[ad_1]
Chris Kirkland remembers the training session well.
Invited by John Achterberg to watch Liverpool goalkeepers train at Melwood, the former England international was eager to get a close, personal glimpse of the new name on everyone’s lips: Alisson Becker.
Liverpool had not made the Brazilian the most expensive goalkeeper in football history with £ 65 million and Kirkland was eager to see what all the fuss was about.
The new man did not disappoint.
“I was just amazed looking at it, honestly,” Kirkland tells ECHO. “It was incredible what I was seeing.
“All the guardians are top notch there, but Alisson in particular was like wow!
“I was stunned, honestly, he is amazing. They were blowing him up, crashing him from very close and he was catching everything.”
“I just stood there looking, ‘Wow, what a special guardian this guy is.'”
If a picture says more than a thousand words, it took Alisson a total of 10 Instagram uploads to accurately represent his remarkable success story last week.
The goalkeeper released a series of images last Sunday, documenting his brilliant years on the field for both Liverpool and Brazil.
Since becoming the most expensive goalkeeper in Anfield history in 2018, the shooter has elevated his game to an almost unmatched level.
“Happy doorman day!” The No. 1 Reds posted alongside a select number of trophy-laden images demonstrating how good the Novo Hamburgo man has become on the big stage.
The Champions League, Super Cup, Club World Cup and Copa América, for Selecao, are now only six points away from being followed by the Premier League crown.
Individually, the honors have been directed toward Alisson in the past 18 months or so. Winner of the first Yashin Trophy, last year he received the goal version of the Ballon d’Or.
Fitted and kicked alongside Virgil van Dijk and his manager, Jurgen Klopp, the Reds’ No. 1 was at the Theater du Chatelet in Paris on December 2 to make history.
He went on to finish in the top 10 for the Ballon d’Or itself, ranking seventh on the list of the world’s best players alongside teammates Virgil van Dijk (2), Sadio Mane (5), and Mohamed Salah ( 6). )
In September, Alisson beat Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen and his Manchester City international colleague Ederson to lift the gong for Best FIFA Goalkeeper.
The Samba Gold, the award that recognizes the best Brazilian in Europe, was also led by Alisson, as he became the first man to win the trophy by beating his teammate Roberto Firmino in second place.
“I think all of these awards tell you everything you need to know about him,” says Kirkland. “He’s getting greedy, right?
“Listen, I’m not biased, he’s the best in the world and if you talk to someone and ask which guardian you want in your network, seven out of ten, at least, Alisson would say. Without a doubt.”
Awarded the Gold Glove in the Champions League, Premier League and Copa América in 2019, Alisson is on track to add that accolade to his rapidly growing collection once again, despite having played only 20 times in the best flight of this season.
Only Nick Pope of Burnley has kept more sheets clean than the Liverpool man this term with the Brazilian behind the Clarets’ stopper count of 11.
With a closing rate of 50 percent, thus far, the remarkably confident Alisson has once again demonstrated why he is widely regarded as the planet’s preeminent porter.
Described by his former coach in Rome, Roberto Negrisolo, as the “Messi” of his position, what exactly is it about O Goleiro Gato, “the handsome goalkeeper”, as he is known in Brazil, so special?
Perhaps Liverpool’s most iconic goalkeeper in club history, Bruce Grobbelaar made a total of 628 appearances for the Reds in a brilliant 13-year career at Anfield. He has no doubts about the quality of the current custodian between the sticks.
“This Alisson boy is the best goalkeeper in the world today,” says the legendary Grobbelaar.
“He has an amazing record with his angles. He’s the best for that. For me, I look at goalkeepers all the time and I can identify where the fouls are, but he’s a fantastic number 1.”
“Like me and some others like Pepe Reina, we have not had a goalkeeper who has sent his area as well as Alisson.”
“We had a gap with some goalkeepers who stayed on their line and never came by crosses, but Alisson comes out, sweeps in the back and has shown that he is excellent at it.”
“He is the best goalkeeper in the world.”
