I do wonder whether having faith of some sort helps these guys (I know that faith is very important to the Muslim lads as well).
I have a friend who, for want of a better term, is a born again Christian. He has an alcohol problem (dry for x years type of thing now) and he said that the faith wasn’t a pious thing or because he thought he thought he was better than other people. In fact he said it was the opposite - he knew he wasn’t strong enough and he needed constant help from friends and family as well as believing that someone was always there for him.
I suppose that on a normal match day all the players are drawing from the crowd - 50,000 that have your back and want you to succeed - and that gives them the strength to push through that final pain barrier to give the mythical 110%. Does that belief in a higher power help on the treatment table as well?
How good was he tonight. Couple of fumbles initially but then came charging whenever needed, saves which usually would have gone in. The difference he makes is immense.
I did enjoy his impression of Pickford when he fumbled the ball and it bounced behind him towards the goal,but obviously with Alisson having normal arms he quickly scooped it up stopping a massive fuck up,
Couldn’t agree more. Alisson was absolutely sensational. Lost in all the prolific attacking was Ali making some really big saves. The save he made on the low and hard shot by Zapata was absolute world class. I don’t think most realize how difficult a save that is for a keeper.
Agreed. It sounds excessive but could even have had a different result if Adrian had been in goal. In addition to the important saves, Ali’s calmness and authority at the back made it much easier for Williams and Gomez and also helped us greatly keep possession which was clearly a key tactic designed to neutralise Atlanta’s attacking threat. Let’s hope that he can stay injury free and play every minute of the league and champions league for this season; could give us a real shot at some silverware.
In all honesty, I think Adrian concedes at least one of those saves Ali made. I doubt Adrian makes the save low down to the right that Ali does. That’s the problem with categorical statements like saying ‘no keeper is saving that’ which is what we had heard when Adrian conceded. Things like positioning even if it is just a foot either way, centre of gravity, on which foot the keepers weight is planted and actually having the feet planted when the ball is hit all effect whether a keeper makes a save when often people are simply just putting it down to reaction time.
Alisson has all of the above and as a result makes keeping and saves look far easier than they are while other keepers make saves look more spectacular and eye catching than they really are. We’re really quite fortunate to have him/
2 minutes in. Look at that dive to the right, I’m not even sure that level of athleticism is humanly possible without some pharmaceutical interference.
That was a one on one where Adrian did miserably. Not really a ‘reaction dive’ to the right. His dives to the right are generally good. I get worried when players do those Henry style finishes.
Adrian is just far too nervous to make clear and obvious decisions,even in an empty stadium he looks nervous as fuck which spreads faster than covid through the team.
That’s what I love about our leaders…they’ll call you out if you’re not up to standards but in my observations it’s usually more of a “get your head in the game” vibe than “you’re useless.” (Except Milner: “fucking hell Kostas!” for not hitting him on the overlap in a friendly where we were 3-0 up, lol.) The standards are unreal…even last night Klopp was barking at the boys when 5-0 up and got a yellow for contesting the penalty decision. All filed under things you love to see.
Heart in mouth moment when the commentator said he’s checking his shoulder after that diving save on a cross. Probably him and Hendo are our most important players, irreplaceables. I would put Mane but Diogo can cover for that. What Alisson and Hendo bring isn’t easy to replicate.
He saved the Jorginho penalty against Chelsea. I don’t think we’re going to see many penalties saved this season with the new rules in place.
His handling was brilliant yesterday. In those conditions it would have been easy to have let the ball slip under or away from him but he was faultless. Absolutely critical that he stays fit for the rest of the season.
