I saw all of Clem's Liverpool career and he remains the best I have seen. Allison is excellent although he is following some fairly average keepers which accentuates his brilliance. He might in time become better than Clem but in my eyes Clem is the best.
same from me
it's not a criticism of the fanbase, but there seems an over eagerness to name outstanding players as 'best ever in a liverpool shirt' or even 'best ever anywhere' - i get it, we have special players who atm are on a roll, as fans we're all buzzing as euro champs with our team killing the league up to this point - but to compare them to players that were top level for a decade (decades for some) for me is just way too soon, longevity and consistency
are major factors - but ones that only can be assessed over a fair number of seasons if we're going to be talking about the very best in certain positions
if a player had two incredible seasons, sweeping all before him in his path with record breaking stats but then had a career ending injury, you think that player would ever be lauded as the best of all time? no chance. they'd probably end up in a highlight reel of 'if onlys' as a wonderful player who's career was sadly cut short and we can only imagine what they may have become. then they go on to name the best ever with pele maradonna messi beckenbauer maldini etc being spoken of as greats in their various positions.
are modern players athletically superior? no shit, of course they are, half the guys in our golden years were on the piss after a game, many puffing on a cig or cigar lol. advancements in knowledge and facilities are such they've gone by the name of sports
science for years now and modern day players benefit and excel in this regard. and comparing across eras is a minefield anyway, clem played in a fucking mudball with ball as slick as could be and heavy as fuck in the wet relatively speaking, but then again the modern ball is so light it swerves all over the place, rule changes put modern keepers under more pressure, but they're well protected by refs whereas you could beat the shit out of the keeper in the old fart days
so yeah, it's very difficult comparing players across eras but one thing is certanily true, in their time, among their peers, how long did they do it at the very highest level and when all the dust settles, it will be those that had the consistency and longevity that will be hailed as the greatest to wear the shirt, and of course they will have to have won a shitload of trophies - it's a good one but it is only one trophy so far (those in the TAA thread might want to check how many phil neal won, yet while some names have been banded about phil neal hasn't even been mentioned), cos one thing is sure, when they talk about the greats, it's typically players that have won multiple major trophies, those who won fuckall hardly get a mention (eg G Best, recognised as a phenominal talent, which he was and then some, but hamstrung by his national squad when they compare him to pele etc)
one day 'the best ever' may very well be alisson (and TAA and VVD if you've read those threads) but at this stage, none them have got there yet, their journey with us has only just started really having played truly outstanding for, what is it, a season and half...
