Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp believes that goalkeeper Alisson will settle in the Premier League quickly. Liverpool roped in the Brazilian from Roma at a fee of £66.8 million which was a world record fee for a goalkeeper at the time. His fee was surpassed when Chelsea bought Kepa Arrizabalaga for £71 million.
Even though Alisson has never played in the Premier League, Klopp believes he can blend in just fine. He said, “Just be a goalkeeper. Be yourself, in this case, because he is very calm and laid back – and that helps. It’s about making the right decisions in the right moments. It’s all good. He’s settled really quick, as if he’s been here longer than two weeks. That’s all fine.
Regarding Daniel Sturridge’s future at Anfield, the German said, “He’s still here, and he played a good pre-season. He could do a lot of the sessions, to be honest. I can’t remember a bad game off him in pre-season, which is good. I said it 500 times already; when Daniel is fit, nobody doubts him. I do not. He’s here, he’s in a good shape, hopefully he can bring that into the season.”
Liverpool begin their Premier League campaign against West Ham on Sunday. Talking about West Ham’s new manager Manuel Pellegrini, Klopp said, “One of the very, very successful managers on this planet. He knows how football goes, so he’s a really good tactician and coach. That changes a lot of things. If you go through the West Ham team, it could be completely different. It could be Arnautovic in the ‘9’, Yarmolenko and Felipe Anderson wide or Chicharito striker with Arnautovic behind in the ‘10’.
Behind them, Wilshere and Noble or whoever, then a new full-back, Cresswell back. It’s just a good football team. They are ambitious, clearly. People expect that we win, and we expect the same, but we know that between now and then there are 95 brutal minutes, and we have to be ready for that. It’s easy not to underestimate West Ham. Analysis is pretty non-existent at this stage, but no problem. I’m still looking forward to it.”
