etihad with title hopes renewed because the players who lay the foundation - Alisson, Virgil Van Dijk and Fabinho - are playing their best football.

 

The keeper and defence can expect to be busier in Manchester, of course, Alisson’s head-to-head with his Brazilian team mate and rival Ederson as critical as any to the Premier League’s destination.

Ederson currently has one more clean sheet in the Premier League, 17 to Alisson’s 16. If Alisson equalises next Sunday, the winner of the Golden Glove title is likely to grab more coveted silverware come May.

---

Jurgen Klopp's worst nightmare? City taking the lead

By Mike McGrath

With neither Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp playing down the importance of Sunday’s clash at the Etihad Stadium, the destination of the Premier League title may come down to a single goal next weekend.

 

Given that Manchester City have not dropped a point when they have scored first in a match this season. Klopp will be mindful to “keep it tight”, to use the old football adage, in Liverpool’s big to overtake the Premier League champions.

 

In short, should Liverpool concede first, it will be their worst nightmare. This season’s form points to there being no way back.

No team has gone through the Premier League winning every game where they have taken the lead, so City are in sight of another record under Guardiola. City have not been Invincibles this season but when they score the first goal they are impenetrable.

 

Jose Mourinho’s team during his first era at Chelsea were masters at getting ahead and seeing out games with little fuss or need for flourish, while City’s players are liberated to keep attacking once they score.

 

This season they have racked up goal-hauls of seven (Leeds), six (Leicester, RB Leipzig, Wycombe) and five (Arsenal, Norwich, Club Brugge, Sporting Lisbon). It was a pointed remark from Guardiola that his team could have closed the gap of Liverpool’s goal difference against Burnley.

English Premier League

	Team	P	W	D	L	GD	Pts
1	Manchester City	30	23	4	3	52	73
2	Liverpool	30	22	6	2	57	72
3	Chelsea	29	17	8	4	35	59

“Unfortunately at the beginning of the second half we had two or three clear chances to score the third and kill the game and try to do more for the goal difference against Liverpool,” he said.  

 

They ended up being as comfortable as victory gets at Turf Moor. By taking the lead after five minutes through Kevin De Bruyne, the result was an inevitability. That first goal sends confidence through the City team at a venue Guardiola once described as like visiting the dentist.  

With the lead, they start dictating games and opposition cannot get a foothold. Wout Weghorst tried by unsettling City’s defence with a stray elbow, but it takes much more to knock City off their stride.

Suddenly Kyle Walker is spreading play from flank to flank, while Joao Cancelo moves into central midfield. Klopp knows that the opening part of Sunday’s match - and whether his team concedes - will go some way to deciding the title.

 

“You can beat them but it is very difficult,” said Burnley manager Sean Dyche. “They are a top side, top manager, put together for hundreds of millions of pounds.”

 

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2022/04/03/alisson-becker-became-big-man-tiny-moments-liverpools-title/

[Kevin D]

Conceded 4 goals in his last 15 games.

[Supremolad]

A majority of the "chances" listed in that article were actually offside, including the two Watford had on Saturday. However, it's great that he keeps his concentration levels high even during those situations.

[LFC 6 Times]

What an unbelievable keeper, I think we take him for granted.

 

He rarely makes absolutely outstanding saves, he’s just absurdly consistent. His position and commanding of his box is the best I’ve ever seen.

[KMD7]

1 hour ago, Kevin D said:

Conceded 4 goals in his last 15 games.

Sickening

[dockers_strike]

Hope he conceeds none in his next 8 PL games!

[Chip Butty]

And he's got a girls name. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, no fex.

[TheHowieLama]

Mad bastard.

 

I love you big man.

[dockers_strike]

19 hours ago, TheHowieLama said:

Mad bastard.

 

I love you big man.

So do I but he had another moment last night and, but, for the bounce of the ball falling kindly for him.......

[Lario]

1 hour ago, dockers_strike said:

So do I but he had another moment last night and, but, for the bounce of the ball falling kindly for him.......

If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

[TheHowieLama]

48 minutes ago, Lario said:

If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

If you Aunt had balls she would need them to be 10x bigger to try that shit.

[Jimmy Hills Chin]

1 hour ago, Lario said:

If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.

And a fine looking man she’d be.

[Elite]

Mendy showing him how it's done.