Gary Neville thinks Liverpool would have won the Premier League in 2013/14 if we had a keeper of Alisson’s standing between our posts.
We got within inches of the title, famously, but missed out to Manchester City, drawing at home to Chelsea and away at Crystal Palace in our penultimate two fixtures.
The Steven Gerrard slip against Chelsea is often cited as the moment it all came crashing down, but Neville thinks Simon Mignolet should actually have saved Demba Ba’s feeble effort.
If you watch it back, Ba rolls the ball right next to the keeper with no pace; it’s a poor shot – it’s bad goalkeeping.
The pundit was discussing the incident on Monday Night Football last night and noted the immense improvement in our defensive record due to the Brazilian.
“At the time it was such a deep wound for Liverpool fans, but personally, I think the keeper should have done better,” Neville said about Ba’s 2014 Anfield strike. “I think if that moment happens later on in the season, Alisson saves it. Eight times out of 10, he’ll save it.
“You can’t totally blame Mignolet, but look at the goals he’s conceded over the past three years. Alisson saves them.”
These stats just demonstrate how much Alisson has helped us. Last term, Liverpool had the 2nd worst save percentage in the country – now we’re head and shoulders out in front.
We've gone from having the 2nd worst keeper (or keepers) in the Premier League, to the best. The stats don't lie. pic.twitter.com/hC6S8CP10u
— Empire of the Kop (@empireofthekop) December 11, 2018
Obviously, it’s irrelevant speculating about whether Alisson would have won us this and that – but Liverpool fans have been crying out for an elite stopper since Pepe Reina began to decline.
Finally, we have one – and with a stopper like Alisson between the sticks – anything is possible this term.