Ex-Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has revealed that Jurgen Klopp’s Reds are a better team when Roberto Firmino plays.
Liverpool has hit a bit of a blip at the moment as they lost to lowly Red Star Belgrade on their travels to Serbia during the week. A 2-0 loss meant that Liverpool has to take their last two Champions League games seriously in order to get past the Group stages.
Klopp decided to leave Roberto Firmino on the bench against Red Star Belgrade and start with Daniel Sturridge as his centre-forward. But that decision backfired as the traveling side found themselves 2-0 down in less than half an hour. Firmino is likely to return to the starting eleven for the fixture against Fulham at Anfield this Sunday and Danny Murphy has showered praise on the Brazilian.
In his column on the Daily Mail, the 41-year-old former English midfielder waxed lyrical on the importance on Roberto Firmino in Liverpool’s starting eleven, “One thing we learned, if we didn’t know it already, is how important Roberto Firmino is to this Liverpool team, He was rested on the bench and by the time he came on at half-time, Liverpool were already 2-0 down. He has done brilliantly at the club and impressed me immensely. Firmino is technically very good but what he relies on to be at the very top of his game is being physically right because his output is enormous.
Murphy also went on to state that Firmino is the trigger that starts the teams pressing, “He is the trigger for all the pressing and his work rate is phenomenal. If for some reason he is having a dip, maybe because of tiredness, maybe a couple of aches and pains, you notice it. Some players can get away with it because they move the ball, Firmino is hard yards all over the place when he’s at it.”
Firmino has shown time and again how important he is to Jurgen Klopp’s style of play as his hard work is the start for Liverpool to build on something. However, if you are playing as a striker, you must also score the goals which come your way or else someone else may cash in.
