FOR a goalkeeper, Alisson Becker knows how to move when he needs to. From being the first team-mate to celebrate with Mohamed Salah after his achingly long assist set up the Egyptian against Manchester United at Anfield this season, to being at the heart of Liverpool’s celebrations on Thursday night as the league title finally returned to the club, the Brazilian has arguably attracted less attention than he did in 2018-19 but has been no less important a year on, despite some absences through injury.
Go back to last August and Liverpool talk was all about how they could improve on 97 points and second place in 2018-19. There was little expectation that Manchester City would slow down in their pursuit of a third successive Premier League title. That fear was compounded when Alisson limped off injured shortly before half-time, but summer recruit Adrian filled in more than adequately as they rattled off eight wins in a row, before Allison returned for the fixture at Manchester United (ironically the first of three games, so far this season, where Liverpool have dropped points).
The nine games Alisson has missed for Liverpool in the league this season probably prevents his campaign being added to the pantheon of great Premier League goalkeeping seasons. It’s almost easy to forget that Alisson clocked up 21 clean sheets in his first term at Anfield, surely one of the most impactful debut seasons by a goalkeeper in England, behind the gold standard that is Petr Cech in 2004-05. At this point it’s probably worth listing six of the best goalkeeping seasons in Premier League history and, because it’s Friday afternoon, rating them each out of 10 (gloves).
The Czech Wall – Petr Cech 2004-05
The raw numbers are these: 24 clean sheets in 35 appearances as Chelsea only let in 15 goals during Jose Mourinho’s debut season in England. Cech was only in goal for 13 of those and recorded an 83% saves rate. It’s likely that in numerical terms this season will never be beaten. Yes Cech had a superb defence in front of him but even so… 10 GLOVES
DDxG – David De Gea 2017-18
Expected Goals went mainstream in 2017-18 and the poster child was David De Gea who, based on the chance quality model, prevented 13.7 additional goals compared to the average ‘keeper as Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United came a distant second to Manchester City. His finest hour was away to Arsenal in December, when he made 14 saves as the Gunners utterly dominated their visitors but found a way to lose 3-1. Home fans streamed out of the Emirates saying “if only there was a way to show how unlucky we were!” Guys, you’ve got to see this model… 10 GLOVES
The Amster-Dam – Edwin van der Sar 2008-09
Edwin van der Sar is the forgotten element of the Manchester United team that reached three Champions League finals in four years in the late 2000s and early 2010s. He was the true star of Cristiano Ronaldo’s final season at the club in 2008-09, keeping 21 clean sheets with 14 of those coming in consecutive appearances between November and March, still and possibly forever a Premier League record… 9 GLOVES
The Boys from Brazil – Ederson/Alisson 2018-19
It’s the curse of nations to have generational goalkeepers come through at the same time. England once had to choose between Ray Clemence and Peter Shilton but that choice pales when you remember Brazil currently have to choose between Ederson and Allison. In 2018-19 they were the backbone of the title race, keeping 41 clean sheets between them yet still recording pass completion rates of 83% and 80% respectively. Some would take Ederson with the ball at his feet, some would take Alisson with the ball safely in his big hands and vice versa. Whatever your preference, we are witness to one of the great goalkeeping duopolies… 8 GLOVES
Could you win the PL title with Alisson at centre-half and Ederson in central midfield? [Answer: yes]
— Duncan Alexander (@oilysailor) December 8, 2018
The Forgotten Great – David Seaman 1998-99
It’s easy to remember the mistakes David Seaman made in his career but that’s the lot of the ‘keeper, reliable and solid until they do something that gets endlessly shown on YouTube videos. David Seaman’s 1998-99 campaign is often overlooked because it’s the Manchester United treble season but Arsenal only let in 17 goals all season and it remains the only instance in top-flight history of a team letting in fewer than 20 goals and not winning the league. Seaman only let in 15 of those goals which almost elevates him to Petr Cech levels. But not quite… 7 GLOVES
The Niche Choice – Bobby Mimms 1992-93
Come on, it’s all very well celebrating these famous goalkeepers but we need a leftfield choice so why not go for Bobby Mimms back in the Premier League’s opening season? Mimms spent much of his career as a number two and went out on loan six times but as Blackburn’s goalkeeper in their first season back in the top-flight for decades he kept 19 clean sheets in 42 games as Rovers came fourth. Sadly his reward was to be replaced by Tim Flowers the following season and in 1994-95 he failed to play enough games to get a title medal as Rovers pulled off their famous glory heist… 6 GLOVES
Epilogue: Goalkeeping continues to advance and adapt as football is shaped by modern thinkers. By learning how goalkeepers respond or would respond to all potential shots they could face we can now make fairer comparisons between them. The graphic below shows how David De Gea and Alisson would fare based on a simulation of 2559 shots.
Alisson, the model suggests, would concede 189 goals fewer than the United man, with the Brazilian notably stronger in the centre of the goal. In some ways it does nothing less than back up Roy Keane’s anger after De Gea conceded to Steven Bergwijn a week ago, but with more colour and less raw aggression. And that’s surely something we can get behind.
