Virgil van Dijk praises Liverpool’s 'big leader' Klopp made special shirt for
If it was all about kings, goalscoring and otherwise, at Anfield, then quietly, history was being made at the other end of the pitch.
The 1-0 victory over Brentford meant goalkeeper Alisson Becker joins the 100 club for Liverpool, with the shut out his 100th clean sheet since arriving on Merseyside.
For Jurgen Klopp - who had a special jersey made with 100 printed on the back to mark the occasion - one thing is obvious: his keeper is a lifesaver. “I said this is actually for ‘100 lifesaving saves this season’. Ali said, ‘it might have been more’. Maybe he is right!” the manager said.
“His performances speak for themselves. If you know him, he is a better person than a goalie and that is already difficult. Ali should be really proud of that.”
For Alisson, it was a proud moment to join some of the Anfield greats like Ray Clemence, Elisha Scott and Tommy Lawrence on the all time list of keepers. He is seventh now in terms of clean sheets, but is only looking forward.
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Clemence tops the list with 323, and the Brazilian said: “100 clean sheets, I am so happy about that, and looking forward to the next 100.
Alisson kept his 100th Liverpool clean sheet against Brentford“It is something we can be proud of - I don’t know how much it means. I hope I’m going to reach 200, 300, as many as possible, but it is not only a number of myself, it’s from all the boys, the staff, the goalkeeping coach department, everyone.”
For team-mate Virgil van Dijk, it’s the keeper’s leadership which is so important: “That's the biggest quality, how he is as a person and how important he is for the group.
“Obviously on the pitch his qualities are there for everyone to see - his contribution, the saves, the leadership, that's all very important. But away from the pitch is just as important, the qualities he has. He is a big, big leader.”
On Liverpool's victory, Klopp added: “Brentford have all our respect and the boys showed that today. The best defensive set-piece session I ever saw, the best set-piece team in the league, the most creative, with a whole week to prepare.
“We had too much of these moments but that’s how it is. They go for it. From a focus point of view it was sensational. From a football point of view, we had good moments in the first half and at the start of the second. I really liked how we stayed concentrated, the boys wanted this result and I’m really happy.”
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