Giorgi Mamadashvili will officially join Liverpool at the end of this season after completing his final season at Valencia, but how will the goalkeeper perform?
Mamadashvili’s name has rarely been mentioned since his £25m move from Valencia to Liverpool was finalized in August.
The Georgian, who remains at Valencia for the 2024/25 season, remains virtually unnoticed and unnoticed in La Liga, while Alisson and Caoich Kelleher have impressed for his future club. are.
The form of Alisson and Kelleher has raised eyebrows among supporters, with the arrival of a new goalkeeper expected to take the No. 1 spot on the horizon.
So how has Mamadashvili performed since the news of his replacement in 2025, and can Liverpool fans expect a change of guard this summer?
To find out more about Mamadashvili’s season so far, This Is Anfield spoke to Ruairid Barlow (@RuriBarlow), editor of Football Espana.
First of all, how has Mamadashvili’s season been so far?
To be honest, Mamadashvili has had a pretty unremarkable season so far, and that has more to do with Valencia’s current form than his own performances.
There are still matches in which Valencia fans say it would have been much worse without Mamadashvili.
There are exceptions to every rule, and Mamadashvili made some great saves to keep the game goalless, but when he returned from injury in January, he conceded Sevilla’s equalizer with a weak hand in stoppage time.
It was a terrible mistake, but not a typical one, and the shock that followed Valencia’s fans was proof of that. From his perspective, that would be the low point of the season.
Having said that, it was clear last year that he was one of the top two or three goalkeepers in La Liga. Mamadashvili stood up and was the tallest in Valencia last season, both figuratively and literally.
This season, he’s been a little under the radar.
What stands out about his game in the first half of the season?
If there’s one thing that stands out, it’s the two saves he made against Getafe.
With his weight tilted in the opposite direction, he stuck out his big front foot to claw away a shot from close range, then miraculously got back up and pushed the flying volley away with all his might on the rebound.
Even in slow motion, his reactions seem quick.
This is being talked about as the save of the season in Spain, but it’s pretty hard to argue against it. It didn’t hurt that the save came in stoppage time and saved Valencia a point.
Otherwise, the big news for Mamadashvili is the praise she’s been receiving since the beginning of the year.
He finished seventh in the voting for the Ballon d’Or Lev Yashin Award and also won the Georgian Player of the Year award, ahead of national hero Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Valencia are clearly struggling, but is that despite Mamadashvili or was he part of the problem?
I think it’s despite Mamadashvili.
It’s inevitable that his save percentage has dropped to 59.2 percent, but he has never dipped below 70 percent in the past three seasons. The number of saves per game has also decreased by about one.
Still, the expected goals against and goals against are almost evenly matched.
Valencia played pretty solid defense last year, but conceded 0.3 more goals per game, which is reflected in his stats.
Even if Los Che were more porous, they are by no means a disaster at the back and only one of the bottom seven teams has a better defensive record. As of this writing, they sit at the bottom.
It’s not that Valencia fans are inclined to criticize him given his achievements so far, but I haven’t seen anything like that and haven’t received any suggestion that he’s to blame.
Mamadashvili missed the final three games of 2024 due to injury, and strong opponent Stole Dimitrievskii failed to show any signs of becoming number one, with the Georgian taking charge again at the weekend. Ta.
Although Mamadashvili is not at the level he was last year, he remains one of the best players in La Liga, with just a few miracles.
When we last spoke, you said he wasn’t as “aggressive” as goalkeepers like Alisson. Are there any signs of that changing?
Honestly, it’s not a huge amount.
He has worked under the same manager (Ruben Baraja before being sacked in December) and in the same system, so he was not particularly asked for.
This season, Valencia have fallen back down the standings and are not actively making high-line saves in preparation for situations at the end of games.
It should be noted that he remains one of the goalkeepers in La Liga that gives the most confidence and security in the last line, but – pardon the simplification – Champions League side football that plays on the front foot. In this respect, no real development has been seen.
The number of long balls he plays has decreased by about 5 percent and the ball distance is slightly shorter, but I think that’s more of a natural change than a conscious change.
Mamadashvili may start next season at a disadvantage to Liverpool fans due to the popularity of Alisson and Kelleher, but do you think he can rise to the challenge?
absolutely.
From what I know about Copp, even if he has affection for Kelleher and Alison, it’s unlikely he’ll antagonize him.
However, Mamadashvili appeared as Valencia’s third-choice goalkeeper and was actually contracted to play for Valencia’s B team.
Although he was forced to rest for the first two games due to injury, he was playing in the first team a month after his arrival and did not leave the team after that.
He’s used to doing things the hard way.
For Valencia, he beat two established La Liga veterans in Jaume Domenech and Iago Herrerin, who both have experience in European football with Valencia and Athletic Club.
Mamadashvili was called up to the Georgia national team for the first time at the age of 21 and became the first choice for the Georgia national team at the age of 22.
He replaced Jorge Loria. Jorge Loria is far from a household name, but he is a veteran, having reigned as number one for much of the past decade.
On the contrary, at this point he is used to starting in inferior situations, often finding himself in situations where the pressure at Liverpool is probably far more, if not the same.
*Thanks to Ruairidh Barlow for the latest information on Mamadashvili. You can follow Ruairidh on X @RuriBarlow.
