The news of Roberto Firmino’s signing was greeted with utmost excitement and anticipation from Liverpool fans. None more than myself, having took a keen interest in the Brazillian ever since the 2013/14 season where he took Bundesliga by storm in a very average Hoffenheim team. He continued to shine the season after despite Hoffenheim becoming tactically more defensive. It’s no coincidence that months after selling Roberto Firmino, Hoffenheim (a consistently mid-table team) now find themselves bottom of the league.
Firmino had a very slow and admittedly uninspiring start to his Liverpool career. Whilst Coutinho arrived in January 2013 and instantly showed his quality, Firmino struggled in the team under Brendan Rodgers. I tend to stray away from the Rodgers/Committee debates, however people have reported that Firmino was very much a committee signing which is completely believable considering Rodgers had no idea where to use him.
From the start of the season it appeared that Firmino was second choice to Adam Lallana, although when the Brazillian did get opportunities he was deployed mainly on the right wing. This is how we lined up against Arsenal (A):
Firmino is not really familiar with playing on the right wing and rarely played there in all of his time in Germany. And so he appeared to struggle on occasion under Brendan Rodgers who ultimately did him no favours. Despite this, I liked him during the Arsenal game and actually set up a chance for Benteke which should’ve seen us take the lead. What also stood out to me was his defensive contribution; he is your stereotypical hard working South American footballer and is actually quite good at defending.
Jürgen Klopp was a blessing for Firmino. With no disrespect to Rodgers, had he stayed on as Liverpool manager I don’t think Firmino’s Liverpool career would have lasted very long considering he seemingly had very little knowledge of the Brazillian. Klopp, on the other hand, has lots of it.
In Klopp’s last five meetings with Hoffenheim, Firmino scored two goals, grabbed an assist and hit the woodwork against Dortmund’s defence; his man of the match performances once prompted Klopp to single him out along with Kevin Volland in an interview too; Firmino finally had a manager that knew about him, admired him and most importantly believed in him.
Firmino’s first start under Klopp came in the League Cup against Bournemouth, and it came in his preferred position.
This game produced, perhaps unsurprisingly, one of Firmino’s best games for Liverpool. His most comfortable and played position at Hoffenheim was as an attacking midfielder, and most of the time he played with Kevin Volland, an extremely fluid, intelligent and quick thinking player. He likes to link up with others, play one touch football and make runs from attacking midfield in behind the defence. Finally against Bournemouth he got this opportunity and whilst Firmino wasn’t playing with people of Volland’s quality, they were fluid players who suited his style.
This moves me on to Christian Benteke. Starting Firmino behind Benteke has been mostly unsuccessful for Liverpool this season and the last time this happened was the loss at West Ham. Benteke is a goalscorer and given enough chances will put the ball in the net. However, he is an obstacle to Firmino. Whilst the latter plays best with like-minded fluid and fast paced attackers, Benteke is a complete contrast; he is static, doesn’t have a smart or quick footballing brain, and is not a hard worker. And so it isn’t really surprising that these two players don’t get on in footballing terms. At Anfield against Arsenal Firmino was outstanding and almost unstoppable. Yet after the introduction of Benteke, Firmino’s influence and effectiveness deteriorated which I don’t believe is any coincidence.
Daniel Sturridge and Danny Ings are the two strikers at Liverpool Firmino would thrive upon playing with most. Yet I don’t recall the Brazilian ever playing 90 minutes behind either of them yet due to their injury problems. With these injuries, and Benteke’s poor performances, Klopp has also used Firmino as a false nine such as at home to Arsenal.
I’ve been very pleasantly surprised at Firmino’s performances as a striker. Whilst it’s not such a natural position, he has played there in the past for Hoffenheim and at times for Brazil and in my opinion produced inconsistent performances.
But when he’s played as a false nine under Klopp, with the exception of the Watford game Firmino has been very good. At Stamford Bridge he was quietly effective and grabbed an assist in the 3–1 victory. His performance against Manchester City was on another level and the first time he showed his true quality reminiscent of his time in Germany. He again assisted Coutinho before his fellow countryman returned the favour as Firmino scored his first league goal for the Reds in a man of the match performance. He could’ve scored a hat trick with a little more confidence in his one-on-ones. And against Arsenal was undoubtedly his best Liverpool performance to date. Two goals and he clipped the bar with a glorious shot as he ran the match for the first half. How ironic that his best Liverpool performances have occurred with Christian Benteke sat on the bench.
Roberto Firmino, despite taking time to adapt to England, has created the third most clear cut chances so far in the Premier League and I for one am looking forward to see how he plays with Sturridge and/or Ings in the future. Until then, I would continue to utilize him as a false nine.
