It is now certainly not hyperbolic to suggest that Arne Slot is a man fighting for his job. Following shellackings at the hands of Manchester City and then PSG this week in the FA Cup and Champions League, it is now all but certain that the Reds will end the season trophyless. Their focus now has to be on securing a top five finish, but should their record when the team features the back-up goalkeeper be a major cause for concern?
Right now, first-choice Alisson is sidelined due to a hamstring injury, and is still at least a couple of weeks away from a return. So, Giorgi Mamardashvili will continue to deputise. When the Georgian number one was signed from Valencia for around £30 million, this was seen as a real coup. Still only 25 years old, he is widely-viewed as one of the best young goalkeepers in the world, having made 134 appearances for los Murciélagos as well as earning 37 international caps.
However, now 15 games into his career as a Liverpool player, things are not going to plan.
Giorgi Mamardashvili's Liverpool statistics
Statistics | Giorgi Mamardashvili |
|---|---|
Appearances | 16 |
Wins | 56 |
Draws | 0 |
Losses | 10 |
Goals conceded | 26 |
Clean sheets | 2 |
Saves | 42 |
Amazingly, of Liverpool's 16 defeats across all competitions this season, ten have come with Mamardashvili in goal. This, unfairly or otherwise, includes the 1-0 loss against Galatasaray in Ä°stanbul during the league phase in September, in which he replaced Alisson shortly after half time.
Otherwise, his other 14 outings have all been starts, losing each of his first three Premier League appearances, before his sole clean sheet against Aston Villa on 1 November. On top of this, the Georgian's save percentage is a miserly 63.3%; for comparison, Alisson's is 70.4%, which is markedly better. Having gone from cruising to the Premier League title to now fighting for fifth place, there are many areas of Slot's team that are not functioning as well as they once did.
Jeremie Frimpong and Miloš Kerkez have not seamlessly slotted into the full-back positions, neither Florian Wirtz nor Alexander Isak have justified their admittedly astronomical price tags, while aging duo Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah have endured severe declines. However, very little has been discussed when it comes to the goalkeeping situation.
There is little Slot can do about this; no one is saying he should start Freddie Woodman or Kornel Miściur when PSG visit Anfield on Tuesday. This is also not to say that Mamardashvili is a complete liability, just that he is a level below Alisson, which is hardly an insult given that the Brazilian may be the best goalkeeper in the Reds' illustrious history. The back-up goalkeeper is merely part of the team's overall decline, one which could see them miss out on Champions League qualification and could see Slot out of a job.