Roberto Firmino

[RedReet]

This isn't just aimed at you but I think that people have a tendency to over estimate the influence of the front 3.

If you look at the front 3 as the main goalscorers in the PL last year they contributed 37 goals between them (Coutinho 13, Mane 13, Firmino 11). Which is decent but not outstanding, IMO the main striker needs to be getting about 20 goals a season, Firmino was only half way to that last season and that would put that total close to 50 which I think is what we should be looking for. Yes we had injuries last year but Firmino was the one of the 3 who played the most and he had the lowest goal return.

For comparison Spurs top 3 scorers got 61 between them, Chelsea's 45, Arsenal 46 all these sides play with a more out and out striker.

I should say as Kenneth says there is a difference between no liking or rating a player and thinking that he shouldn't be playing in a certain position. I like Firmino but I don't think this position suits him and I think that someone who could contribute more goals could be beneficial. Hopefully he proves me wrong and can get 20 PL goals this year with Mane, Salah and Coutinho getting into the teens of goals.

If it wasn't for injury/ACN, Mane and Coutinho would most likely have got close to 20 goals and with their influence you'd have expected Firmino to score more also. FWIW, I think if Mane, Firmino and Salah play more than 75% of games this season they'll blitz the 50 goal mark.

[RedReet]

In 2 competitive games he has a goal and an assist.

Played a sublime pass to Milner too in the lead up to the second goal last night.

He's the problem though, and not our ****house defence, or Mignolet letting near post goals in by punching them into the net.

We need another striker I agree. But Firmino will not be the escaped goat(rip chazza) this season.

I thought this thread was bumped to praise him before I opened.

[Doc_Piptorious]

completely agree with this.

Belotti looks lethal and works his bollox off. Aren't Chelsea after him too? Not a popular shout on here but I'd love if he went for Diego Costa to be honest, not that they would sell to us though.

Yeah he has a work rate that resembles that of a younger Dirk Kuyt. Quite a physical lad too whilst still being pretty good in terms of touch/skill. Certainly knows where the goal is though, and very good at interchanging with other attacking players. Looks a bit of a beast to be honest.


As for Diego Costa...I get where you are coming from but I cannot stand him. Heart over head for me when it comes to him.

[danperkins]

This isn't just aimed at you but I think that people have a tendency to over estimate the influence of the front 3.

If you look at the front 3 as the main goalscorers in the PL last year they contributed 37 goals between them (Coutinho 13, Mane 13, Firmino 11). Which is decent but not outstanding, IMO the main striker needs to be getting about 20 goals a season, Firmino was only half way to that last season and that would put that total close to 50 which I think is what we should be looking for. Yes we had injuries last year but Firmino was the one of the 3 who played the most and he had the lowest goal return.

For comparison Spurs top 3 scorers got 61 between them, Chelsea's 45, Arsenal 46 all these sides play with a more out and out striker.

I should say as Kenneth says there is a difference between no liking or rating a player and thinking that he shouldn't be playing in a certain position. I like Firmino but I don't think this position suits him and I think that someone who could contribute more goals could be beneficial. Hopefully he proves me wrong and can get 20 PL goals this year with Mane, Salah and Coutinho getting into the teens of goals.

[Exiled_red]

Spurs and Chelsea finished first and second and score only 7 and 8 goals more than us respectively. Arsenal scored 1 less goal.
It's the other end where we have the problem.
I'd love us to go out and buy a £70m striker and try Firmino as an AM but it's not going to happen.

We certainly need to reduce the number of goals we concede but that isn't just down to the back four, we need to adopt a more defensive midfield setup to protect them properly, which probably means less goals from the midfield which need to be replaced by increased contributions from front three.

[Kenneth]

In 2 competitive games he has a goal and an assist.

Played a sublime pass to Milner too in the lead up to the second goal last night.

He's the problem though, and not our ****house defence, or Mignolet letting near post goals in by punching them into the net.

We need another striker I agree. But Firmino will not be the escaped goat(rip chazza) this season.

I don't know where that's come from, nobody has said 'He's the problem'. I've only said that he isn't good enough in front of goal to be our centre forward.

[RedReet]

12 months ago, people were arguing that Firmino is our best player, better than Coutinho. 12 months later, Coutinho is being sold for £100m+ and Firmino isn't good enough to keep his place in the team (in that position). Football, eh?


