Alisson Becker admits that losing a manager like Jürgen Klopp was a hard adjustment. He expected, like we all did, that the bedding in period would take some time and that Arne Slot would need to grow in to the role before any significant results came. However, despite the challenges that they faced throughout the grueling 2024-25 season, Slot’s Reds defied the early odds and took home the Premier League title for the first time since that interrupted 2019-20 season.
Now they face an entirely different
challenge: defending their title and proving that last season wasn’t a fluke.
“Being a while at Liverpool allowed me to have two different managers,” Alisson told the official site.
“One that made history here, changed even the mentality from the way supporters were seeing the game and also the players who are here at the moment. Jürgen [Klopp] was great at that and I’m so glad that I had the opportunity to work together with him.”
Klopp brought Alisson to the club with great fanfare, and theirs was a symbiotic relationship. Alisson justified his hefty price tag and proved himself one of the best goalkeepers in England, if not the world, and Klopp surrounded him with world class teammates.
“But then after he left came Arne Slot and when a top manager leaves, you think, ‘Oh, [with] the new manager we’re going to struggle.’ But that was the opposite with Arne,” Alisson said.
“I think he’s a really smart manager, so had similar ideas as Jürgen but a different style of managing. A really smart guy, intelligent, knows the game and I think he’s able to take out the best qualities of the players as well. It was really important for me that we started in a successful way in the first season under the control of a new manager and also seeing that he has the standards for Liverpool FC, because this is what we want here.”
As for the future, Alisson wants to keep pushing onward. Defense of their league title is important, but Europe and the domestic cups are places where the team has room to grow and improve on the previous season’s performance.
“We want to keep fighting for titles, we want to keep playing at a really good level, really high level – and this is what Arne can make us do during this time. It’s really important for me.”
They started this season off with a 4-2 win against Bournemouth. While the scoreline ended up in their favor, and the three points were secured, those two goals back-to-back goals from Antoine Semenyo showed that their are cracks in Liverpool’s defense. Their next opponents are Newcastle United, who settled for a disappointing goalless draw against Aston Villa on opening day. Hopefully Liverpool can use their incredible attackers to succeed once again.
