Liverpool No 1 Alisson is a calm and measured presence in goal – but he’s ready to show his ruthlessness against Man United

• The 7-0 win last season was Liverpool’s biggest over Man United for 127 years 
• Alisson has an aura in the Reds’ dressing room that makes his team-mates listen 
• Will Marcus Rashford EVER be the real deal? Listen to It’s All Kicking Off 

Alisson Becker is leaning back in a chair at Liverpool’s Kirkby training base with a single espresso shot in hand. The goalkeeper, a calming and measured presence not only between the sticks, is here to talk title races, South American brotherhood and his leadership role.

But whichever tangents the conversation takes, the theme continually returns to the last time Manchester United visited Anfield. It was a day football fans will never forget – apart from, perhaps, United supporters attempting to wipe the memory – but as a reminder, they lost 7-0.

It was United’s biggest defeat against their bitter rivals for 127 years, dating back to a 7-1 thrashing in 1895 in the second tier. Alisson is soon asked how he would react if he was on the receiving end of a 7-0 embarrassment at the hands of his team’s nemesis.

‘I would be on fire, I think, and I would try to set my team-mates on fire as well!,’ he says. Of course, the Brazilian goalkeeper means in a psychological or metaphorical sense – hopefully – but it shows the ruthlessness of Alisson, who many regard as one of Liverpool’s key leaders.

In terms of importance to the team’s successes, Alisson is level – if not above – Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk. If he was to suffer a long-term injury, any hopes of breaking Manchester City’s monopoly on the Premier League would slowly dwindle.

Alisson claimed that if his side lost 7-0 in any game then he would consider setting fire to his team-mates

Alisson discussed the leadership and South American brotherhood in the Liverpool dressing room

Alisson holds an aura that when he speaks, his team-mates always listen according to reports

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Sources say that Alisson is not an ever-present voice of inspiration in dressing-room team-talks but holds an aura that when he speaks, team-mates sit up and listen. He is one of Liverpool’s five-man leadership group but also is a role model with his stellar performances.

‘As soon as I sat down here (arrived in Liverpool) I knew my way, my style is to lead and I am a guy who likes to talk and a good one-on-one when it is needed with players. The armband at this club means a lot and wearing the armband brings a lot of responsibility.

‘Not only on the pitch but off it as well, you become kind of like a symbol for the supporters. But we have and we’ve had so many leaders. So many players have already had a role as a leader. That is what our team is built off, from many leaders going in the same direction.’

The leadership that Alisson speaks of – Liverpool have five players who captain their national team – is just what those down the East Lancashire Road are missing, with Manchester United long missing characters in the dressing room and bust-ups seemingly a weekly occurrence.

The goalkeeper has found friendship in international rivals such as Argentine Alexis Mac Allister and Liverpool’s four South Americans – also Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz – have competitions in the dressing room, with Nunez scoring against both Brazil and Argentina for Uruguay this year.

‘Bobby (Firmino) and Fabinho were a huge loss,’ he says. ‘But the relationship we have here between the South Americans is amazing. We are from different countries but have pretty similar cultures. I drink mate, the same as Darwin, same as Macca.

‘So we have rivalry but when we are here we are really good friends. I can see so much desire and passion from Macca, Darwin, Lucho, to do great things for this club. The environment and atmosphere of the other players are helping them to get this passion.’

Liverpool’s togetherness and team spirit is perhaps their best weapon if the Premier League leaders are to push on this season, but they also rely on mercurial talent all over the pitch. Alisson is perhaps one they have relied on slightly too much this season.

Alisson’s influence on Liverpool’s rise is equal to – if not greater than – that of Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk

The Brazilian was part of the Reds team that beat Manchester United 7-0 at Anfield last term

It was the heaviest win against their arch rivals in 127 years taking back to a 7-1 pummeling in 1895

He made a stoppage-time save at Crystal Palace to deny Joachim Andersen and he has kept the Reds in multiple games when they have been plagued by sloppy starts this season. Alisson has saved a league-high 80.4 per cent of shots this season and says he is only getting better.

‘Yes, if the numbers talk then maybe (I am getting better)!,’ he says. ‘I’m working for that – to improve each year as much as I can. I started to play (first-team) football at a young age for a goalkeeper, 21 or 22, so I’ve already played 10 years in the posts.

‘That’s a lot of time, but I’m still young for a goalkeeper. If you see goalkeepers now they are playing until they are 38, 39 and sometimes going over that. I think now I am getting to the highest point of my career, mixing physicality, experience and a big desire.

‘Goalkeeping has changed since Manuel Neuer. I think if you look in the past you can see goalkeepers who play with their feet. I think (Victor) Valdes at Barcelona with his feet but Neuer was the guy who was more active in playing, in sweeping behind the defensive line.

Though already 31 Alisson believes he can keep going for a number of years yet at the peak of his game

Alisson cited Bayern Munich and Germany legend Manuel Neuer as the great innovator for goalkeepers to play with their feet more often

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The stopper also spoke of his friendship with Liverpool’s other South Americans such as Darwin Nunez (left) and Alexis Mac Allister (right)

‘Then it is Ederson, myself, so many goalkeepers that have the quality to play. You have to work out that, you have to choose a goalkeeper with those kinds of skills, but the main quality of the goalkeeper is making saves and making the team feel safe when you are between the posts.’

So, how high can Liverpool go this season? ‘That game (7-0) is in the past, it’s a good thing for supporters to talk about and remember but we are a different team now,’ he says. ‘We have big goals for the season, we want to do everything to win this game, no matter how big the score.

‘We have to slow down talking about the title race because we are a team that is rebuilding. Of course we want to win the league, of course we want to beat every opponent that we have. But we have to be focused always on the closest thing we have now.

‘We have to perform better as well – better than what we are doing – but I think we will get there.’

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