What did Klopp say?
“He is a very important player to us.”
“He is a connector. He is the best offensive defender I ever saw in my life, definitely. The boss continued, “He is a ball chaser, he is defensively incredibly smart with all the things he is doing. He is technically on the highest level, is able to play in the smallest spaces, the tiniest spaces. Can make incredibly good decisions in a really short time.
“And, on top of that, scores goals as well. That’s why we’re all so happy when from time to time he rewards himself with now a hat-trick last week or whatever. Really, everybody in the team loves it because obviously sometimes you think he is a bit short of getting the praise or whatever for the effort he puts in.
“I’m not sure about the numbers but I’m pretty sure he was the player – 100 per cent the offensive player – who ran the most in the last game against Atletico. That says a lot.
“He is just a brilliant boy and a brilliant player. It’s really a joy to work together with him. The way we play is not impossible without him because we have obviously options again, which is good, but how we started playing years ago was because Bobby could play the role he played. So he was very, very influential in all the things we did.”
Klopp further continued, “Bobby is a very positive but very, at least with me, calm person. Everybody loves Bobby, there’s no doubt about that. The whole team. How can you not?
“If he would not be a nice person, the players would love him because he is doing all the work for them that helps them a lot. Obviously Mo and Sadio love him because he puts them up, passes the ball, even if it’s not the last pass always but the second-last.
“All the midfielders love him because he is chasing all the offensive players of the opponents in their traps. And the last line loves him, of course, as well for the same reason. Ali and him are anyway best friends. Yeah, how can you not love Bobby Firmino? There’s no reason for it. A great guy.
“And when he scores there’s always this extra little bit of joy because we always have these discussions, which are not ridiculous but we never had the discussions about Bobby not scoring enough.
“But we faced the questions quite frequently when there are periods when he doesn’t do that. But he wouldn’t play if he would not be incredibly important anyway in all these different situations.”
Is Firmino back to his best?
Over the last few years, [team 8] have gone through some of the greatest times in their history. A solid unit built by [player 455353] that plays with extreme intensity and top quality.
Despite spending so much lesser than [team 14], [team 18] and [team 9], they have become arguably the best in the World under the German tactician. His man-management, vision and improvement of unknown players are staggeringly good.
With the plaudits always falling to the likes of Salah, Mane, [player 1743] and [player 1917], one man who is regularly overlooked is Firmino. According to so many experts, he is the reason behind [player 4125] and [player 1389]’s record-breaking seasons.
Firmino’s natural position is a no.10. However, Klopp has evolved him into a central striker, famously called a ‘false 9’. Firmino’s movement is second to none, his intelligence for creating space for other attackers is excellent. Also, one quality that goes under the radar is his quality to win the ball back in offensive areas. Firmino’s football ability is also sublime.
Despite not scoring many goals, he continued to stay a major part of Klopp’s plans due to his smartness and unselfishness. However, his form last season dipped a bit too low and his body language wasn’t great either. Towards the end of last season, when Liverpool were in desperate need of points to finish in the top four, [player 1461] stepped up. He scored against United in a huge win at Old Trafford and his counter-pressing looked brilliant as well.
This season, Liverpool have been great but Firmino hasn’t been Klopp’s first choice. Since the start of this season, [player 159917] has replaced Firmino in the attack and has looked impressive. However, Firmino did start against [team 25] and he took his opportunity in the best way possible. The Brazilian scored a hattrick against [coach 893654]’s men and has since stayed in the team.
With Salah and Mane set to leave for the [league 1117] soon, Firmino’s form will be massive to sustain Liverpool’s title challenge.
Author: Devashish Akolekar
