When Liverpool lost 3-1 in the Champions League to Real Madrid, the worst had appeared to have happened after the two mistakes made by Loris Karius in Kiev.
But was this one of the best things that could have happened to Liverpool Football Club?
Had Liverpool won that game and Karius had played well, then Klopp and Liverpool may not have felt the need to splash out on a new keeper.
Karius’ form appeared to go after further mistakes appeared in pre season and just days after a mistake made by the German against Tranmere, Liverpool signed Alisson from Roma for £75 million in the summer of 2018, for what was then a world record for a goalkeeper.
In his first year and a half at the club, Alisson has gone on to become arguably Liverpool’s best ever goalkeeper in the Premier League and one of the worlds current best goalkeepers.
In his first season, he won the Champions League as well as the Copa America for Brazil and had the most clean sheets in the Premier League, Champions League and Copa America and numerous Goalkeeper of the Year awards.
Who knows what the future may have held, but for starters I do not think for one minute that we would have finished second with the third highest Premier League points total ever. I definitely do not think we would be currently 25 points clear of second place Man City if we had Karius between the sticks.
Liverpool address their centre back issues after a 4-1 loss away to Tottenham and letting a 3-0 lead slip by at Sevilla with Virgil Van Dijk not only improving the defence with his own performances but also helping players such as Joe Gomez and Joel Matip improve.
Who can forget Alberto Moreno’s injury in the final Champions League group stage game in 2017-18 allowing Andy Robertson to step in and become the world’s best left-back?
Whilst Van Dijk has completely transformed this defence, Liverpool still had a shaky goalkeeper which meant that there was still reason for concern, especially in the Roma semi-final game.
Since Alisson has come in, this has eased the pressure on the defence as they know they’ve got a far better goalkeeper behind them.
Alisson showed his worth a year on from the Karius nightmare in the 2-0 Champions League final win over Tottenham in 2019, making crucial saves in what was not a vintage Liverpool performance.
The clean sheets have rocketed since Alisson’s arrival and you have to think what would have happened should Karius have not made those mistakes and stayed in goal for the next year and a half.
It would probably have been consistent top four finishes and nothing more, perhaps players like Mane, Firmino and Salah might have left had Liverpool not gone far in both Premier League and Champions League.
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