Alisson Becker makes “quite a lot of mistakes” when playing out from the back, according to Jermaine Jenas.
The Brazilian stopper is out of action at the moment after picking up an injury against Norwich City last Friday, with Adrian deputising form him in the UEFA Super Cup in midweek.
But Jenas is of the belief that his absence won’t affect the Reds’ ability to play in their usual style.
Speaking on Radio 5 Live, he said: “In my opinion, I think he makes quite a lot of mistakes, playing out from the back.
“He’s not Ederson, basically.
“There’s been a couple of games when he’s been a bit slow, over-playing it.
“I don’t look at that part of his game and think ‘wow, he’s amazing’.”
? 'Alisson is no Ederson'@jjenas8 believes the absence of Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker will not have a 'massive impact' on #LFC's style of play when playing out from the back.
? Do you agree?
Football Daily ?
???: https://t.co/X4R5uT0Ykb#bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/zBsvLsox1U— BBC 5 Live Sport (@5liveSport) August 17, 2019
OPINION
This seems a bit harsh from Jenas to be honest. True, Alisson is no Ederson with his feet, but which other goalkeeper is? The Manchester City stopper could probably play outfield if he wanted, he is that good, and so a comparison between the two is a bit of a moot point. With regards to his distribution, Alisson had a pass completion rate of 80.3% last season, as per Whoscored, which is impressive enough as it is, but becomes even more so when you break it down further. On average, excluding long balls upfield, Alisson made 18.1 passes last season for the Reds. Of those 18.1 passes, just 0.2 per game were in accurate. In short, Alisson misplaced one short pass every five games. That hardly seems like cause for criticism. Perhaps Alisson’s problem isn’t that he misplaces balls, but rather that he is so adept at getting them right that his success rate barely registers any more. Either way, Jenas is wrong.
