Brazilian brave and brave with a guardian in his genes

Alisson may be a little more cautious in his approach to learning a new language this time around. Shortly after signing for Roma in 2016, the goalkeeper appeared in a TV talk show in his native Brazil. Asked by the host he had learned to curse in Italian, Alisson responded by turning blue air. "I said terrible things without realizing gravity," he said later. "Once I understood it, it was too late." More than mere insults, it was his blasphemy that surprises in Catholic Italy and Brazil.

Alisson insulted God and the Virgin Mary with expressions that are quite common on Serie A lands but not in a context like this. The backlash was mild and yet it cuts deeply for a man who describes the Bible as his "manual".

Alisson arrived as Brazil's first-choice goalkeeper, but he found himself behind Wojciech Szczesny in Roma. He has played only 15 games in the 2016-17 season, all in the cups, and has since confessed to thinking about asking to be sold. If only Liverpool had recognized his talent then. The Roma had only paid 8 million euros to sign Alisson from the Brazilian club Internacional and could hardly have claimed a huge profit on the basis of such evidence. A year later, he became the most expensive guardian of history.

Is it worth it? Such questions seem impossible to answer in a climate where fees are constantly rising, propelled by increasingly lucrative television transactions. Only the directors and the Liverpool management team know what they can afford. From the point of view of football, the relevant question is simply whether Alisson will help them to achieve positive results, otherwise they may have missed their chance. He met this criterion for the Roma. Just look at the nine stops made by Alisson in a 0-0 draw at home against Atletico Madrid in the last Champions League – a decisive result in the Giallorossi – or his 11 saves during the victory in Naples in March.

Six stops

Even more impressive was his performance in a 1-1 draw against Internazionale in San Siro. Alisson made six stops that day, but these are the ones that he never needed to do that stood out even more. On several occasions, he refused Inter intercepting passes for Mauro Icardi – at one point, he even beat the attacker at D's head on the edge of his area. How better to thwart one of the most effective penalty finishers of football than to deny him access to this box?

Alisson is a modern sweeper in the mold, naming Manuel Neuer as a player he's been trying to model himself. That said, his early influences were closer to home. His great-grandfather, his father, and his older brother also played (or, in the latter case, still play) for the purpose. His mother too, even though his sport was handball. "My dad says that if we chose this role, it's because we went to see him play when we were kids," said Alisson during an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport this year. "He was crazy in the goal, he threw his head first on the ball."

For the first time in his career, Alisson joins a team knowing that the job is to lose

Such audacity has made its way down the family line, although Alisson is just as likely to show it when the ball is at its own feet. He dribbled over an opposing striker last season, and let Stipe Perica of Udinese on his back with a back turn 25 yards from goal. There is a fine line between brave and reckless but, for the Roma at least, Alisson has managed to stay on the safe side. He has always been proud to be a good teammate first and foremost. It is telling that even during this frustrating first season in Italy, he maintained a good relationship with Szczesny and talked about picking up useful tips from the Polish international. Once again, his family history could influence this prospect

Brother's friends

Alisson was first scorer because he wanted to join his brother's friends and – because of a gap age of five – was too small to mix with them off field. Yet Muriel also became a guardian, and a decade later, they were fighting for the same job at Internacional.

Alisson supplanted her brother and sister as a starter, but they never cared for mutual support. . The context in Liverpool will be different. For the first time in her career, Alisson joins a team knowing that the starting position is to lose. If nothing else, he looks at the role.

Alisson turned down paid modeling job offers during his younger years in order to focus on his football. It seems odd that Roma has not done more to exploit the negotiability of such a player – never even offering his replica for sale. Liverpool, after such a lavish expense, will probably not make the same mistake – just as Alisson, after his blunder from two years ago, will probably not be so forthright about the first words that he will have learned at Melwood. – Guardian