da dobrowin： Ask most Liverpool fans to name their club’s key man and the answers received will be a mix of Philippe Coutinho and Daniel Sturridge. Granted, the duo are two of the best players training day in, day out at Melwood, but one man is overlooked to the extent that it’s becoming ridiculous: Roberto Firmino.
da spicy bet： The Brazilian endured a stuttering start to his career in England under Brendan Rodgers following his £29m move from Hoffenheim in 2015, and in a game where first impressions stick, this is perhaps why he’s flying so far under the radar. Firmino’s first few months saw him shunted around by his then Northern Irish coach as he looked to steady the sinking ship of his reign at Anfield, so when he injured his back in September 2015, a significant portion of supporters from within the Merseysiders’ own camp were beginning to write him off as another ‘transfer committee failure’.
However, October 8 of the same year marked the turning point for Firmino. Jurgen Klopp arrived as manager to a great fanfare and it was immediately obvious that changes were on the horizon. His high-intensity counter-pressing style seemed well-suited to a player who started his career as a holding midfielder, while being schooled in Germany – the Bundesliga is widely talked about as the breeding ground for Klopp’s methods – only added to a potentially explosive mix.
Firmino was forced to sit out of Klopp’s first game in charge – a 0-0 away at Spurs – but his recovery led to a first appearance under his new coach, albeit as a substitute, in the 1-1 draw at home to Southampton, before his first start at Chelsea – a much-remembered 3-1 win.
Green shoots of his quality were on show in the fluid front three that caused Chelsea so many problems, with his movement and relentless running, allied to the sort of technical quality that allowed him to dovetail with Philippe Coutinho, particularly standing out. This was all well and good, but playing as a ‘false nine’ requires pure numbers in terms of goals and assists, and the deadlock was broken on both fronts in a 4-1 smashing of Manchester City – to this day these 90 minutes are held up as the blueprint of Klopp’s Liverpool.
The four strikes on that day, Saturday 21 November 2015, form part of the 111 goals scored by Liverpool under Klopp in 60 games across the Premier League, League Cup, FA Cup and Europa League. Although not the top scorer in this period, Firmino has contributed 12.6% (14) of these goals, with only Coutinho’s recent effort against Hull separating the pair at the top of the standings. Interestingly, he’s netted more frequently than Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi and the now departed Christian Benteke, proving his worth as the focal point of the attack.
The numbers get even better when you look at Liverpool as a whole under Klopp. The Reds were the first Premier League club to pass the 50-goal mark for the year of 2016 and have plundered 14 in all competitions since calendars flipped over to August. 11 of that 14 came in the league, taking their 2016/17 tally in divisional action to 16 – a return only bettered by Manchester City’s 18.
Firmino has flitted between being the main striker and a left-sided forward, but in a fluid Liverpool team, it’s hard to pin him down to one position. Indeed, as is the case with many players with the way the game is evolving, you have to think of Firmino as a final third player. His intelligent movement, his tactical awareness and his outright threat in terms of both scoring and setting up team-mates make him a potent danger to opponents, while many of his skills cross between those of traditional attacking midfielders and strikers.
In that sense, he’s almost the complete attacking player in the modern game, and is essential to Klopp’s system at Liverpool. Few players combine his willingness to run and ability when he has the ball. Although Sturridge is probably a better technical player and Sadio Mane is quicker over the turf, it’s the balance that makes Firmino what he is.
But it’s not just the immediately obvious traits that make him so deadly. It’s hard to measure his contribution in terms of affecting the way defenders have to position themselves and react to his harassing, while his subtle movement around the 18-yard box creates untold space for his fellow attacking players. In that sense it borders on being baffling when pundits question why he’s starting ahead of Sturridge in the bigger games – in a straight shoot-out, Firmino just has more going for him than his English team-mate.
Maybe the general opinion will change in regards to Firmino. If he continues to contribute at the rate he has been during the 60 games of the ‘Klopp era’ at Liverpool, it will be hard for pundits, the press and the public to overlook him for much longer.