‘It has changed’: 31-year-old Liverpool player says things are really different at the club now

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Alisson Becker has claimed that the new signings have really changed things at Liverpool.

After several years of limited movement in the transfer market, the Reds brought in four new first-team players this summer. Alexis Mac Allister, Dominik Szoboszlai, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch have given Liverpool a fresh look.

And speaking to the Liverpool ECHO this week, Alisson shared how things are starting to look different at Anfield.

“The team has changed a lot,” says the 31-year-old. “When I first arrived here, in the first three seasons the team was pretty much the same.

“Not many players came in, but after the first season some players started to go. That didn’t affect the way we played too much, but it has changed more after last season.

“More players left the club and more players came in so I think that changed a little bit the way that we play. Now we look more of a team that likes to keep the ball more – more of a possession team, but still with quick strikers, quick transitions.

“Sometimes we can play really good on the counter-attack as well and we still like to press high. So we’ve changed, but at the same time the strength that we had in the past is in the manager’s idea. He’s kept that and tries to bring that to this rebuilt team.

Alisson outlines Liverpool change

It’s true that the Liverpool of 2023 does look very different to the 2018 vintage that Alisson walked in to.

If you go through the Reds best XI these days, many of them have been at the club for far less time than the Brazilian. Crucially, the ones that remain are largely the players who play directly in-front of the Liverpool ‘keeper.

Throughout the changes to the midfield and forward lines, the Reds’ defence has been more or less consistent over the past five years.

Andy Robertson arrived the year before Alisson, while Trent Alexander-Arnold broke through in 2016. Virgil van Dijk was already in situ as well, having joined several months before the goalie.

Only Ibrahima Konate has changed in the meantime, although Joel Matip and Joe Gomez are still very much around, too.

Elsewhere though, there really aren’t many players left who pre-date Ali. In fact, given that Curtis Jones and Caoimhin Kelleher were not yet in the senior side, there’s only Mohamed Salah who has been on Merseyside longer. That’s a fair amount of change over not a massive amount of time.

In terms of style, it’s also clear that ‘Liverpool 2.0’ are going to have a different approach to Jurgen Klopp’s first great Reds side. Whether they’ll be as successful, we’ll have to wait and see. With Alisson still here, there’s every chance they will.