Harry Diamond
Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson is making ‘steady progress’ in his return from injury, although the club are unsure as to when he will return.
The Brazil international has been out of action since picking up a calf injury in the Premier League opener with Norwich on August 9, though Liverpool first-team goalkeeper coach John Achterberg has revealed the 26-year-old has been working hard during the international break as he looks towards his first-team return.
“Ali has been working with Dave [Rydings] in the gym a lot to improve the strength and try to keep the fitness levels up,” Achterberg told Liverpoolfc.com.
“In the last few days he has been out on the pitch to do some catching and footwork, as well as small passing drills.
“He has made steady progress, but it is difficult to say how long it will take or how it will progress. It needs time and we cannot look too far ahead, so we take each day as it comes, see how he feels, and then make progress from that.”
Summer signing Adrian has deputised in goal during Alisson’s absence, the Spaniard playing a vital role in the club’s UEFA Super Cup victory over Chelsea last month. Achterberg was full of praise for the former West Ham goalkeeper following his performances since arriving at Anfield, praising the 32-year-old’s adaptation to life at the club.
“He has done really well,” he said. “Obviously he needed to adapt to the way we play, with wanting him to play out, but he’s done good and picked everything up. We couldn’t be any happier with how it’s gone.
“He is a really nice guy, he is always positive and good to talk to. He helps the other goalies by talking with them, so it’s going well. He fits in really well with the group, which is important.
“It is really difficult for anyone to replace Ali, especially when you’ve not had a chance to settle and pick everything up. He had to be straight in after maybe four or five sessions. Then we had two more sessions, played the Super Cup final and then he got the injury, so there was not a lot of time to do extra training.
“Coming to Liverpool, there are high expectations but he has dealt with them really well. He has stayed calm and relaxed and shown a positive, confident manner, which helps the team a lot.”
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