Alisson Becker Says Liverpool “Have to Do Better” in Attacking Phase

Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

Following a disappointing nil-nil draw against Manchester United, Alisson focused on the positives but admitted there are areas for improvement.

It wasn’t all bad for Liverpool against Manchester United on Sunday, with the Reds’ press in fine form and the hosts dominating possession and chances created. At the end of the day, though, the eventual nil-nil result was a minor setback.

Given growing expectations and the at times stark trajectories of the two clubs this season, Liverpool were heavy favourites to take all three points and keep hold of first in the league. Now, though, the priority is to highlight the good and then work on the rest.

“Unfortunately it’s a draw for us, not what we were hoping for,” reflected goalkeeper Alisson Becker. “But we have to take the good things that we did on the pitch. We dominated all the game, created a lot of chances, but still big areas to improve.

“We take the good things from here this afternoon: the clean sheet I think was really good, really solid defensively, the way we defended, aggressive in the moments we needed to be, stopping counters. This is really important for a team that wants to win something.

“Maybe we could improve in the creation phase in the last third, creating better chances for ourselves, being more calm on the ball, and making better choices. Sometimes we rushed a little bit. We have to learn from that as quick as possible.”

The goalkeeper’s thoughts echoed those of manager Jürgen Klopp, who praised his side’s pressing game as the best he’s yet seen from this group but felt that they struggled then to calm down and find their composure once they managed to win the ball.

“We know that in reality football is not always big scores, scoring a lot of goals, scoring every chance you create,” Alisson added. “But we have to do better, the quality that our players have we can do better and we have to because we want to win big things.

“Of course everybody is speaking about the title race. We maybe don’t want to talk about that but our target is to win the league, that is clear. But we know that is a long way and we know we have to do everything as close to perfect as you can.”