While Liverpool players were eager to acknowledge a lesson was handed to them at Arsenal, Alisson was quick to insist “nothing will take off the shine” of being league champions.
The Reds found themselves in unchartered territory having wrapped up the title with seven games to spare, and few would have grievances over an expected drop in output.
But frustration still lingers for players and fans alike with only seven points from the last 15 available picked up, with a high level of performance having set the standards in recent years.
And at Arsenal, Jurgen Klopp‘s men were forced to rue to costly mistakes in their defensive third as Virgil van Dijk and Alisson both gifted possession to the Gunners to ensure Sadio Mane‘s opener was cancelled out.
After the game, the boss took a glass half full approach having stressed there was a valuable lesson to learn and his No. 1 shared the same view, as any drop in output will be punished at the top level.
“We are all frustrated because we always want to win a game but to win a game you need to give everything we have on the pitch and maybe tonight we didn’t deliver everything,” Alisson told the club’s official website.
“Maybe the mentally we were not at 100 percent. At the beginning of the game we were there, in the first 20 minutes we started really well and then we scored, but the moment we scored we dropped a little bit.
“We stopped the runs to defend and stopped putting them under pressure and they got confidence from that.
“We started to make silly mistakes and then we commit two mistakes we usually do not make during the season and then we weren’t there to cover those mistakes.
“Our approach is to be ready when you commit a mistake from playing at the back like we to do, but that’s ok we only have to learn from this night and make the best of it and then keep going.
“We tried and we tried hard, but we get a lesson [to learn] from tonight.”
The disappointment of the result will no doubt linger, but all eyes will now shift to a day few will forget anytime soon as Liverpool are to lift the Premier League trophy at Anfield following their clash against Chelsea.
The Londoners provide yet another stern test, and while any result will not take the shine off the significance of the evening, Alisson is eager to celebrate in the “best way” by collecting another three points.
“As a team, we should do better tonight and we know that we didn’t deliver 100 percent on the pitch, and this is what we need to do in the last two games.
“We are looking forward to that and we want to win the match [against Chelsea]. We know it will be a tough match but we want to win it to celebrate in the best way because when you lose you stay a little bit frustrated but nothing will take off the shine we have now being champions.
“We lost tonight but we are still champions and we just have to keep going.”
Setbacks have been fleeting for the Premier League champions in recent memory, but each one provides a valuable pause for reflection which will no doubt hold the team in good stead when the high stakes return.
But for the Dutch duo of Gini Wijnaldum and Van Dijk, the time to “refocus” is now as Liverpool look to “finish strong”:
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And as Liverpool’s No. 4 rightly said, we “can’t wait for next Wednesday” either as the Reds will finally get their hands on the title, with Sir Kenny Dalglish set to present the trophy in a special presentation on the Kop.
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