Former World Cup winner and Brazil legend Claudio Taffarel has said that he is not surprised by the progress made by Alisson Becker over the past couple of years. In the summer of 2016, Roma signed the shot-stopper from Internacional for a modest £7.1m but they managed to make a hefty profit on him after sanctioning his £65m switch to Liverpool earlier this summer.
Since then, Alisson has been fluent between the sticks on more occasions than not and Taffarel has suggested that his potential was never in doubt, he said: “You know, from the moment Alisson started playing at Roma he has enjoyed a natural growth. We all expected it, because in Brazil he had already shown his potential. He always showed that in the Brazilian team as well. “For us, it is very important. For the Brazilian goalkeepers it opens a lot of doors in Europe when they’re spoken of well. Ederson has impressive potential. Over time he will grow.”
Alisson’s signing has helped Liverpool strengthen the goalkeeping department, which had left them down during the previous campaign, but he nevertheless may need to improve on his decision-making after gifting a goal to Leicester City before the international break. On multiple occasions, Alisson has tended to show-off with his ball-playing capabilities but that caught him guilty against the Foxes where he needlessly gave up possession within the box.
As such, the east Midlands outfit ended his run of three consecutive clean sheets but nonetheless Jurgen Klopp decided against criticising him as his blunder did not cost the club points. The Reds boss added that he was pleased with the howler made by the goalkeeper early during the campaign and he is hopeful that the Brazilian won’t repeat the feat hereafter. Liverpool are currently leading the standings on goal difference to Chelsea and Watford.
