Alisson was brought in so this sort of thing wouldn’t happen anymore
Liverpool fans were hoping that the signing of Alisson and Loris Karius’ departure would mean fewer – ideally zero – goalkeeping errors. But just four weeks into the season, Alisson made his first big mistake, as a failed Cruyff turn led to him being dispossessed in his own area and Rachid Ghezzal slotting the ball into an open net.
Thankfully for Liverpool, it was only a consolation goal, as Roberto Firmino’s header had put Liverpool 2-0 up prior to the mistake. And Firmino believes that Alisson should not be blamed for the mistake that allowed Leicester back into the game.
Firmino has shifted the blame for that goal onto Virgil van Dijk, who played the pass back to the goalkeeper. The pass was not as accurate as it should have been and pushed Alisson into a dangerous area. One could argue that Alisson should not have taken the risk regardless, but everyone at Liverpool knows that he is the type of keeper to do so and should not berate him for trying to play out of sticky situations.
Speaking about his mistake, Alisson said: “It was bad judgement. I made a mistake reading the play.” Hitting out at his service, he added: “I didn’t get a very good pass.
“We talked about that in the dressing room and I spoke to Virgil. It wasn’t a good pass but I could have just kicked it long.”
Roberto Firmino agreed that Van Dijk’s pass was the biggest contributing factor to the goal, telling ESPN Brazil:
“The pass [from Van Dijk] was not all that, Alisson tried to fix it, but unfortunately it went wrong. He has made an excellent start.”
Fans also criticised both Jordan Henderson for passing to Van Dijk when Leicester attackers were ready to press him, and Joe Gomez for not moving into a position to receive the ball from Alisson.
The goalkeeper made the mistake but it was the product of several small errors.
