Liverpool star Alisson Becker would like to train with Mohamed Salah and work on his long passes more often. But the goalkeeper admits the Reds’ fixture pile-up limits their chances.
Alisson has found Salah to score on three occasions since Jurgen Klopp reunited the pair at Anfield in 2018. Liverpool signed Salah from Roma for £34m in 2017 before then returning to the Serie A team a year later for Alisson. The Brazil star moved to Merseyside for £67m.
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Those three of Salah’s 168 goals across all competitions in a Liverpool shirt account for all three of Alisson’s assists at the club so far. He first fired home from the goalkeeper’s pass to beat Manchester United in January 2020. The goal sealed a 2-0 win in the 93rd minute.
Alisson again connected with Salah at Anfield in February 2022 to put Liverpool 2-1 ahead in a 3-1 win over Norwich City. He then found the forward again at Anfield this October to secure a 1-0 win over Manchester City. Salah registered the only goal in the 76th minute.
Alisson would ‘like to train’ his long passing to Salah more often at Liverpool
Salah broke the deadlock to edge Manchester City last month after Alisson picked out the Liverpool star on the break. The goalkeeper collected Kevin De Bruyne’s floated free-kick and instantly spotted the Egyptian, who spun Joao Cancelo before slotting in past Ederson.
Alisson has now told Sky Sports that he would like to work on his connection with Salah in training more often. But the goalkeeper feels Liverpool’s packed schedule denies them the opportunity to develop their link up. Physical strain also limits what Alisson is able to train.
“It’s something I work on, but not every day because kicking long balls like that demands a lot of you physically,” Alisson said. “It’s more about me knowing Mo and Mo knowing me.
“So, I know where he runs, I know he’s fast, I know his qualities and I have the qualities, as well, that are needed to put the ball behind the opponent’s defensive line.
“I would like to train it more, to be honest. But we don’t have enough time. We have too many games, one after the other.”
Liverpool have already played 18 competitive games in all competitions so far this season. Salah and Alisson have both featured in every fixture, with Klopp also fielding the former in the Community Shield in July. Only Virgil van Dijk (1,710) has played more minutes, as well.
Alisson has played 1,620 minutes over his appearances ahead of Salah’s 1,594 – including the Community Shield. They will likely add comprehensively to those tallies before the top-flight hits pause for the World Cup with two league fixtures plus an EFL Cup third-round tie.
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