20 Mar 2026 17:16:04.
So, Alisson is apparently injured and unavailable against Brighton tomorrow, as well as Brazil's two-week international break.
One of the best keepers I have ever seen in my life, but my word, these injuries.
20 Mar 2026 18:12:01
It's not like they are kept fit, is it?
20 Mar 2026 18:59:19
Hopefully there are some serious discussions behind the scenes about a long term replacement. From what I've seen, Mamardashvili isn't it. Ali is with us until the end of next season. Pecsi, by then, would be 22. Jaros has his injury to recover from.
20 Mar 2026 19:32:15
Not many I'd swap Alison for. In fact, I can't even think of one.
20 Mar 2026 20:43:27
I agree, Scouse John. Alisson is still the best in the world, but he is going to cost us one day with these injuries he gets, going to miss a major semi or final.
20 Mar 2026 20:45:40
I would only swap Alisson for a younger version of himself.
20 Mar 2026 20:46:24
It's just what happens when you get older. He's 34 soon. To be fair, it might be that he needs a proper rest, but we are rushing him back. Sadly, it seems to be his thigh area that keeps recurring, given the nature of diving to save and sliding for one-on-ones, plus kicking through the ball on clearances.
It's likely to only get worse and worse from constant impact and strain without a good full rest.
Liverpool should possibly look to Mamardashvilli to open the season, and give him a proper break.
He clearly doesn't trust kicking through the ball on clearances when passed back under trouble. His body shape is all wrong when clearing passbacks under pressure, and he almost kicks with the inside of his foot instead of the laces when required.
20 Mar 2026 22:06:01
He's always been injury prone. Unfortunately. For a top-level keeper, I cannot name another with similar absences. Totally reliable once on the pitch. Totally unreliable to get there, however.
20 Mar 2026 22:11:11
Stromgodset, not really. We just need a sensible, reliable, experienced backup keeper to fill in for when he's unavailable. Getting a flashy, expensive, younger backup keeper that is the trend these days is not the answer.
20 Mar 2026 22:13:23
@Shankly,
Does Manuel Neuer fit the profile?
20 Mar 2026 22:21:22
@Kew, No. He doesn't.
20 Mar 2026 22:47:01
I'm probably on my own here, but I honestly don't know why Marma gets so cained. From when I've seen him, apart from some of his kicking, I don't think he's done a great deal wrong. He's made some great saves, and it seems we're keen to not even give him a chance, because we've been spoilt with Ali.
Don't get me wrong, I love Ali, and every game he misses is difficult for us, but we're giving up on a keeper who is still so young and could be great going forward to replace Ali long term, and we need to back him when he plays rather than slate him.
There are not many keepers I'd have instead of him right at this moment. Why not let him grow and learn from Ali whilst we still have him.
Bear in mind, the goals we have let in when Ali hasn't been available, for the most part, are down to the poor defence in front of him.
20 Mar 2026 22:54:22
Babbity, we had one in Khellher, but I have not seen enough of Mamardashvili to know if he is good enough. Not sure why some posters have written him off already, he has only played a handful of games for us.
20 Mar 2026 23:17:05
People don't rate Marma because his name isn't Alisson Becker. From my point of view, Kelleher was an excellent backup for Ali. Just that the lad wanted regular game time, which is fair enough.
20 Mar 2026 23:38:20
At the start of the season I thought Marma looked nervous and hesitant with everything he did. Not a great mix when Konate is in front of you. His feet looked painfully slow, and he was very slow off his line.
He has settled down a bit though now, and he looks good. Not Ali good, but then no one is.
I don't get why people slate his kicking either. He's not amazing with his feet, but he's adequate.
He needs to improve, sure, but he's gone from me wincing and hiding behind the sofa every time the ball is anywhere near him to just a slight twitch of anxiety.
He's improving, and let's face it, he's learning from the best.
As an aside, I don't think people talk about pace enough when it comes to goalkeepers. Ali has lost a yard, but in his prime he was quick, so in one-on-ones he waits until just before you shoot, and he's on top of you. Raya is very good at this now too. Also, sweeping up behind the defence, you need speed to get out quickly.
Unfortunately I think that's where Marma will always struggle.
21 Mar 2026 01:08:05
Buffon had a lot of injuries, if I remember correctly.
21 Mar 2026 05:50:39
What WDWIV said.
Marma's name's not Becker, and has too many syllables - can't be trusted.
{Ed001's Note - nonsense, typical condescending crap from West Derby. Mama's problem is that he has not proven himself to be any good yet. He is slow, so slow, and that makes him crap at one-on-ones, ponderous on crosses in which he should get to but instead stays rooted to his line, poor at sweeping up outside the box, unable to get across the goal quickly for difficult saves, poor with the ball at his feet and not even an outstanding shotstopper.
He does have a good throw on him, his throw outs are accurate and have distance, and he is a big presence in the goal, but other than that, it is difficult to see anything much in him. Right now, he looks a bad buy. Hopefully he can improve with good coaching and work and turn himself into a good buy.}
21 Mar 2026 06:23:57
Let's be completely fair here, whoever eventually replaces Ali is very likely to get pasted because Ali was and still is just so good. It's a bit unfortunate but he's the benchmark and it is very likely that whomever we get isn't going to measure up.
