Former England goalkeeper Paul Robinson has suggested that Liverpool should look to buy Jack Butland as cover for the injured Alisson Becker (source – Express). The Reds number one suffered an injury in training before the Aston Villa game and deputy keeper Adrian had to face the barrage that Villa threw at Liverpool.
Jack Butland is a 27-year-old English goalkeeper who plays for Championship side Stoke City. He started his youth career at Clevedon United before moving to Birmingham City in 2007. There, he spent the next few seasons progressing through the youth teams.
He was promoted to the senior side in 2011 but was immediately loaned out to Cheltenham Town for the season. On his return, he played all of Birmingham’s games in the Championship. He played a total of 46 games for them before Stoke City signed him in 2013.
He had to go out on three more loan spells between 2013 and 2015 to Barnsley, Leeds and Derby County respectively. From 2015 onwards, he became Stoke’s No.1. Despite the club getting relegated in 2018, Butland still stuck around, much to everyone’s surprise.
In 168 appearances for the Potters, he has kept 50 clean sheets (source – Transfermarkt). Butland has been a regular of the England youth teams and has also played 9 games for the senior team.
Before 2018, Liverpool had a massive problem with their goalkeepers. No matter who wore the gloves, errors seemed to follow them. Be it Simon Mignolet or Loris Karius, Liverpool had to deal with sub-par goalkeeping.
After the arrival of Alisson, things changed. They finally had a keeper who was not only a good shot-stopper but was good with his feet too. He was a vital part of the club when they won the Champions League and Premier League in successive seasons.
Last season, when Alisson was out for a while, Liverpool recruited Adrian to fill in for him. Luckily for them, Alisson returned very soon and nothing happened. Cut to the Aston Villa game and you could feel the absence of Alisson.
Adrian might be a decent keeper but he is miles away from Alisson’s quality. The Spaniard lacks good shot-stopping skills and is unable to organise his defence in front of him. He could have easily saved 2-3 goals against Aston Villa apart from the deflected ones.
It is vital for Liverpool to sign a better second- choice because any more games like the one against Villa and they could be looking at a problematic season ahead. Jack Butland was one of the standout keepers during his time in the top-flight. While he may not be great with the ball at his feet, his glovework was solid.
Despite playing for Stoke, Butland showed time and again that he is ready to make the step up to a bigger team. A talent like him deserves to play at the highest level. Liverpool should look at the player and try to get him. He has plenty of experience and would be a great asset for the team.
