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When the draw for the 2019/20 Champions League group stage took place, Liverpool fans will have been pleased to avoid potential Lyon and Inter banana skins in well three. However, once Red Bull Salzburg was announced at Anfield, many wondered if it was a matter of being careful what you wish for.
Jürgen Klopp’s Reds had started their European title defense with a late loss to Napoli, and the Austrian champions gave them a real scare in the second group game as they rallied from a 3-0 defeat before falling to him. goal by Mohamed Salah in the 69th minute. Three members of Salzburg’s dangerous front line found the net that night, with Hwang Hee-chan scoring his first goal and Erling Braut Haaland, the immediate danger, leveling his side after coming off the bench. .
However, it was Takumi Minamino, scorer of the second by Jesse Marsch’s side, who really stood out. And now, 12 months later, he has begun to show why Liverpool were so eager to sign him after that game.
While Liverpool will have been very aware of Minamino before that game, there is a possibility that his performance at Anfield was enough to turn them from intrigued to interested. In fact, this started long before his goal, when he was inches from a first goal in five minutes when Salzburg turned Liverpool’s possession into an opportunity of his own in seconds. Given the Reds’ propensity for devastating turnovers, it wasn’t hard to see how he could fit into a Klopp attack.
The Japanese forward took advantage of his goal brilliantly when the opportunity arose, staying alert for a quick free-kick and lost in space before meeting a cross from Hwang with a perfectly controlled volley by Adrian. And it was Minamino’s alertness that did the third as he reacted faster to Enock Mwepu’s hopeful reverse pass and calmly rolled the ball for Haaland to touch.
However, it wasn’t just the combination of technique and alertness that stood out from Minamino that night: his 34 pressures (all numbers via StatsBomb / FBRef) represented more than all Liverpool players besides Fabinho, while that only Salah and Sadio Mané were able to beat their four successful dribbles. It wasn’t just about that game, Minamino’s 20 pressures per game in the Champions League last season were more than Salah or Mané averaged, but one could imagine the performance at Anfield stood out.
While the first months of Minamino’s career at Liverpool were the polar opposite of that dynamism, he is not the first player to take the time to adjust to the Reds game.
“Will the article be finished in March? I don’t know.” Klopp said when the transfer was confirmed. “We will start to learn from each other from now on, we will work on your natural abilities and we will give you all the time you need. We didn’t bring him in to accept that he’s fifth, sixth, but he can play a lot of positions, which means options. However, it would be good if everyone gave him a little time. “
The role the 25-year-old plays at Anfield is a bit different than he played in Austria, with more casualties where he has needed to be in his game from the start, regardless of whether he is. released with Liverpool chasing a game or introduced to stretch the opposition.
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However, there have also been opportunities for him to prove his mettle in the starting eleven, and he came close to following up his Carabao Cup double at Lincoln with another goal against Arsenal as he put himself in the perfect position for a shot, but he only got it right. the bottom of the bar.
This season has shown the benefit of having more time with his teammates as he proves to be someone who is prepared to step up and take the reins rather than being a new addition to someone else’s team. Minamino is part of the machine now, rather than acting like an extra coat of paint that only has a cosmetic benefit.
As the Reds prepare to face Ajax, Atalanta and Midtjylland in a challenging Champions League group this season, they will be hopeful that they can turn to the Minamino who excelled at this stage of the competition last season. And the striker, now visibly more self-confident in the Liverpool jersey, will be sure he can do his part.
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