As Ed says, I'd hope Mama could be coached to improve, but if he was bought to turn a profit I suspect the long term will be elsewhere. What a sad world live in when that is a footballing business strategy.
{Ed001's Note - tall order to expect anyone to live up to Ali's level, he is the GOAT. I would hope we would get someone who suits our style of play though and allows us to play a higher line though.}
21 Mar 2026 07:23:46
Have to say - Ali has been fantastic and is by far the best Liverpool keeper in my lifetime, but Courtois is probs best in the world.
{Ed001's Note - not a chance, Courtois is not that good. He gets all the hype for making a save hit at him. Not even close to Ali.}
21 Mar 2026 08:42:31
I would agree with Mamardashvili seeming hesitant and nervous. For a big lad, he doesn't look confident on crosses. For me, he looks like a good shot stopper in the mould of Donnarumma, but not as good.
Having said that, more game time might bring out the best in him, see Euro 2024, but currently, in a Liverpool shirt, I'm not convinced.
Are there any top goalkeepers out there at a good age?
21 Mar 2026 08:42:59
Am I the only one happy to put up with Ali's injuries so long as we have a decent #2 as back up?
I'd keep him as long as he wants to be here. He makes tricky and awkward saves look very comfortable, and is still the safest hands in the prem.
I certainly wouldn't be offloading him because he gets injured more than most.
Jaros, Woodward, etc., you may as well be saying Bogdan and Manninger.
We should have one of the top 5 keepers on the planet as our #1 at all times.
21 Mar 2026 09:05:37
Ali is in our top 3 LFC goalkeepers in our history. Let that sink in for how good he is.
21 Mar 2026 09:30:53
Personally, I rate Courtois.
21 Mar 2026 10:00:14
I would always put Ray Clemence up alongside Ali as a GOAT. YNWA.
21 Mar 2026 10:08:49
And I thought Reddit users are ignorant, while we have among ourselves someone who thinks Courtois is nowhere near Alisson. Courtois single-handedly won a UCL Final, while Alisson can't even save penalties, even if his life depended on it.
{Ed001's Note - you are clearly more of a twatter user yourself. Courtois singlehandedly won nothing, that is the most pig ignorant statement I have seen.}
21 Mar 2026 10:25:30
So do I, Rome. He's excellent. I, for one, would be happy to have him if Ali wasn't our keeper.
21 Mar 2026 09:53:02
I want some of what Ed001 has been smoking, "Courtois is not that good" ? he's brilliant, end of. Not as good as Ali though obvs.
{Ed001's Note - I have never rated him, he is like Prickford - all flashy saves but they are not great saves, just ones he should make that he makes look difficult because he is not that great. Very average keeper who can't command his box.}
21 Mar 2026 10:21:20
Haha! Cross Ed01 at one's peril!
Don't agree it was condescending crap. Sarcastic at best.
Great insight into Marma's game, though. Thanks.I agree wholeheartedly with your comment to the other poster about having a keeper that suits our style of play. Absolutely.
Becker is probably the goat, as you say, (i also lean toward Clemence but that's non-recency bias) and any other keeper is going to suffer by comparison.
Interesting to know if Marma will get there. I'm assuming you think not.
Cheers, as always.
{Ed001's Note - West Derby Wanker only does condescending. He is the turd in the bowl of life that just won't flush away.}
21 Mar 2026 10:30:51
Ali is an alltimer and as for the comments that he can't save penalties, some good soul posted the stat that of as 2023, he'd saved 7 out of 14. Alisson is the great keeper we've had in my 45-plus years as a fan.
He deserves total respect. If he can play only three quarters of our games, he's still our number one. With Oblak, an absolute beast of a goalie. Ed 001 is bang on.
21 Mar 2026 10:42:20
Diogo Costa of Porto is the one we should get as Alisson's replacement. Can someone advise our transfer team?
21 Mar 2026 10:55:28
Average keepers have no positioning, so they're forced to pull it out of the bag. Ali is not that. Courtois and KFC King are.
21 Mar 2026 11:02:46
I always thought Courtois was lucky, say lucky but mean jammy. Besides that, he's an utter C***. There have been some fantastic goalies around down the years: Seaman, Cech, Big Nev. But I would swap Ali for any of them.
21 Mar 2026 12:31:17
Ed1, what do you make of Man United GK? He looks decent from the little that's I've seen him. But again, there is not a lot of good GK these days.
{Ed001's Note - Lammens looks a solid dependable keeper. One of the better keepers in the Prem so far.}
21 Mar 2026 12:45:16
Ed001 Ali makes good saves look simple while a lot of there other keepers make simple saves good.
We lost that champions league final to Madrid not because Courtois made great saves more because our forwards didn't finish any of the chances we created all straight at him rather than finding the corner.
{Ed001's Note - exsctly.}
21 Mar 2026 14:49:18
Mamardashvilli was one of the only players who can hold his head up after today's insipid performance. Surely, surely, surely Slot goes now? Grow a pair, LFC.
21 Mar 2026 19:44:23
Marmalade had a decent game, but Jones himself and Gomez had a part to play in their first goal, a comedy of errors.