There is no doubt that Roberto Firmino is in the best form of his short Liverpool career at the moment. He has been pushed forward by manager Jürgen Klopp and has really improved his form and production as the central striker in the Liverpool team.
With Christian Benteke’s struggling form over the past month it has left Liverpool with a significant problem in front of goal. Daniel Sturridge, Divock Origi and Danny Ings have all been dealing with injuries, so it was important that Benteke was producing the goods. This hasn’t really been the case when it comes to goal returns however.
Due to the frustrating form of Benteke and the player’s difficulty in adapting to the Klopp style, the Reds manager has reverted away from the £32.5 million man being the starting striker at Anfield and instead transitioned to Roberto Firmino occupying the highest role up the pitch. The change has had both positive and negative effects but can the Brazilian really be the answer to our striking problems?
Roberto Firmino as a striker? Seriously? Don’t deny it; you probably thought the exact same thing when Jürgen Klopp decided to name the summer signing as the man to spearhead his attack when Liverpool travelled away to Chelsea.
What was the score that day? 3-1 to Liverpool. Firmino worked tirelessly up top making the Chelsea back line uncomfortable on his way to putting in a very good display. His substitution and the introduction of Christian Benteke changed the game as the Belgian came on to set up and score the two goals which won Liverpool the game. The tactic had worked.
Fast forward a few more weeks and Liverpool travelled to the Etihad Stadium for another tough away trip in the league. Klopp once again deployed Firmino as his striker and let’s just say we won’t be forgetting this game for a long time.
When Firmino fires, Liverpool fire
Firmino, assisted by the excellent Philippe Coutinho and Adam Lallana, was unplayable and was instrumental in helping Liverpool to victory. He was a constant thorn in Manchester City’s side, scoring one and creating the other two; he would have been disappointed not to get more goals on a night where his touch, intensity and all round play was second to none.
Unfortunately, for every Manchester City away there has been a Watford away and this was where we saw Firmino really struggle. Once again Klopp adopted the false nine tactics but less than 30 minutes into the game, instigated by Martin Skrtel’s injury; the system was changed because it had failed.
On a pitch that resembled a 1970’s mud bath, the idea of playing passing football was never on the table. Firmino failed to hold up the ball, didn’t really get on the ball when Liverpool did have possession and even the pressing was a shadow of what it was at City.
Again last night, against Stoke City in the Capital One Cup, we saw a Liverpool team that until the introduction of Benteke looked like they could still be playing now and wouldn’t have scored. Firmino struggled up against a big strong centre-half in Philipp Wollscheid and was at times too deep, leaving Liverpool with a lack of options up the pitch. Manchester United was the same.
Firmino certainly didn’t lack effort in his performance but Liverpool lacked a target man up-front who they could get the ball to and move up the field. When faced with a tough centre half pairing who are strong in the air the false nine tactic isn’t as successful.
If you look at the Arsenal game on the other hand, Firmino enjoyed a lot of success, scoring two well-taken goals and he was unlucky not to get a third. His intensity and pace was back, he got good touches on the ball and looked dangerous more often than not. Norwich last weekend was the same.
He was the best player on the park, adding two more goals to his tally, the second one being a delightful finish. He got the ball down and held it up eventually after a tricky start. It’s important to remember that for large portions of the game Liverpool struggled to get ‘out’ with any long ball coming straight back at them due to a lack of presence up-front.
Let’s look at it statistically. In eight games starting as a false nine, he has contributed five goals and four assists. You can’t really complain about that with him averaging more than one contribution a game.
Look more deeply and you find he has contributed those stats in just four games; the other games combined have totalled one goal from Liverpool. This does one of two things; it highlights the inconsistency of the Reds in front of goal but also shows that if Firmino isn’t creating, we struggle to score.
Reds' front-line blowing hot and cold
At the moment, it is very much hit and miss when it comes to Liverpool and scoring goals. Three goals against Arsenal were followed up by a blank against Manchester United.
Then a five goal total away at Norwich went back to zero against Stoke last night. It’s an inconsistency that pretty much sums up Liverpool’s form since Klopp arrived with the team seemingly unable to string together a consistent run of winning games.
Overall it seems that the type of game will dictate whether Firmino will have a significant influence on the proceedings. The more physical games against the likes of Stoke, Watford and to a further extent Manchester United, where they defend deep and make you play the aerial ball are certainly not his cup of tea and it is no surprise that he struggled in all of those games, but in fairness which Liverpool player didn’t?
The games where Liverpool were allowed to play football have led to much better results or at least improved performances when going forward, such as against Arsenal and Norwich City.
Benteke, Liverpool’s only other striking option, is a much better hold up player and when they are under the cosh he is a much better out ball than the smaller, less physical Firmino.
On the other hand, Firmino is much more open to making the runs in behind, helping with quick counter attacks, and leading from the front in terms of a higher intensity pressing than offered by Benteke.
Firmino can knit the play together and can come much deeper than Benteke but then it leaves nobody up top. At least with Benteke you will always have that body on the last line of the defence.
In reality you would like to think it is only a short term fix. Firmino brings positives to the team by playing in that role but he is not void of weaknesses. The situation with injuries has led to this and with it unlikely that Klopp will bring in a striker in the window we will see Firmino up top for the foreseeable future. In the long term you would hope the club move to get in a top quality centre forward or the injured players come back and make an impact.
Firmino’s talent means he can slot into the false nine position and at the moment is contributing to the Reds goal tally. The consistency of him doing this is the main question.
For now though, it is working. The Brazilian';s form has drastically improved and he is finally contributing in the goal and assist columns. Let’s just hope it continues and the goals start flowing on an even more regular basis.