Roberto Firmino admits Virgil van Dijk’s wayward back-pass played a key role in Alisson’s mistake against Leicester on Saturday.
The Dutchman was forced to turn back to his goalkeeper after being put under pressure following an awkward pass from Jordan Henderson.
His own over-hit pass sent Alisson outside of his penalty area, where he then conceded possession to Kelechi Iheanacho after dawdling on the ball. The Leicester man was quick to find Rachid Ghazal, who was able to pull a goal back for the hosts.
Alisson’s hesitation was undeniably to blame, but it’s also worth noting how the situation stemmed from carelessness on the ball in the middle of the park.
Nonetheless, it was a valuable lesson and one the Brazilian will likely be pleased to have learned early on in his Liverpool career.
Discussing the incident, Firmino told ESPN Brazil: “The pass [from Van Dijk] was not all that. “Alisson tried to fix it, but unfortunately it went wrong. He has made an excellent start.”
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One error, which didn’t prove costly in the end, shouldn’t tarnish what has been an encouraging start to life on Merseyside for Alisson.
Though it went somewhat overshadowed by the incident, Alisson’s response at the King Power Stadium was worth plenty of praise.
Despite being caught on the ball, the 25-year-old continued to trust himself and didn’t refrain from serving his midfield teammates between the lines.
He also registered another assured performance with his hands, dealing well with crosses into his box and once again flaunting his shot-stopping agility and security.
This followed on from a potentially game-changing save to deny Pascal Gross on the way towards Liverpool securing a 1-0 win over Brighton last weekend.
The three points were all that mattered on Saturday. He didn’t impact the result, so all is immediately forgiven.