Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker has said Arne Slot’s side have the “quality to achieve something special” this season and has called on his teammates to “create their own history” at the club.
The Merseyside club are six points clear at the top of the Premier League table with a game in hand, having also won all of their games in the revamped Champions League and secured passage to the semifinals of the Carabao Cup.
Their impressive form has inevitably led to parallels being drawn with Liverpool’s title-winning side of 2019-20 but Alisson — who played an integral part in the club winning both the Premier League and Champions League under Jürgen Klopp — has insisted that it is impossible to compare the two teams.
“I don’t think it’s too similar, [it’s] two different teams,” the Brazil international said. “A few players still play in the team but we have a little bit different style now, more ball possession, before it was really straightforward: a lot of transition, a lot of intensity.
“That team was really special, we achieved great things, it was the first Premier League title for this club in a long time. We achieved the Champions League together as well, the season before. I think there’s no comparison with both situations.
“Just what makes me happy is to see that this group of players, we have the quality to do something special and the most important thing is the commitment that is needed to win something is there, and the passion, the desire.
“We are hungry and we want to win every game in front of us and that we have in front of us and that’s all we are focused on at the moment.
“We know that in the future we’re going to remember more about the good moments now that you had together in football. Winning is not everything, of course, but it’s a big part of football so I want to remember this team as a winning team.
“I believe we don’t have to compare ourselves with the teams in the past, we have to create our own history. This season, this group has to create its own history.”
Liverpool have defied expectations this season to mount a title charge under new head coach Slot.
Alisson was quick to praise the Dutchman for how quickly he has been able to implement his ideas at Anfield.
“I think when Arne joined the club, everybody thought it would be hard work for him to replace a manager like Jürgen,” he said. “He’s showing his qualities and he brings us a lot of good things.
“I think it’s not only one key, but many things that are helping us to achieve our goals. I want to highlight the commitment of this team, of the players, to do what the manager asks, to go every day and train hard and having the desire to improve as well, to be a better team and the desire of winning big things for this club. So that will always be an important point for a team that wants to be a winner.”
It has been a challenging season so far for Alisson, who was sidelined for more than two months with a hamstring injury earlier in the campaign. However, the 32-year-old has confirmed he is now fully fit and is thrilled to be able to now help Slot’s side on the pitch.
“It’s not easy when you stay for a long time away,” he said. “It was not easy for me, but I worked really hard.
“I was looking forward to coming back because when you are injured, these days you just don’t go there, put some ice on your legs and just wait until you’re fully recovered.
You work so hard in the gym every day, sometimes double sessions, pretty much every day double sessions, doing treatment at home, having treatment at the club.
“So I spent a lot of time working without doing the best side of football, that is playing. So I was looking forward to coming back, even because the team was doing so well, so you get even more excited to be part of it.”
Liverpool will look to keep their impressive run going when they travel to West Ham United on Sunday. But while the league leaders seem in rude health, Alisson has stressed the importance of Slot’s squad keeping their feet on the ground.
“It’s too soon to talk about the title, of course, but it’s our goal, it’s our target,” he said. “At this point, we cannot just start to look to the points and see how it goes. We have to really focus on the next opponent that we have in front of us.
“That’s the mentality that we need and that is the mentality that we are having at the moment. We know how Premier League can change so quickly in two games.
“Two games ago, maybe everybody was saying, looking to us at the table, Chelsea coming closer, all the teams coming closer, and now two games after we are in a better position. So everything changes so quickly here because of the quality of all the teams. So we have to be really focused on ourselves.
“As I said before, we have so many things to improve. During the season, you have to become a champion not only in one game or only for what we did at this half way point.”
