John Aldridge heaped praise on Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker despite the shot-stopper making a mistake during the 3-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday.
The Reds icon shared that while the 26-year-old’s error against Man United as well as the one he made against Leicester City was bad; he believed the Brazilian resembles his former teammate and fellow legend Bruce Grobbelaar.
Aldridge complimented Alisson’s mental strength and revealed that he thought the shot-stopper had been brilliant ever since arriving at Anfield from AS Roma in the summer.
“Sunday was further proof Liverpool have a top, top goalkeeper,” wrote Aldridge in his column for the Liverpool Echo.
“Yes, Alisson made a bad mistake, just like he did at Leicester City earlier this season.
“But it hasn’t cost us. We won at Leicester, and now we’ve beaten United.
“And what’s really impressive that Alisson is like my old team-mate Bruce Grobbelaar in that he doesn’t seem to let a mistake affect him.
“He has real strength of mind, and Brucie had that massively. Brucie made mistakes because of the way he played, he’d punch when maybe he could catch it, that kind of thing.
“But we all make mistakes.
“Let’s hope that’s the last one Alisson makes this season. He has been brilliant for us since arriving.”
OPINION
This is high praise indeed for Alisson as Grobbelaar is an Anfield legend. The 61-year-old featured 440 times for the Reds during his playing career and did his part to see the trophy cabinet bulging at the club. Grobbelaar won six league titles, three FA Cups, three League Cups and an European Cup Winners medal before departing the club to join Southampton. Therefore it’s huge of Aldridge to mention Alisson and Grobbelaar in the same breath when it is so early in the Brazilian’s Reds career. However based on what Aldridge wrote, it’s easy to see why he believes the Reds’ current No.1 resembles his former teammate and it’s a good omen for his career at the club. Alisson was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons during the 3-1 win over Manchester United on Sunday, as he made an absolutely howler, but he is the type of goalkeeper that makes you feel confident that he isn’t about to crumble as a result.