Simon Mignolet coached alongside Alisson for a year at Melwood in the final period, ensuring that the Brazilian’s standards rarely fell as Liverpool missed the title by just one point with 97.
He says he was immediately surprised by the mindset of the man who arrived in July 2018. It’s what sets Alisson apart from his rivals who stop the shooting, Mignolet says.
“The first thing I remember about him was what caught my attention the most, it was not only his talent, but the way he looks at things,” Mignolet tells ECHO. “He is a very natural goalkeeper, but he is not made up of hard work or instructions, it all depends on his nature.
“He has all the things you need to be a great goalkeeper and he has that air and character that suits being a goalkeeper for a top-tier club. In Italy, he played for Rome where the pressure is high and made him realize What happened”. It is like playing for a big club.
“He had played in the Champions League, so he was well trained for this move. The only question was whether he could perform in the Premier League, in the big games, with that pressure?
“And of course he has proven it. Talent, yes, maybe too much! But the next question is can he act under pressure against the Kop? And because his character is so relaxed, he has dealt with that incredibly well.
“I have to say, he’s made some incredible saves. It’s not just about positioning himself and being in the right place. Of course, you must be in the best place to give yourself a chance, but he’s made some incredible stops over his time. ” in Liverpool
Video not available
“That’s what I mean, the talent he has is there and I think every goalkeeper in the world will save a lot, but it’s more about dealing with the pressure, mentally, for a club like Liverpool and that’s where his character”. in Game
“There are not many people who can perform under that pressure to the best of their ability and that is what he has done. All credit to him.”
Kirkland is a goalkeeper who knows everything about performing at Anfield with a big price on his head.
He was just 20 years old when he became the most expensive shooter in Britain at £ 8 million when Gerard Houllier signed him and Jerzy Dudek the same day.
About 18 years later, Alisson’s £ 65 million trade briefly made him the most expensive keeper in the game, and while some eyebrows might have been raised at the time, it now seems like a bargain for Kirkland.
“The recruitment to bring him here was perfect,” he says. “For that amount of money, it’s a bargain. At the time, you thought £ 65 million was a lot of money, but now it’s worth more than £ 100 million.”
Rarely edgy, Alisson’s highlight reel shows few genuine moments of astonishing feats among publications. The Brazil international relies more on his reading of the game, the positioning and the footwork to ensure that a piece of brilliance is not always required.
That, however, is a sublime keeper in itself, Kirkland says.
“Technically, he’s so good, my word!” he says. “He’s calm and you see that on the field and that helps defenders. Trust me, some of the saves he makes are not easy, it just makes it seem easier. Only the goalkeepers will understand.”
“Some will say that some shots are direct at him, but he tries to catch a ball when he’s traveling 80 miles per hour and he’s sinking everywhere, trust me, it’s not easy.”
But there is another aspect of his game that is well reflected in the natural talent and commitment of the Selecao international: his footwork.
“He is Brazilian and not only field players can play with his feet, but also his goalkeepers, and he is like that,” says Mignolet. “He is number 1 now and he came from Rome at that price, so he was already a great archer when he arrived.”
Grobbelaar adds: “With his feet, he is perhaps the second or third best in the world. With the punches out of his hands, he is the best goalkeeper to choose players. His distribution with his throws is excellent, he is simply versatile.” the best goalkeeper in the world “.
Only Ray Clemence made more appearances on a Liverpool goal than Grobbelaar, and the former Zimbabwe star failed to match that record of 665.
And he believes that Alisson, at the age of 27 and with 79 appearances to his name, may become the next goalkeeper to have a similar longevity at Anfield.
“I certainly hope he knows how well he is thinking and how revered he is at this club,” he says. “Liverpool is a family, it is not a club, you do not enter and leave this club without leaving a mark.”
“This is a place that will win you trophies and he can be here for years and break all the records the guardians have made here. I hope he will stay here for a long, long time. And certainly with the manager we have, he will try to keep to that united family. “
[ad_2]
