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When it comes to great players, they may occasionally have some irregularity in form, but their underlying quality never wavers. There is no question of the class that Roberto Firmino possesses, but his recent impact on Liverpool’s performances has left a lot to be desired.
This may seem like an unfair criticism, but it is simply an observation of his overall style of play and what he brings to the party. Firmino is a player who is certainly highly regarded in his own club and by those who understand the tactical side of the game, but when it comes to rival fans there has always been a question as to what he actually does. On the other hand, who cares what they think?
Sections of Liverpool fans, possibly a small part, have started to side with this view, and when you look at their overall goal statistics, you can understand why. Just four goals in 27 appearances since the turn of the year, even for a forward whose primary role is not to find the back of the net, that’s not the comeback he would like to see.
Given what Firmino has done for Liverpool in recent seasons, he has bought himself more than time to change his form. We may even have already seen glimpses of that happening. The 28-year-old scored two goals in Brazil’s 5-0 win over Bolivia in their World Cup qualification, proving once again that he has a keen eye for goal. Interestingly, the Brazilian is not usually the preferred striker of his national team, despite having an impressive record representing his homeland: 13 goals in 44 games are not the worst statistics in the world.
If you look at his second goal against Bolivia on Friday night, it pretty much sums up everything Firmino is. Returning to a defensive position, he helps to recover the ball for his team and immediately takes a break to start an attack. A few precise passes later, he receives the ball in the box and puts it in place to add it to his goal tally. In 20 years time, if you were to show a video to people asking why Firmino is rated so highly, that goal would be a good example.
A question that has been pondered in recent weeks has been what should Jürgen Klopp do with Firmino to get more goals from him. Perhaps it is a tactical decision, that the forward’s defensive and pressing skills are more valuable than his scoring traits. It is not so easy to compare the Brazilian’s performance with Liverpool with that of his national team. They are two different teams with different players, different systems and a different coach. Expecting a player to reproduce the same shape for club and country is not that simple.
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However, what Friday night’s performance tells us is that Firmino has definitely not lost his eye for the goal. Even his first goal in the win over Bolivia, yes, it’s a touch from a couple of yards, but he showed something that he hasn’t shown much with Liverpool lately, the instinct of a forward.
How many times has it been said that Firmino tends to pass the ball to a teammate instead of just passing his foot through him, or just being a more selfish touch in front of goal? It’s a strategy that many Liverpool associates would like to see more of, but not if it means he worries too much about adding to his personal goals tally. That has never been his game, and it probably never will be.
Liverpool may find themselves fortunate to have a rare find in Firmino with a forward who is not selfish and who would rather play with a teammate than seek glory himself. It is a trait that is firmly in the heart of Kopites, but, like everything in life, change is inevitable.
In football, great players always find ways to adapt and make life uncomfortable for their rivals. Firmino may have to change his style of play to stay as a starter on Klopp’s team, and it may be a change that could be forced to happen sooner than many of us expected.
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