Alisson Becker has said that Liverpool ‘have to learn from’ one big shortcoming which was evident in the goalless draw against Manchester United on Sunday.
Despite having 34 shots to the visitors’ six at Anfield (Sofascore), the Reds couldn’t find a route to goal and, in all honesty, didn’t ask many tough questions of Andre Onana for all their territorial dominance.
Speaking to reporters after the match (via The Mirror), the goalkeeper insisted that his teammates need to improve their decision-making in the final third of the pitch.
Alisson said: “We take the good things from here this afternoon: the clean sheet I think was really good, really solid defensively, the way we defended, aggressive in the moments we needed to be, stopping counters, giving them [just] one or two chances.
“Maybe we could improve in the creation phase in the last third of the pitch, creating better chances for ourselves, being more calm on the ball and making better choices.
“Sometimes we rushed a little bit, shooting balls that we could have passed to a player in a better position, but this is part of the game. We have to learn from that as quick as possible, as the season doesn’t give you too much time to improve.”
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While some cynics may interpret Alisson’s comments as him having a go at his attacking teammates, he isn’t wrong in saying that Liverpool need to be more composed in the final third of the pitch.
How many times yesterday did we get into good positions, only for a poor first touch, sloppy pass or questionable use of the ball to let United off the hook?
Although the visitors deserve some credit for sticking to their task defensively, the Reds should still have been clinical enough to have found a route to goal for all the play they had.
As Alisson hinted, Liverpool quickly have the chance to put things right when we host West Ham in the Carabao Cup and, in a match we dare not lose, Arsenal in the Premier League next Saturday.
Collectively and individually, the Reds’ forwards are far better than what they showed against United yesterday.
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