ExplainedHow Alisson and Mamardashvili can work as a team in Liverpool's pursuit of more success
Alisson Becker and Giorgi Mamardashvili both have significant roles to play as Liverpool look to build on their title-winning success next season, Jerzy Dudek believes.
Mamardashvili is now part of Arne Slot’s squad after his transfer from Valencia was completed this summer, with the Georgia international part of a new-look goalkeeping department headed up by the returning Xavi Valero.
The 24-year-old has replaced Caoimhin Kelleher in Slot’s group and the club’s former No.1 Dudek feels the Premier League champions remain in an enviable position of strength when it comes to goalkeepers.
“I think we have two really good goalkeepers. We also had two really good goalkeepers because Kelleher was absolutely amazing when he had the opportunity to play because Alisson couldn’t, and this is what you need,” the 2005 Champions League winner told Liverpoolfc.com.
“You know from the past that the competitions are long, there are many, many games to come. You never know what is going to happen and you need two good goalkeepers.
“Alisson is, in my opinion, one of the best goalkeepers in the world and he is the No.1 and then Marmadashvili, he can be a really good replacement. He has got all the capacities to be at the top of the game, which absolutely we need.
“For every position you need to have a good replacement, especially in goal.”
Dudek, who also won the FA Cup and League Cup during 186 appearances for the club between 2001 and 2007, remembers well the transition all goalkeepers who arrive in English football must process.
“Of course, Mamardashvili needs time to adapt because the Premier League is a little bit different,” the ex-Poland international, who joined Liverpool from Feyenoord, said.
“The game is quicker. There is much more pressure on the player and he will probably find that out very soon!
“There is much more pressure on the goalkeeper, especially now when you are trying to build the play with your feet but also with crosses, and this is a huge difference between the Premier League and when you play in the Champions League, for example.
“It is a different style of refereeing and everything that is a foul in Europe is ‘play on’ in England! As a goalkeeper you have to accept it and be strong in your mind that it doesn’t matter what is going to happen, you need to deal with it.
“I found this out at the beginning when I joined Liverpool and realised I had to adapt. I didn’t accept it at first but you have to be really strong and you need to respect it because it is the same for everyone.”
Alisson has been firmly established as the Reds’ first-choice stopper since he signed in 2018 and is heading into the eighth season of a trophy-laden, already-legendary Liverpool career.
Dudek has experience of being both a ‘number one’ and ‘number two’ and detailed how the dynamics must work in order for the ’keepers in question to contribute to the success of their club.
He explained: “I was really confident when I knew I was the number one. I was good when we had a good relationship but knew our roles as number one and number two.
“I had that when I came to Liverpool and also at Feyenoord, and then when I went to Real Madrid [in 2007] they told me too, but that time they told me I would be the number two so I knew my role was to prepare Iker [Casillas] and bring him in the best shape for the games. I accepted it and I did it.
“The best situation is when both goalkeepers grow upwards. So, if Alisson is on the highest level possible, it is important for Mamardashvili to go to that level, not bring Alisson down a level.
“As goalkeepers you both need to work to go up because that is important for the team’s success in the season and if you win the league or the Champions League, the level of satisfaction for the goalkeepers will be the same. If you have confidence in your role, you perform much better.
“You want to have a nice time together but if you are in Alisson’s position, you know you need to focus. You need to prepare yourself as the number one. Mamardashvili, he knows for now that he is the number two but if you get your chance, you have to take it.
“This relationship is down to the goalkeeper coach too, in terms of how he will protect the number one and improve the number two.
“But so far, from what I have seen, the relationship between the goalkeepers here is very good and I hope it stays like that because there are so many competitions and everyone will get a chance.
“It’s not like it used to be where one goalkeeper could play 300 games in a row! It is nothing like this anymore so now you will get the chance to play.”