10 Dec 2023 10:34:08
Eds1 who do you think is Liverpool’s most important player. I’ve got to go with Allison! I mean the bloke is just incredible. He comes back from an injury and still makes unbelievable game winning saves. I hate to think what we will do when he retires.

{Ed001's Note - I am with you on that. Alisson is the key player of all of them.}

1.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 10:52:52
Allison is world class and easily the best keeper I’ve seen play for us or any other team in the flesh

I think it’s between him and Vvd for most important player.

I think we could still win majority of games without Alison but we’d be like a revolving door without Virg.

2.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 11:09:50
As good as clemo on his prime. Easily the best gk in the world.

3.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 11:12:10
Disagree on that JK.

Much of what Allison does goes unnoticed most weeks.

He has also carried that defence whilst VVD has found form again.

4.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 11:37:55
Wassa that’s very true mate.

Like I said i think it’s between the two.

I’m sure lots of posters will agree or disagree with the two and have suggestions of their own.

5.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 11:40:49
Allison or Salah for me. It’s really easy to see how often Allison saves us, but because Salah plays every week, almost without fail, it’s difficult to know how we’d do without him. He’s so consistent with his goal inputs that as simple as they often seem, you can’t take for granted that we would get them elsewhere.

{Ed025's Note - it has to Alisson for me QV, Salah has been a bit underwhelming to be honest...by his own standards of course mate..

6.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 11:41:04
Funny thing is, VVD and Alisson were the two players that turned us from pretenders to winners and all these years later they are still the 2 players that we need the most!

7.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 11:52:01
Who do u reckon the best ed1, clemence r ali? Clemence before time, Ali easily the hest lfc goalie I've seen.

{Ed001's Note - Clem was before my time but I am sure he couldn't pass the ball like Alisson does, so that puts Ali ahead for me. The goalkeeper position has changed, Alisson is the best of the modern breed, it is a bit unfair to compare the old style keepers with him. They have not had the benefit of all the enhanced training and diet etc. The modern keeper is bigger, stronger and quicker, plus better on the ball. It is the one position that old style players would struggle in the modern era, simply because most of them could barely kick a ball.}

8.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 12:36:39
Ali, hands down the most important player right now. VVD is the close second. He is single handedly marshaling that defense.
We miss a prime Fabinho though. Peak Fabinho was the best holding mid in the world.

9.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 12:37:39
I'm amazed by Alisson. He is the key player for me. Best goalkeeper I ve ever seen. He has no weaknesses.

When Van Dijk is on form, the whole team plays well. He is vital. When he is playing like this he gets a avoided. He makes a gigantic difference to defence.

We would not have won all those trophies without Salah's goals. And having played with a goal scorer and a team without, I tell you the difference is everything. Gives the whole team direction and belief.

Those three and Klopp are the heart of this Liverpool era. Every one plays a huge part but those 4 gentlemen are the heart.

I edge the key player to Alisson.

Honourable mention to Alexander Arnold. I was close to putting him in the group but I think he is just out. He will probably get there in time.

10.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 12:44:17
Ed01, Clemence was before my time as well but I have always had this belief that AB1 is the best GK to ever grace the PL in terms of raw, natural ability to play the position completely and he keeps confirming that with his exploits which are normally seen as routine or just as "Alisson doing and Alisson" which shows have great he is above all the great GK's this PL has ever seen.

IMO, There is nothing the likes of Schmeichel, Cech, Grobs or whoever wrer good at that Alisson can't do. While there are things Alisson can do that they simply couldn't. Also, Those GK's could never play in this era. Alisson could play in ANY era, IMO.

{Ed001's Note - agreed.}

11.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 12:56:50
Old enough to have watched Clemence, who was a brilliant keeper and sweeper, but Alisson's the best we've ever had, in my opinion.

12.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 13:02:43
Ed1, as of right now, no GK is even close to him I would think. He is the best GK in the world. Make me wonder what would happen when he leaves us. Any young GK that caught your eyes these days? GK is kind of a hard position I would think, because there is not many players compared to others positions. The players pools is small compared to other positions.

{Ed001's Note - no need to look yet, he has a fair few years left mate.}

13.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 13:10:24
High praise there ed001.
And I agree the modern keeper is indeed better than keepers previously for the same reasons.
So if Ali is the best keeper in the modern era, does that mean he’s the best keeper in the entire history of the game? Would you swap him for anyone else in history? I’m not sure many or any could come in and do what Ali does for us.
I think a similar argument could be had for outfield positions though, todays players are highly tuned athletes who could out compete pretty much any players pre premier league era for fitness. There have obviously been some unbelievable teams in the past and people are always comparing them to todays teams and saying they would wipe the floor with todays lot, I’m not so sure, fitness and stamina are really important in football and todays lot would run circles round the players of yesteryear who smoked a pack a day and sank 3 pints at half time. I’m sure if you got some of the great Liverpool sides of the 70s and 80s in a Time Machine and played them against us now they would be all on the oxygen by the 70th minute.

