Arne Slot has one of the game's best goalkeepers to build his Liverpool revolution upon
Arne Slot has one of the game's best goalkeepers to build his Liverpool revolution upon
Every great football dynasty is built on the foundations provided by a top goalkeeper.
And if he wasn’t already in that category before his one-man defiance of Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League, Alisson Becker is up there now. It was a miracle that Liverpool survived a hailstorm of 27 shots, with Alisson making nine saves to deny PSG, at the Parc des Princes.
Just think: There were some people saying Caoimhin Kelleher should take over as No.1 when Alisson was injured earlier this season. Kelleher has been a terrific understudy, but let’s put it into context. Alison has kept 94 clean sheets in 221 Premier League appearances - not far short of a shut-out every other game.
Those are the foundations of champions. Look at all of English football’s great teams in the last 30 years, and there is a common denominator - a great goalkeeper as the first (or last) line of defence.
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Sir Alex Ferguson’s harvest of 13 titles at Manchester United was launched the day he signed Peter Schmeichel as his No.1 keeper. Arsene Wenger’s League and Cup double at Arsenal, in only his second season at Highbury, was based on the Gunners’ famously drilled back four and David Seaman’s safe hands behind them.
When Jose Mourinho swept into Stanford Bridge in 2004 and announced he was the Special One, Chelsea’s romp to the title was built on conceding just 15 goals in 38 games with Petr Cech keeping 24 a record clean sheets in his debut season. Cech went on to marshal 202 shut-outs in the Premier League, which is also still a record.
And Ederson has won the Golden Glove for clean sheets three times at Manchester City, which underlines his contribution to their fie titles in six years under Pep Guardiola.
Alisson Becker dives to punch the ball.
Alisson put on a performance for the ages as Liverpool beat PSG
A top keeper is vital at every level. At Macclesfield, we have had 21 goalkeepers in four years but Max Dearnley, with 18 clean sheets this season, has been a matchwinner. Alisson belongs in exalted company because he has had the same effect on Liverpool.
For Schmeichel, working as a TV pundit in Paris, to say it was one of the greatest exhibitions of goalkeeping he’s ever seen tells its own story. Liverpool were second-best all night - miles off it - and Alisson’s heroics probably kept them in the Champions League.
If manager Arne Slot rode his luck by relying on his keeper, everything he touches still turns to gold. To take off top scorer Mo Salah and see his replacement, Harvey Elliott, score the winner within 47 seconds of stepping off the bench, was a sign the gods were with Liverpool.
But they may need more heroics from Alisson to get through the second leg.
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