Alisson Becker still has room for improvement despite an eye-catching first season in England, according to Liverpool’s goalkeeping coach John Achterberg.
Alisson kept 21 clean sheets in the Premier League to win the Golden Glove award, however, coach Achterberg insisted the man signed from AS Roma can get even better in the years ahead.
Speaking in an interview with the club’s official website ahead of the Champions League Final this Saturday, Achterberg praised the Brazilian shot-stopper for a fine 2018/19 campaign.
If you have a season like he’s just had – and we still have one game to go – it’ll be hard to beat. 21 league clean sheets! He had a great season and his level was probably one of the best in the world, so we cannot complain.
Hopefully next year we can improve even further; there are always small things we can be better on. We’ve spoken to Ali about them and hopefully he can improve even further for next season. Our aim is to do it again.
Alisson was signed in July 2018 for £67 million, a record for a goalkeeper at the time, and settled into life in the Premier League with ease, conceding just four goals in the opening 10 games of the season.
His playing style also allowed Liverpool to confidently and effectively play out from the back due to his high-quality distribution.
Achterberg, who has been a part of the Reds’ backroom and coaching staff since 2009, believes he knows why the 26-year-old has been such a success.
He is really calm under pressure and makes good decisions. The calmness he gives to the team, the decision-making, that is vital for any goalkeeper.
He is always able to make a match-winning save and make the team steady in front of him, knowing if anything goes wrong, he will be there. You have to be in every moment 100 per cent focused and make the right decisions – that’s what he has been doing consistently for most of the season. That’s the level he produced – and now we need to try to make that even better.
Alisson has also played a crucial part in his side’s run to a second successive Champions League Final, making a crucial save against Napoli in the final group stage game and thwarting Messi and co. on several occasions during Liverpool’s 4-0 win in the semi-final second leg at Anfield.
His contributions could be further rewarded with a winner’s medal on Saturday should Jurgen Klopp’s men overcome Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid.
