Arne Slot singles out Liverpool star while delivering ruthless verdict - 'incredible'

Arne Slot heaped praise on Alisson Becker after his stunning Liverpool return from injury.

The goalkeeper missed two months of the Reds’ campaign because of a hamstring problem. And while Caoimhin Kelleher deputising magnificently during that time, keeping Liverpool at the top of the Premier League and Champions League, Alisson was restored to the No.1 spot for the clash against Girona.

It was a busy evening for the Brazil international, with the Reds’ performance well below par. Alisson was called into action several times in the first half to keep the scoreline goalless as well as making a decent stop just seconds into the second period.

Liverpool managed to secure a 1-0 win through Mo Salah’s 63rd-minute penalty following a VAR review after Luis Diaz was brought down by Donny van de Beek. And while the Reds earned a sixth successive triumph in the Champions League to book their spot in the last 16 with two games to spare, Slot was far from pleased with his side’s display - bar the heroics of ‘incredible’ Alisson. The Anfield head coach said: “If you ask me about all the six games, I'm really pleased with all the results, I am really pleased with the five [other] games with the way we played. I'm far from pleased about the performance tonight.

“If you play against a team that has such a good idea about football, knows how to bring the ball out from the back – like some other teams we faced recently, like [Manchester] City or Real Madrid – then you need to be so intense if you want to make it difficult for them. But if every time you are waiting a few seconds before you press, and if you do press you are so easily outplayed, then this team can cause you a lot of problems. That's what they've shown throughout the whole Champions League campaign, except for [against] PSV Eindhoven away.

“I almost feel sorry for them because they deserved so much more in this Champions League campaign than the three points they have until now. But we have an incredible goalkeeper. The other part was every time we lost the ball we were not aggressive enough, so every time we lost the ball they could almost every time go all the way to our goal, having a shot or a blocked shot, and then we could attack again. Hardly any control at all over the game; maybe the second half was a bit better, but then I am trying to be positive.”

Slot persistently said that Alisson would be restored as Liverpool’s first-choice goalkeeper when he was back available. The Dutchman hailed Alisson as the best keeper in the world. He added: “I said a bit of a joke that maybe the players wanted to see how fit he really was, so to give him so much work. But, of course, that was not our plan. He showed again today why I said so many times that he's our first goalkeeper.

“That has nothing to do with Caoimhin [Kelleher] – he did so, so well. But Alisson has been so important for this club for so many years, for his country as well. [He] showed today that he's probably one of the best, in my opinion the best goalkeeper in the world. And let's hope he can keep continuing to bring these performances. Let's hope even more that he can stay fit.”