Liverpool star ‘looked like he’d been on a ten-day cruise’ in draw with Man City, claims ex-Red
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson “looked like he’d been on a ten-day cruise” in the Reds’ 1-1 draw with Manchester City, according to Dean Saunders.
It was Alisson’s mistake which led to Erling Haaland’s goal for Manchester City, as the Brazilian spooned the ball to Nathan Ake having attempted to release Mohamed Salah on the break.
He also made a couple of excellent saves, but Saunders focused on the negatives, questioning whether Jurgen Klopp should have started the 31-year-old after his international commitments.
“You should have seen Alisson [Becker] yesterday,” Saunders said on talkSPORT. “He looked like he’d been on a ten-day cruise not on international duty.
“Honestly, he’s a world-class goalkeeper but he made four assists for goals for Man City playing out from the back.
“But whose fault is it? Is it the manager or is it the goalkeeper?”
Saunders did though take Alisson’s side as City saw a goal chalked off for the slightest of touches on the goalkeeper by Manuel Akanji.
Fellow pundit Stuart Pearce said: “I tell you what. It’s the slightest of touches. Anywhere else on the pitch – not a chance of that being a free-kick. But that’s the modern day game.”
“For me, it’s a blatant foul,” Saunders replied. “He grabs his arm to start with before the ball has come in and then he’s leaned on him. You can’t touch the goalkeeper now, [referees] give fouls.”
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In an eventful afternoon for Alisson, the Liverpool stopper went down holding his hamstring in the dying moments of the game but couldn’t be replaced as Klopp had made all five of his substitutions.
And the Liverpool boss confirmed after the game that his goalkeeper will likely miss upcoming games with the problem.
He told talkSPORT: “It looks like we’ve lost Ali with a muscle problem and Diogo Jota.
“And that is massive. I don’t know how many games coming up now [until Boxing Day], maybe 15 [ten].
“We have to get through this, we have to improve, we need to get more stable and in games like this, we should be more compact.”