{Ed001's Note - Ali is the GOAT yes. As for the outfield, the older time players were slower but they had more stamina and could run the modern day player into the ground. They also had better technique, it was needed due to the terrible pitches. Plus they understood the game better as they had to develop their own understanding. They may have drunk and smoked, but that only really shortened their career. They had to do more stamina and endurance work than modern players, so they would surprise you in terms of their ability to keep going.}

14.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 14:15:08
Always thought Grobs was ahead of his time sweeping up at the back unlike any keeper of that era he would be the only keeper that could play in todays game
Up the pool.

15.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 14:27:37
Thanks Ed for that insight. The terrible pitches didn’t come into my thinking, imagine todays players getting in the same Time Machine and going back to the 70s, they would struggle with the pitches and the good old fashioned real tackling lol.

{Ed001's Note - exactly. They wouldn't last five seconds. I have seen them when they try and play on crap pitches and they simply can't cope. I watched Barcelona with peak Messi being absolutely shambolic because the so-called goat couldn't control a ball on a bobbly pitch. And it was nothing like as bad as the old potato fields that players used to have to cope with.}

16.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 16:04:04
salah gets us the goals, alisson gets us the three points.

its insane how good he is, wild.

while some other players have on and off forms, ali has always been consistent with very few off games a season. also, nice beard.

17.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 16:34:31
I have to laugh on Twatter when I see people compare Alisson to the likes of Cech, De Gea or even more laughably, weak-wrists Ederson.

I think you can compare him to Lev Yashin. And maybe Peter Schmeichel. Other than that, no.

18.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 16:52:10
Alisson by a country mile. He was our best player last season and has been again this season. I have never seen a better keeper.

19.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 19:15:24
Probably the only keeper that had the advantage is a 1 v 1 situation
I’m sure he has come out tops significantly more than conceded that at times when he has let it one, I find myself being surprised - that’s the bar he has set that a typical situation whereby we expect the goal to be conceded, I’ve come to expect that he saves it and wonder how come he didn’t in the odd occasion.

20.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 21:08:01
Hey, Kaizer. Can I keep that quote of yours? I think it explains the situation perfectly.

21.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 21:12:17
All this talk of the old school players can you imagine this lot getting asked to play in the thick snowfall with a orange ball.

{Ed025's Note - i remember that well John, i can also remember when balls had laces in them mate and it didn,t half hurt when you headed one, when it was wet it was like a medicine ball..

22.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 21:54:41
Some things about the good old days wasn’t actually that good ed25 .

{Ed025's Note - absolutely John, like me going to school in my sisters shoes because mine had no soles,and trying to convince my peers that they were the latest fashion mate.. :)

23.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 23:24:35
I have watched liverpool for over 60 years and for me Ray Clemence was the best in that era just like Allison is the best right now . how llu. cky we are.

24.) 10 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 23:32:55
Best 2 goalkeepers I’ve ever seen are Alisson and Neville Southall. Southall was an immense goalkeeper he’d make so many saves he had absolutely no right to.

25.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 00:04:26
This was refreshing to read.
We are very lucky to have him because he could walk into any team. Definitely the best I've seen, he can't be compared to anybody currently still playing, he's on a different level.

26.) 11 Dec 2023
10 Dec 2023 23:09:26
Trend setter ed apparently that is the fashion nowadays.

{Ed025's Note - that DCL is such a copycat mate.. :)

27.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 00:08:28
Wearing girls shoes Ed25 nothing to be ashamed about, being a evertonian on the other hand .

{Ed025's Note - well they were red high heels John.. :)

28.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 06:53:46
For me, it's Alison, then Salah then VVD. The man has saved our behinds inumebrable times.

I saw Ray Clémence play. He was world class without any doubts. Without getting into the d times modern times debate, I feel that Alison is better. But just slightly, and over time, the gulf between the two will become bigger. Alison is getting better and better every year still.

After his admitting that he accepted bribes to throw games, I don't see how you can even mention Grobellaar in this debate, less even how you can mention his name on this site. Mercenary weasel.

{Ed025's Note - it is hard to compare ArAy, but at the moment its still Clemence for me, mainly because of his longevity and command of the area, that could change though if he stays around for a few more years mate..

29.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 09:56:59
Hello Ed025, I'll agree that Clemence is ahead in terms of longevity, but I think both have equal command of their area. When you're running at goal with ball at feet you always see Alisson facing the threat with arms and legs outstretched and almost always negating the goal scoring opportunity. In one vs. one situations the odds always seem to favour Alisson, which is not at all the norm in football. He's not bad on corners with his punching and his distrubition has nothing wrong with it either. You could argue that Ederson is better with ball at feet, but then that's not the main priority in a GK.

If Alisson is able to stay at this level, and with us, for another 5 years, then there could be a serious debate about the longevity aspect of it. But wouldn't you agree that he is the best in the World, right now?

{Ed025's Note - absolutely ArAy, i think hes exceptional mate and one of the main reasons you are top, when i mentioned command of his area Clemence was so good at coming out and catching the ball even in crowded boxes, and thats when the game was more physical and they never got the protection from the officials like they do today mate, he had great hands as well and keepers used to clutch the ball a lot more rather than this new fangled punching everything lark, but i do agree that if Alisson can stay for a good length of time he could very well surpass him..

30.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 10:38:39
Agreed again Ed025. This new fangled tendency of punching the ball away or parrying it off to the side instead of catching it (which is the ultimate safety for a goalkeeper isn't it? ) is beyond me. GKs have loads of more protection from the refs nowadays than they did in the old days, so what's the worry? If the worry is butter fingers, spoiling the manicure or the hairdo, then shouldn't be a GK in the first place. ?.

{Ed025's Note - the prerequisite for being a keeper in the first place is that you are a scruffy barm pot ArAy, i dont get the punching everything either mate, sometimes when the ball is hit straight at them, there is nothing better in my eyes mate than seeing a keeper dive full length and the ball nestle into his hands, but maybe its just me being an old fuddy duddy..

31.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 14:26:24
Catching makes the game boring ed025
Suddenly the attack comes to an end
There is no 2nd balls, no melee in the box, nothing for players on both sides to snatch at, for commentators to scream it, hence I believe modern GKs are asked to punch and parry than catch, to make the game exciting

And I think we missed the most important attribute of Alisson being the best. It’s not his 1 v 1s, shot stopping, commanding of area, distribution, sweeping, footwork. Any keeper can do that if they train hard enough. What makes him stand out is his ability to remember how his opposite number trolled us and doing exactly the same thing back in the 90th minute when we have closed the game out. It’s that ability to bear a grudge in a high octane PL game and dishing it out in similar fashion at the end of the match that makes him truly amazing. And the way he did it was so innocuous, no over the top drawing attention to himself, just a silent mocking as though he didn’t do it on purpose is what makes him tops in my opinion. Wahahaha.

32.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 16:12:41
Sure Oli, go ahead mate.

33.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 16:02:26
Ed25 you have the old style footballs with the laces, then you had the proper Mitre Mouldmaster balls for Gaelic back in the day - getting hit with one of them on the inside of the thigh on a cold winters day match was no bloody joke lol as I'm sure the other Irish reds on here will attest too ?.

{Ed025's Note - i have never played Gaelic Bill but i do like watching it, the footy balls were so heavy when they got wet that it almost knocked you out mate, i used to come like Wilf from the bash street kids with no neck.. :)

34.) 11 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 19:08:39
You are right Ed25 on goalkeepers being barn pots but I ve played with the craziest of them all. Towards the end of my "illustrious" career so the league level was lowish. Two quick stories

1 A ball came in from a corner, flew over everybody and out wide on the other side. Our goalie came out and caught one of our defenders heads. And he went to take a quick throw out with the players head. I'm not messing. I never in my life laughed so much on a football pitch. I couldn't wait for that game to be over for the dressing room banter.

2. Same goalie was training to be a ref. Free kick outside the box in an league game that would have put us in touching distance of top spot. Playing the top team and up one nil. He is shouting at the ref that free kick is indirect. Ball is an absolute floater towards the goal. A five year old would save it. He steps out of the way to let the goal in. "Indirect ref! ". Of course goal is given. Didn't find that one as funny as the time.

What a crackpot.

{Ed025's Note - nothing surprises me about keepers Davey, i have played with too many over the years and the one constant is that they are all loonies, a couple of good stories there mate cheers..

35.) 12 Dec 2023
11 Dec 2023 21:48:47
90% of Clem’s passes went to Phil Neal and 90% of his passes went to Sammy Lee, at least that’s my vivid image of watching back in the day.

As has been said there’s no real comparison though - apart from the obvious thing of trying to stop the opposition scoring there’s no real comparison with goal keepers of 30 years or more ago. Although it did make me smile imagining the ‘Flying Pig’ doing today’s training ?.