It is the thirty sixth sport of their Premier League season and Liverpool, on a late cost in direction of the Champions League locations, are away within the Midlands. Needing victory, they’re drawing as the sport enters the ninety fifth minute. And then goalkeeper turns goalscorer. West Bromwich Albion suffered the indignity of conceding to Alisson in 2021. History is unlikely to repeat itself at Leicester on Monday, even when it falls on the eve of the second anniversary of the one objective ever scored by a Liverpool goalkeeper. But, as soon as once more, they’re aiming for the inconceivable, inspired by their recollections.
“A lot of times when I look on Twitter for news, that goal appears in my timeline,” Alisson mentioned. “This week I watched it already. It’s good, it made me feel good. It makes me think how crazy it is that I scored a goal. It was kind of a sign for us that something special was coming. Because I can be 100 times in the box, I don’t know if I will score again. I know now I can head a ball in a good way, but hopefully we are not going to need it again. I think this season we are having special moments, [Diogo] Jota’s goal is a really special one against Tottenham; last minute as well.”
Finish within the prime 4 and Alisson might go down because the architect of one other nice escape, albeit in additional standard vogue. He has been overworked and excellent. He entered the weekend with fifth most saves within the division and having prevented probably the most objectives, in accordance with goalkeeping statistics referring to the standard of alternatives.
“Sometimes the goalie performances comes when the team is not playing so good and conceding more chances,” he mirrored. That has been the case this season; he’s the frontrunner to be named Liverpool’s participant of the yr. He already has one memento; he was introduced with a shirt with ‘100’ on the again by Jurgen Klopp, marking his century of Liverpool clear sheets.
“The goal is special but the clean sheets are better,” Alisson mentioned. There are, he hopes, many extra to return. “One hundred is a lot for me now but in comparison to the great goalies in Liverpool’s history it is not even 50 per cent of what they achieved. They got over 200 clean sheets.” He is the seventh goalkeeper to register 100 for Liverpool, however it could be a desk even he can not prime. Not when Ray Clemence recorded 323 shutouts and Bruce Grobbelaar an additional 267; it helped that Anfield greats made 665 and 628 appearances respectively.
“I don’t know if I can play as many matches as them,” mentioned Alisson, presently on 229. “I think Ray had over 600 matches for Liverpool, but I’m already looking forward to the next 50 or 100 clean sheets, and for the next one in the next match we have. It would be special to be alongside them or to beat them, I admire a lot what the great goalies did, but I’m writing my own story here at Liverpool.”
That story is nowhere close to its ultimate chapter. Alisson continues to be solely 30 and with a deal till 2027. His dedication stems from rather more than a contract, nonetheless. Alisson’s father, Jose Agostinho Becker, drowned in 2021. Lockdown restrictions meant he was unable to return to Brazil. His Anfield household as a substitute supplied assist.
“I never imagined to go through a moment like that in my life,” he recalled, a tear within the eye. “Nobody thinks about losing their Dad or Mum suddenly but so many people at that moment were losing loved ones in Covid times and I think the world was in a place where everybody was ready to show love for people. Not only at Liverpool, though the boys here at the club were amazing: I think they felt my pain together.
“I took three days at home after my dad passed away and I was looking forward to coming back here, to this place, because I felt already the love. Not only here but from the football world, I was really touched. I received so many letters from managers, from clubs that I never imagined I would receive.”
A few months later, Alisson emerged within the West Brom field to attain a objective that led Liverpool on a path that ended within the 2022 Champions League ultimate, that nearly introduced a quadruple. Now, as soon as once more, there’s the hope a tough marketing campaign can finish on a excessive. “We are having similar challenges,” he mentioned.
And if there’s unlikely to be an analogous resolution, one other Alisson header, his shutouts provide the prospect of additional success. “Keeping clean sheets keeps you closer to victories,” he mentioned. So, too, does his bond with Liverpool. “When I signed a long-term deal at this club, I thought a lot at this moment that everybody was there for me and I have this feeling that I want to be here for the club as well,” he mentioned. “To keep making history, keep this atmosphere that we have as a family.”
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk