Press conferenceAlisson: If it's needed, I'll go up for a corner again!
Alisson Becker will not shy away from going up for a corner again if Liverpool need a last-minute saviour during the season's run-in.
The No.1, of course, scored a dramatic, stoppage-time header at West Bromwich Albion in the final weeks of the previous campaign as the Reds went on to secure Champions League qualification.
With the team’s efforts to follow up their Carabao Cup success in February by clinching the Premier League, Champions League and Emirates FA Cup next month now reaching all-or-nothing moments, Alisson will gladly attempt to repeat his winner at The Hawthorns if needed at any point.
“I think now if it’s needed, it’s clear that I’m going. Normally, it’s the boss who decides if I go or not,” said the Brazil international.
“It was, against West Bromwich, at that time John [Achterberg] was the one who called me to go to the box. If they call me, I go. If not, no problem. We have enough players to score.”
He added: “I hope that would not be necessary, but if it is needed, if it is the last time, yeah, we will try everything that we have to win the games.”
Every angle of Alisson's winner at West Brom
Alisson was speaking to the media at a press conference on Tuesday to preview the second leg of the Reds’ Champions League quarter-final against Benfica.
Jürgen Klopp’s side are 3-1 up from the opening meeting in Lisbon and host the Portuguese outfit at Anfield on Wednesday night.
Read a summary of the rest of the goalkeeper’s comments below…
On whether this Liverpool team have won enough trophies…
Yeah, I think we won a lot of things in the last seasons. Maybe the last season we didn’t but we achieved Champions League, Premier League, League Cup, we are still fighting for the FA Cup, [we won the] Club World Cup. So, I think we achieved really great things but we are not happy, we are not fully satisfied with that because we keep playing football and as long as we are playing, we will play for winning titles.
On the biggest challenge facing the Reds tomorrow night…
Benfica is the biggest challenge, they are a really good side, they showed that in the first game. We scored two goals and sometimes people from outside can say, ‘OK, now the game will be easy’ but we know that 2-0 is a difficult score because you only concede once and then it’s game on again. They did that and it was really game on, they had opportunities. But we could score the third goal, that was really good for us, it’s a good advantage for the next match. But we have our feet on the ground and we are really focused on making the result tomorrow to be qualified.
On how much of a test it was against Benfica in the first leg…
It was a tough game. They have quick strikers, they have a strong striker as a No.9. I know Everton as well from Brazil – I know his qualities, how good he is. They gave us a lot of work to do, but we are ready to face them, we are ready and prepared to face that match and to achieve our goals.
Inside Benfica: Reds win first leg in Lisbon
On the possibility of Liverpool having 13 more games to play this season and how the players are handling the physical and mental demands...
At this level, we need to be prepared for that – and we are. We have great fitness staff, we are training every day for that. We have the targets that are achieving all the finals, playing all the games, as many games as it’s possible for us in the season. We want to win everything, so we are ready for that. Of course it’s not easy, of course sometimes we feel tired, but you need to put in your mind that you have enough energy to deal with every challenge.
On whether the attitude is that he would ‘love’ to play all of those 13 matches...
Yeah, we want to be in every match. Of course, if you play those matches, after that you feel tired and then you think maybe, ‘Oh, it’s a crazy schedule.’ But we are focused on our goals for now and now it’s Benfica.
On when players start talking about the prospect of winning a trophy...
I think all the time that we are not focused on the next challenge, we speak a little bit. We don’t need to talk too much about that, because we are in a big club and a big club wants to do great things and wants to achieve great goals. The targets are high and our main focus is winning any title that is in front of us, every challenge that is in front of us. It’s something that is already in our minds and we will fight for all the challenges that we have in front of us.
On whether it is the day of the final when you think about winning a trophy...
No, in the beginning of the season you start to dream already. You start to set the targets, you start to prepare yourself for the whole season and then I think it’s there where it starts, the preparation for every moment. Then you’re playing, you’ll see where the team can go. We know that football is not that easy that you just set targets and then OK, you win. You have to play, you face great opponents and here in England, it’s really hard; the Premier League, League Cup or FA Cup – you play against the best teams in the world. But, of course, when you reach a final then you see how close you are from lifting a trophy, so it’s an important moment as well. But we face all the games we have in front of us with a desire to win and to achieve our targets.