Liverpool’s Secret Weapon – Alisson Intimidation Factor

Liverpool have the best keeper in the world in Alisson Becker. Some call him top 5, some say one of the best, but for those who watch him and understand the game, Alisson is the best. But he is more than that, he is also the most intimidating. The only criticism for the best keeper in the world at this point is that he doesn’t face as many shots as other keepers, but that’s cause people are scared of him and don’t shoot or miss. Seriously. Alisson Becker intimidation of opponents; it’s a thing.

In watching Alisson play is isn’t hard to see why he is such a good keeper, and many people have written and commented on his abilities. All of these statements are true and obvious to a football fan:

1. Positioning is outstanding
2. Reflexes are outstanding
3. Gets off the line incredibly quickly
4. Outstanding read of plays developing in front of him
5. Extremely few mistakes (this year he has been credited with no errors leading to a goal)

All of this goes hand in hand with his ability to start the offense with a long kick or throw. He has an assist on a Salah goal this year and he has numberous hockey assist (second last player to play the ball for Liverpool before a goal).

All of this would make him a top keeper. But Alisson has taken goalkeeping to a new level. He has added intimidation to his arsenal. At this point is that he is in the minds of his opponents and you can see it.

There are numerous saves that he has made showing his quality and showing to players how hard it is to put it by him. It’s not the standard saves he makes easily or the sticky hand where he can catch the ball where others punch it out.

Those saves show his quality but players understand some keepers are better than others. It’s the saves he has no business making. Those ones where you have to watch over and over and still wonder how did that happen. The best example is the save at Napoli in 2018-19 champions league final game of the group stage. Without the save, Liverpool are out of Champions League. With the save they go on to win the Champions League. And what a save …

This is a save that no keeper has the right to make. They do rarely happen and are part of the highlight reels, but Alisson seems to make them more often and make them look more natural. Where another goalie would be described as throwing himself at the ball, the Liverpool keeper is described as making himself bigger and taking away the angle. And if you’re not convinced, take a look at a more recent game …

Here are Alisson comes out agressively, but in control. He follows the players and pushes him to the outside, cutting down the angle, without going to ground until after the shot is taken. It’s a brilliant piece of goalkeeping and it’s what Alisson does all the time. And watching him make these types of saves on a regular basis, fear is bound to get to opponents’ heads. They knew that a routine shot isn’t going in. A great shot is also probably not going in. In fact at this point even a virtually guaranteed chance may not score. And you can see that this knowledge it’s in opponents head. They’re thinking about it and it’s changing the way they play.

Alisson Intimidation – The Video Evidence

Not to be accused of cherry picking, in just looking at the last 3 league games you can see the evidence in each and every game.

Southampton – Danny Ings (former player for Liverpool) is on a tear this year. He’s in the top 5 in goals and is putting together a career year. And that means he’s shooting whenever he gets the chance … except when Alisson is in net. You can see his first touch is perfectly weighted to him to run onto it for a shot. In fact he even starts winding up before pulling back. The play ends up with a feeble pass to the middle that Van Dijk intercepts. When you’re scoring like Ings is this year, you let it fly … except when Alisson is in net.

Norwich – Rupp takes a beautiful lob over the top and completely catches the Liverpool defense out. He even traps the pass beautifully allowing himself to set up for a shot or a chip or a run or whatever he wants. Alisson comes up quickly and you notice the player glance and see the keeper coming. You see the very instant he convinces himself he won’t be scoring and bails on the play, making a soft pass to Pukki that Alisson intercepts. Normally a lob coming in with that much space, after trapping the ball like that it’s a goal, or at least a great chance … except when Alisson is in net.

West Ham – Antonio has gotten in behind the defence with loads of space to take the lobbed ball and put it where he wants. But he doesn’t even get a shot because he cannot the control the ball coming in and basically drops it perfectly for the keeper. In this case Alisson hasn’t come up yet but Antonio clearly feels he has to rush and play it perfectly and his touch is terrible. The fear is real. Antonio played a great game and had good control all day, but in the box where Alisson prowls, he completely flubbed it. At this level players have the ability to control that lob … except when Alisson is in net.

In watching the matches and seeing the clips, it’s clear to see that something abnormal is happening in relation to Alisson. You can almost feel the fear of the attacking players. But just watching clips doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story and is only anecdotal, so on to the statistics.

Alisson Intimidation – The Unbelievable Stats

First the simple statistics as of Week 25 that show why Alisson is the best keeper in the EPL for sure, and really the world:

	Alisson (1st place)	2nd Place
Save Percentage	87%	76%
Goals Against per 90 Mins	0.37	0.83
Percentage of shots that score	5.5%	8.0%

And this comparison of Alisson’s numbers isn’t comparing to the average. This is to the second ranked keeper. He is miles ahead in this comparison, in a league of his own. Another crazy statistic, Alisson has not allowed any goals from outside the box. 100% save percentage on shots outside the box. None.

The Deeper Stat

All of these number clearly indicate a keeper at the top of his game, and as an opponent it must be daunting. But the deeper look shows the real effect that it is having on shooters. Using the data from 2018-19 season (Alisson’s reduced games played in 2019-20 due to injury could be argued to skew the numbers so last year is safer) there is a significant trend in terms of shots that the Liverpool keeper is seeing. While teams play differently styles due to a number of reasons, the most relatable comparison is to other keepers who play for the big 6 teams.

For the big 6 teams, the average shots at net compared to shots on net is over 35%. That means more than 35% of the shots taken at the net actually hit the net. The range for the non-Alisson keepers is between 34.3% and 37.0%, showing a clear norm. Well, Alisson is not the norm. He is outside the norm. And it’s not close. Only 31.6% of the shots taken against him actually hit the net. For a statistician that is a HUGE variation from the norm. But even for the average fan it isn’t hard to see, opponent are simply missing the net at an abnormal rate when Alisson is the keeper.

Alisson’s excellence has translated into opponents trying so hard for the corners of the net that they simply miss the net. Returning to the current criticism of the Liverpool keper that he doesn’t see enough shots on net, that’s because he has opponents missing out of fear. And that doesn’t even take into account plays like the Norwich breakaway above that doesn’t even count as a shot. You read that right, a breakaway that doesn’t even get a shot off! Let me say again, a first division EPL player who doesn’t get a shot off on a clear breakaway! Crazy!

The Intimidation is Real

Alisson’s numbers are phenomenal. And the fact that he sees less shots makes sense now. As an opposing player, you must know that the Liverpool keeper has yet to let in a shot from outside the box, so some will not even bother to shoot, it’s basically a giveaway because it’s not a real scoring chance. And when you get a real chance inside the box, you know Alisson is there. You might not see him but the chance he makes your sure goal part of his highlight reel saves is terrifying. The intimidation is real. Alisson is in opponents heads. He’s built his summer home there, he’s sitting on the porch and he’s having a drink. They are all afraid.