Roberto Firmino is a highly-talented attacking talent. There is absolutely no doubt regarding such a statement if made by any of the Liverpool FC supporters across the world. Firmino’s brilliance in the famed Reds shirt over the past couple of seasons has been unrivalled by many of the forwards who have graced the halls of Anfield in the Premier League era.
The names of Luis Suarez, Robbie Fowler, Michael Owen, Fernando Torres, and Daniel Sturridge, were all undoubtedly miles better than Firmino in getting their names on the scoresheet and finishing a single Premier League campaign with 15+ goals over the course of the 38-game season.
However, none of these former Liverpool FC number 9’s had the creative talent and masterful vision that Firmino possesses, with all due respect to Suarez, whose 2013-14 season for Brendan Rodger’s Liverpool FC side will remain etched in every modern-day supporter’s heart.
Firmino’s role on the pitch as a deep laying centre-forward, or in his coach, Jurgen Klopp’s words, a ‘false 9’, allows his strike force partners, the dynamic duo of Mohammad Salah and Sadio Mane, to make insanely fast runs in behind the opposing defences and carving out a counter-attack on the spin for the Reds, something that has made the attacking trio one of the most fearsome triplets in world football.
It is because of Firmino’s selflessness in front of goal that Salah’s goalscoring numbers in the Liverpool FC shirt ever since his arrival at Anfield from AS Roma three summers ago have been astoundingly extraordinary, even by the Egyptian’s world-class standards. So often have we seen Firmino lay the ball wide open for Salah to tuck past the opposing goalkeeper into the back of the net rather than play out on his own and increase his goal tally for the Merseyside giants.
And the ex-Hoffenheim star-forward has been equally gracious in letting the Mane-Salah duo be known as the talismans for Jurgen Klopp’s Champions League and Premier League-winning squad, a team that has soared to great heights in world football over the last two years.
Truth be told, Firmino’s displays of late have not been the most convincing ones for Klopp to keep justifying his faith in the Brazilian international, despite the Liverpool FC boss being insistent on assuring the club’s fanbase that Firmino’s importance to his team is not measured in terms of the goals he has to his name, but rather than by the player’s off-the-ball wisdom.
Diogo Jota’s arrival at Anfield, that was announced by Liverpool FC to much fanfare last week, will do little to put away speculation that Klopp has measures in place to ensure Firmino’s showings in the heavy end of the 2020-21 season does not falter. The 23-year old Jota will provide a much-needed addition to the Reds’ attacking depth and an able competitor for the first-choice spot in Klopp’s starting XI.
Firmino’s stats for the 2019-20 Premier League season, the one which saw Liverpool FC end an anginous 30-year wait for the league title crown, read as nine goals and eight assists, despite playing all 38 of the Reds’ fixtures of England’s top-flight football. Such numbers are not alarming considering that Firmino’s identity on the pitch is no longer restricted to a mere goalscoring attacking option, however, the Brazilian has encountered a downward spiral in form as well since the backend of last season.
The player has been held responsible for missing a number of easy chances in front of the goal, especially in Liverpool FC’s last two Premier League games of the new season, a hard-fought 4-3 win against Leeds United on opening day, and then a 2-0 victory away from home at Chelsea. Clear goalscoring opportunities fell Firmino’s way in both of these games, but the forward failed to make the most of them and give his side an upper hand against two able opposition clubs.
Jota was a first-team regular for Wolves in his three-year-long stint at the Molineux Stadium, notching up 16 goals across 48 games last season, despite the 2019-20 campaign seeing the Portuguese international’s form suffer a dipping time and again. It is evident that the 23-year old Jota arrives at Anfield as a squad player for now, but the inside-forward can provide very tough competition to Liverpool FC’s very own Si Senor for a spot in the starting XI if the latter’s form in front of the goal does not see an immediate improvement.
Firmino’s value to Jurgen Klopp and Liverpool FC goes beyond goals and assists. However, a continuation of the player’s uninspiring form in the Reds’ shirt will neither be tolerated by the German coach or the club’s fervent fanbase, who have grown to idolise the Brazillian as one of their own since his arrival at the Merseyside club in 2015.
It’s now or never for Roberto Firmino to hit top gear once more as the 2020-21 season progresses with Diogo Jota patiently waiting at the sidelines for his chance to shine in front of the Kopites.
