Four games into the Premier League season and Liverpool sit at the top of the table with four wins in four games. The fabled front three of Mane, Firmino, and Salah have been the talk of the town at Liverpool this season and the seasons before since Jurgen Klopp arrived as a manager at the club.
When fans talk about Liverpool’s front three they usually talk about Sadio Mane and Mo Salah as the two main players at the club. The two players shared the golden boot with Arsenal’s Pierre Emeric Aubameyang last season and will compete for the golden boot this season as well. One player who does not get the praise he deserves is Roberto Firmino. The Brazilian scored his 50th Premier League goal in his career and doing so became the First Brazilian to score 50 goals in the league. That is some achievement considering the number of Brazilians that have played in the Premier League recently.
Firmino is a crucial member of the front three and his selflessness enables Salah and Mane to make runs into the box and score goals.
The 27-year-old made his name as a number 10 at Bundesliga club Hoffenheim before he was signed for £29 million by Klopp’s predecessor at Liverpool Brendan Rodgers, He failed to make an impact as number 10 under Rodgers. When Klopp arrived at the club he moved Firmino into the number 9 role and the rest, as they say, is history.
The Brazil International’s creativity and link-up-play allows him to find either Mane or Firmino in the box and his energy and work rate off the bale allow Liverpool to play an attacking game and still maintain the defensive balance.he may not get all the plaudits from the fans but the Liverpool players and the manager both acknowledge that Firmino is the engine of this Liverpool team.
Firmino’s Liverpool team-mate Andy Robertson recently hailed him as “world-class” and said “People will say there are better strikers but for me what he does is so important to our team. We’d be lost without him. He’s world-class. He does everything and that’s the beauty of Bobby. He can do it all.”
Firmino has recently started to get the plaudits his efforts deserve and Liverpool fans will hope that he stays at the club for a long time and end Liverpool’s 29-year Premier League drought.