I have a feeling we might see this discussion on Monday night football this season. We'll either be doing well and Carra will be praising him, highlighting how his movement gets the best out of those around him, or we'll be doing crap and he'll make a similar argument to those on here and suggest we get a CF in.

[Darkon]

Firmino is a brilliant player and consistency wise I'd rather have him than Coutinho. He doesn't have nearly as many moments of brilliance and in some instances stands less out, but his pressing, passing, technique, teamwork and understanding of play is almost next to none in the team. He is so often involved with the players around him and creates a lot of room for Mane, Coutinho and now Salah. I think he needs to be in the team.

But I'm also a big advocate for getting in a more clinical striker for the forward position and moving Firmino back in to a shadow striker type role, or just give him a free role around the top next to.

[SB]

Defensively that's what he excels at, but offensively his movement and flexibility are key. People are criticising him for dropping deep and moving wide, but that's pulling defenders out of position and leaving space for Mane and Salah. During a game he will also swap positions with Mane and Salah and move out wide which a traditional CF wouldn't be as effective at. Plus his finishing isn't as bad as people make out. You keep hearing people say a proper CF would have scored that, but that's a load of ****. The best strikers miss plenty of opportunities too, look at Kane at the weekend. At least if Firmino isn't finishing chances, he still brings plenty to the game.

I think he's class.

totally agree mate & I hope he's with us for a long long time.

[dww]

Firmino is a brilliant player and consistency wise I'd rather have him than Coutinho. He doesn't have nearly as many moments of brilliance and in some instances stands less out, but his pressing, passing, technique, teamwork and understanding of play is almost next to none in the team. He is so often involved with the players around him and creates a lot of room for Mane, Coutinho and now Salah. I think he needs to be in the team.

But I'm also a big advocate for getting in a more clinical striker for the forward position and moving Firmino back in to a shadow striker type role, or just give him a free role around the top next to.

I think we should think of Salah/Mane as the main goalscoring threat and Firmino as a facilitator. Just because he is nominally the most advanced player doesn't mean that he has to be our top scorer.

[Rigadon]

I don't know where that's come from, nobody has said 'He's the problem'. I've only said that he isn't good enough in front of goal to be our centre forward.

He's been very poor throughout 2017. We need a better centre forward.

A spine of Lovren, Can, Wijnaldum and Firmino will win us **** all. None of these would be picked for Utd, Spurs, City, Chelsea or Arsenal. They'd probably have a chance at Everton.

[labourRed]

He's been very poor throughout 2017. We need a better centre forward.

He was ****ed though for the latter half of the season, hence why we were trying to rest him as much as we could. So that's terribly unfair.

Play through pain barrier to help the club, fans want you replaced. Gratitude.

http://www.squawka.com/news/roberto-firmino-played-through-injury-to-help-secure-liverpools-champions-league-spot-tite/967355

[Kenneth]

I think we should think of Salah/Mane as the main goalscoring threat and Firmino as a facilitator. Just because he is nominally the most advanced player doesn't mean that he has to be our top scorer.

And if we face a back five or a parked bus? Those two aren't going to get the space to be most effective. Mane can drift inside but doubt Salah can in the same way. And are we writing off crosses and corners etc, you'd want your central striker to be taking it to CBs in such situations, we seen to rely on Lovren.

[Kenneth]

He was ****ed though for the latter half of the season, hence why we were trying to rest him as much as we could. So that's terribly unfair.

Play through pain barrier to help the club, fans want you replaced. Gratitude.

http://www.squawka.com/news/roberto-...ot-tite/967355

That says June.

[labourRed]

Also, in the last page I linked to a page of stats I thought a pressing forward should have just to see if the stats played out people's concerns. They didn't.

Sure if you want a goalscoring forward we come up a bit short as we don't have a 20 a season goalscorer. But in terms of everything else Firmino's output tops every player aside from Phil who marginally beat him in a few.

http://www.squawka.com/comparison-matrix#premier_league/2016/2017/roberto_firmino/819/641/2021/0/p|europa_league/2015/2016/divock_origi/180/180/4176/36/p|premier_league/2016/2017/daniel_sturridge/819/641/441/36/p|premier_league/2016/2017/philippe_coutinho/819/641/2673/0/p|premier_league/2016/2017/sadio_mané/819/641/3272/36/p#key_passes/assists/chances_created/goals_scored/tackles_won/aerial_duels_won/interceptions/successful_take_ons#total