You’ll know all about Luis Diaz by now.
You’ll know he is explosively quick, a genuine goal threat and he has that special something about him. You know what I mean, that ability to create something out of nothing that just leaves you confused but impressed. There’s a touch of Luis Suarez about him. I’ve also seen some compare him to Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino. He is the sort to take something personally. If someone fouls him, he will get his revenge but it won’t be via a tackle. He’ll embarrass them instead.
Those are things we know with certainty. What we don’t know is what the deal means for Liverpool.
With this in mind, a look at what his arrival might mean for the Reds.
Replacement for Mane
For starters, this is the most obvious one, isn’t it? He is a right-footed left-sided attacker. He’s played there for Porto and he was deployed there for Junior when he was playing in the Categoría Primera A. That is his natural position. However, he’s not necessarily played in a front three as often you might think. Porto primarily play a 4-4-2 so Diaz is used to playing as a left-sided midfielder as opposed to a left-sided attacker in a three. So there might be a bit of an adaption period required to get Diaz up to speed with the demands on him as an attacker in our three, but he definitely has the ability to do that job.
That is just one option, though.
Liverpool might be targeting him to switch up their system. Jurgen Klopp has flirted with the idea of a 4-2-2-2 this season, maybe he is looking to add players who allow him to play that on a more permanent basis.
4-2-2-2
So, this would probably see Fabinho and Thiago as a two in midfield. You would then have Diaz on the left of the two behind the attack and Mohamed Salah on the right. Perhaps even Sadio Mane is used on the right and Salah is paired alongside Diogo Jota or Roberto Firmino in attack.
There is even a possibility that Sadio Mane leads the attack. He’s done it a few times in the past and he’s played a hybrid role this term, swapping with Jota on a regular basis. The point is, we now have a fourth player with pace and this changes the game. It gives us options and eases the reliance on certain players. Is it ideal, isn’t it?
For the first time in a while, we’re kind of spoilt for choice, aren’t we? This is an unfamiliar feeling as a Liverpool fan. We’re so used to having three starters and then maybe one back-up who can rotate. We now find ourselves with five players who could start and the quality does not drop off.
4-2-3-1
This one perhaps gets the best out of Firmino and Harvey Elliott.
Klopp has used this formation on a few occasions throughout his time here but the midfield always seemed to be a problem so we’d end up reverting back to a three to shore things up.
We now have the midfielders though to manage a two-man midfield. We could then use one of Elliott or Firmino as an attacking midfielder, capable of linking play and dropping into midfield if required.
On the right, we’d have Salah. On the left, Diaz. As the centre-forward, one from Mane or Jota. There are more options though. You could use Mane on the right with Salah as the No9.
Told you, spoilt for choice.
