The 29-year-old's penalty shootout save from Mason Mount helped Jurgen Klopp's men win their second trophy of the season at Wembley
Coach John Achterberg hailed Alisson Becker after the Liverpool goalkeeper was the hero of the Reds’ FA Cup final triumph.
And afterwards Achterberg, the Reds’ long-serving goalkeeping coach, paid tribute to the Brazilian, who incredibly becomes the third different keeper, after Adrian and Caoimhin Kelleher, to beat Chelsea in a penalty shootout in the last three seasons.
What did Achterberg say about Alisson’s FA Cup final performance?
Speaking to reporters in the mixed zone at Wembley, Achterberg said: “I thought he was outstanding. Awesome.
“There were a lot of man-of-the match performances but he was one of them. He made vital saves and then there was the way he was coming for the crosses.
“And then making the save from the penalty to carry us through. Unbelievable performance.”
How did Alisson save Mason Mount’s penalty?
After a tense goalless draw, Liverpool looked to have missed their chance of glory when Sadio Mane’s spot-kick was saved by Edouard Mendy, after Cesar Azpilicueta had earlier hit the post.
But after Hakim Ziyech and Diogo Jota had held their nerve in sudden death, Alisson flew to his left to get a strong hand to Mount’s effort, allowing Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas to seal a 6-5 shootout triumph.
“We work on things but in the end Ali makes the final decision,” Achterberg said when asked about the save. “We discuss everything.
“They have all been practising a lot on penalties this season. Obviously the guys from Germany [neuroscience specialists neuro11] came to work with the players specifically, but more and more players have been practising after training and getting confidence.
“It is a big credit to them all because it is a big pressure to take one. You win as a team. All credit to the team. We analyse all these things and there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes.”
‘I’m not sure if he’ll be on the guitar’
Achterberg also hailed Alisson’s personality, the 29-year-old having stepped up to be one of Liverpool’s six ‘captains’ this season.
“He is really calm and clear in his mind,” he said. “Nothing fazes him.
“He is an unbelievable human being. We have [Claudio] Taffarel in who helps, speaking Portuguese, and Jack [Robinson]. We all work together as goalies to get the best from each other.”
Asked how he would celebrate the win, Achterberg smiled: “You celebrate until [you are] starting again on Tuesday [against Southampton]. I’m not sure if he will be on the guitar!
“We have a goalie meeting [WhatsApp] group, of course! We have meetings before every game, talking about what the opponents do and what happens in the game.
“We prepare them for what the opponent might do, and what individual players do, but Ali makes the decisions on the field.”