Gary Neville has chosen his Liverpool player of the season and it is not Jordan Henderson or Virgil van Dijk. The Reds duo have been two of Jurgen Klopp’s standout players in the race for the Premier League title. But the ex-Manchester United defender thinks goalkeeper Alisson Becker has been Liverpool’s number one in more ways than one.
Garry Neville said “I think Alisson has made Liverpool win the League. I think when people talk about Van Dijk being the missing piece I think that there is an element of that. But, it’s Alisson for me. When I go back to two years or three years ago, I was very critical of the goalkeepers that were at Liverpool. I said I felt that they would never win the league while the current goalkeeper was in the position. Jurgen Klopp came for me, I don’t know whether he was angry with me but he certainly had a go at me in the media. But as soon as Alisson came – I saw it at Manchester United with Schmeichel then I saw it in that next spell where we had greatness with Van Der Sar. Once your goalkeeper is calm, authoritative, saves most shots on his goal, gives confidence to the rest of the team, the impact of that is absolutely incredible. For me Van Dijk is one of the best centre halves I have ever seen live but for me, if you’re talking about the last two years; what’s been the big change for me in Liverpool is the goalkeeper, They won the European Cup and they won the League. I put van Dijk just behind but Alisson for me has been the biggest impact at Liverpool.”
