Roberto Firmino

[RedReet]

How accurate is this article from when we signed him BTW? Almost as if Klopp wrote it himself.

https://www.est1892.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=3133728&postcount=153

[Phoenix07]

I do wonder if Klopp will revert to a 4-2-3-1.

Firmino does the running required in a pressing system, but he doesn't make those movements that top strikers do on a regular basis. He is underrated by opposition fans, but overrated by ours. You'd think he was the second coming of Balotelli or Suarez, depending on who you listen to, when he's neither.

I've no idea on the make-up of a Keita and Henderson CM in a 2. I don't expect Coutinho to be here next season, but Firmino in a No.10, and a quality CF could be just as good. Whether Klopp has settled on the notion of a 3 man midfield in this league permanently, I don't know.

To be clear, when Firmino played in a No.10 during his first season with us, I thought he was dog****. However, what he's learned during his switch to a CF role could be incredibly beneficial to us going forward, with his perspective on what to do in advanced attacking positions, and knowing how intense this league is.

[RedReet]

I do wonder if Klopp will revert to a 4-2-3-1.

Firmino does the running required in a pressing system, but he doesn't make those movements that top strikers do on a regular basis. He is underrated by opposition fans, but overrated by ours. You'd think he was the second coming of Balotelli or Suarez, depending on who you listen to, when he's neither.

I've no idea on the make-up of a Keita and Henderson CM in a 2. I don't expect Coutinho to be here next season, but Firmino in a No.10, and a quality CF could be just as good. Whether Klopp has settled on the notion of a 3 man midfield in this league permanently, I don't know.

To be clear, when Firmino played in a No.10 during his first season with us, I thought he was dog****. However, what he's learned during his switch to a CF role could be incredibly beneficial to us going forward, with his perspective on what to do in advanced attacking positions, and knowing how intense this league is.

Did he play No.10 in his first year? I genuinely can't remember. He was in and out of the side first half of the season, but when he hit that January purple patch, I would have sworn he was playing RW.

[Phoenix07]

I'm pretty sure it was Lallana on the RW, Firmino as AM, and Coutinho as LW.

[Kenneth]

I genuinely still can't work out if you're on a proper wind up or reverting back to your Operation days. I really hope it's not the latter.

I'll ignore the first part of your post as it's just nonsense, and concentrate on the last line. This is your key argument and in isolation it's completely fair. If we could get a player that does what Firmino does, but score more, of course we would be better off. Jaco (one of the few people that makes fair points in this debate) suggested Belotti and he could well be right, I haven't seen enough of him to judge. If i had to pick a player myself, I'd love Jesus (ignoring Suarez obviously).

What isn't fair enough is that every time we have a poor result (or even a decent one but Firmino doesn't score) the same **** is peddled by the same people, in forums, in pubs, in phone in's and by **** pundits. Liverpool need a proper No.9, a finisher (I'll not go through the endless list of cliches). The general assumption is put any half decent finisher up front for us and we'll be a much better team (I think your suggestion is Vardy, because he works hard, ignoring that to get the best out of Vardy he has to play on the shoulder of the last defender, which he can't do in our system). Melissa is actually quite generous in her article using two of the league's best for comparison and Dan Perkins likes to rhyme off the world's best, ignoring how attainable they are, but it normally only gets that far after the initial "no.9" comments are challenged.

How we've got so many airmiles out of this is beyond me. The key argument is that many fans feel that it's a system flaw, that we'd be much better off if we played an orthodox CF, one that doesn't drop deep or move out wide. The names are irrelevant, they are just fluff to keep this circular argument going (something I need to remind myself and not get drawn in). The other, more disturbing issue, is that for some fans it's seems to be a case of 'anybody but Firmino'. We had quite a few on here calling for Mane to play CF and Solanki at start a crucial game against Maribor FFS.

Suarez scored a bucket loads for Ajax, more goals per game than he did with us, it's not nonsense to use that to counter the nonsense suggestion that he wasn't really a goal machine before we Brendan made him so.

And you can't have a go at me because other people say stuff. I started this discussion (it was a few pages back now) by saying that moving Firmino in to the more advanced role was a bad idea because he isn't clinical enough in front of goal. Not that he shouldn't play, or that we need 'a traditional number 9' or that our system needs tearing up, and I haven't veered from that since.

I suggested Vardy not simply because he works hard, but because he has the pace to keep up with our wingers, very good movement around the box, is a better finisher and has similar work rate to Firmino. Probably not the perfect fit but said in the context of us playing Leicester and him demonstrating those qualities.

[RedReet]

Suarez scored a bucket loads for Ajax, more goals per game than he did with us, it's not nonsense to use that to counter the nonsense suggestion that he wasn't really a goal machine before we Brendan made him so.

And you can't have a go at me because other people say stuff. I started this discussion (it was a few pages back now) by saying that moving Firmino in to the more advanced role was a bad idea because he isn't clinical enough in front of goal. Not that he shouldn't play, or that we need 'a traditional number 9' or that our system needs tearing up, and I haven't veered from that since.

I suggested Vardy not simply because he works hard, but because he has the pace to keep up with our wingers, very good movement around the box, is a better finisher and has similar work rate to Firmino. Probably not the perfect fit but said in the context of us playing Leicester and him demonstrating those qualities.

But what's that got to do with anything, who said he wasn't a goal machine? Her article was about people saying we need a certain type of CF, in the mould of Kane/Lukaku, it had nothing to do with Suarez. She mentioned the players she did as they are more similar to those two, signed as natural CF's, not wide/versatile attackers like Suarez was.

I'm not having a go and regardless of what you said previously, this discussion was on the back of MR's article when she was making a specific point. Due to your posting style, it's hard to gauge if you were just responding for a reaction or you do believe what you are saying and therefore ignoring/missing her point.

Which is fine. That's your opinion. I disagree. So does MR and that was the point of her article, she believes Firmino is more suited to our system than a player like Vardy. You disagree with her, hence the sarcastic reply and here we are today.

The internet, eh...

[Irishnev]

[QUOTE=RedReet;3416205]Did he play No.10 in his first year? I genuinely can't remember. He was in and out of the side first half of the season, but when he hit that January purple patch, I would have sworn he was playing RW.[/QUOTE]

Rodgers left him rot at right wing and then dropped him, then he got injured. Only when Klopp got here was he played centrally consistently.

[RedReet]

[

Rodgers left him rot at right wing and then dropped him, then he got injured. Only when Klopp got here was he played centrally consistently.

Better memory than me, I thought he was playing RW even after Klopp joined, but that can be excused as Klopp gave us reason to go get drunk and start enjoying matches again.

[Tee]

For me, the best signing since Suarez....a genius footballer and an absolute privilege watching him play for us. Cherish it whilst you can!!

[Shaggy]

Absolutely superb today

[ame]https://twitter.com/Sennesation/status/926896796911198208[/ame]

[SB]

For me, the best signing since Suarez....a genius footballer and an absolute privilege watching him play for us. Cherish it whilst you can!!

Yep I love watching this guy too. He’s an absolute joy to watch.

[Fredo]

Yeah, great player. He is so crucial for us and in that particular position that he plays. We don't need an out and out striker in that system.

[Montana]

The guy is poetry in motion

[Leyton388]

He's boss.

[Fan65]

For me, the best signing since Suarez....a genius footballer and an absolute privilege watching him play for us. Cherish it whilst you can!!

Agreed 100%. Sometimes goes unnoticed but his work rate is unbelievable, add his superb talent on the ball and he’s just magical.