Giorgi Mamardashvili‘s run as Liverpool’s starting goalkeeper may have come earlier than he expected due to Alisson‘s layoff, but it was one the Georgia No. 1 was prepared for.
“My next step will be the same as it was in Valencia. I will go and prove myself and do what I can,” he told Geo Team not long before his official move to Merseyside.
“The main thing is patience, training and hard work, and everything else will come by itself.”
Having joined Valencia from Dinamo Tbilisi in a €850,000 deal in 2021, he was slated to arrive as third choice only for an injury crisis to thrust him into the starting role.
He never looked back, and it not only produced the form that convinced Liverpool to spend £29 million on another goalkeeper when Alisson and Caoimhin Kelleher were already at the club, but it gave him the resolve he needed for this next step.
Alisson’s injury and an early chance for Mamardashvili
Kelleher’s departure in the summer just gone had been telegraphed: the Irishman had outgrown the role of No. 2 and deserved to become a starter elsewhere.
But Mamardashvili still expected a lengthy stint on the sidelines, training alongside Alisson day by day but when matchday comes watching the 33-year-old from the bench.
Again, injury gave him his route into the side, with Alisson missing the last eight games after being forced off with a serious hamstring blow in the 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray in September.
Bar a debut for Freddie Woodman in a rotated lineup for the Carabao Cup loss to Crystal Palace, Mamardashvili has been entrusted with the gloves ever since.
That is due to end after the November international break, with Alisson nearing fitness and poised to return to the side for the visit of Nottingham Forest on November 22.
But Mamardashvili’s stand-in stint was an instructive one, not only for the player himself but also those within Liverpool and the club’s supporters.
It was a hit-and-miss run as No. 1, with the Reds losing four of his seven outings since Alisson‘s injury, conceding 11 goals and only keeping two clean sheets, but there were more than encouraging signs.
Giorgi Mamardashvili: The saves and the stats
One thing is clear with Liverpool’s new goalkeeper: he is an outstanding shot-stopper.
He pulled off stunning saves against the likes of Brentford and Villa – earning a spot on the AXA’s new wall of fame in the indoor training area – while denying Erling Haaland from the spot in the 3-0 defeat to Man City.
The Georgian also demonstrated his ability as a sweeper-keeper, which has become a key attribute for a goalkeeper working behind Liverpool’s high line.
Per FBref, Mamardashvili is currently sixth among Premier League goalkeepers for defensive actions outside the penalty area (1.8 per 90) and fifth for the average distance his defensive actions take place from goal (16.8 yards).
And while there were concerns over his ability on the ball from his time at Valencia, there has been a pleasant surprise over how comfortable he has become in possession.
The majority of his passes have been shorter – only five goalkeepers, including Alisson, have a lower average length of passing than Mamardashvili (30.6 yards) – but when he has gone long, it has been with impressive accuracy.
Of regular starting goalkeepers he finds himself just outside of the top five for long passes (40 yards or more) completed (32.2%), with Kelleher (38.9%) top and Alisson (36.7) third.
Arsenal‘s David Raya and Sunderland‘s Robin Roefs (both five) are the only Premier League goalkeepers to register more shot-creating actions than Liverpool’s new backup, who is one of five – also including Kelleher – to create three shots.
Alisson, Kelleher, Roefs and Aston Villa‘s Emi Martinez are the only goalkeepers with a goal-creating action.
But Mamardashvili’s possession play is one area that Liverpool clearly need to adapt to, with teammates often forcing him into dangerous situations by passing onto his much weaker right foot.
Liverpool’s left-footed rarity
That is a understandable adjustment issue, and in fact you would have to go back to 2004/05 and Jerzy Dudek’s final season as No. 1 to find the last time a left-footer regularly started in the net for Liverpool.
For most of this current squad, passing onto Alisson, Kelleher or even Adrian‘s dominant right foot will have become second nature, while some – including the player who passes most to the goalkeeper, Virgil van Dijk – did the same with Simon Mignolet and Loris Karius before them.
Those can be considered teething issues, and on the whole Mamardashvili has shown he is a player at least capable of stepping into Alisson‘s shoes whenever required.
But as he proclaimed shortly before his move: “They are looking at me as the Liverpool goalkeeper for the next 10 years.”
There is a clear difference between Alisson and Mamardashvili, and it is perhaps unfair to compare the two, as the Brazilian is arguably the best to ever wear the gloves for the club; if not No. 1, he is firmly in contention.
Alisson is in a league of his own, and even at 33 he is one of the best in the world in his position, so comparisons with the most expensive goalkeeper in Liverpool’s history are difficult.
Mamardashvili is a different profile entirely: he can still operate within the same system and occupy the same areas, but he is defined by his shot-stopping, whereas Alisson is an all-rounder who excels in one-on-ones.
That is something the Liverpool squad will need to get used to, as Alisson‘s contract is due to expire at the end of the current campaign – and even if the club trigger their one-year extension clause as expected, the frequency of his injury issues suggest that could be his last at Anfield.
Whenever it happens it will be a difficult transition, but Mamardashvili has already shown in these early months of his time at Liverpool that he is capable of filling the void and eventually becoming full-time No. 1.
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