Is it time for out-of-form Firmino to be dropped?
Some footballers can go through slumps in form and still look something close to their best, but others are the polar opposite, turning into pale imitations of themselves.
Unfortunately, Roberto Firmino belongs in the latter category.
The Brazilian has been a sensational performer for Liverpool over the past five years, overcoming Brendan Rodgers' bizarre use of him to become one of the world's leading attackers.
When Firmino has been on-song, he has been the epitome of everything great about this …
Roberto Firmino could be even better this season
Roberto Firmino has started the season like he means business. It isn’t something Liverpool fans are used to with the Brazilian usually looking off the pace when he returns to pre-season after a summer break.
It’s by no means comparable to a Sunday League player trotting round the pitch after a heavy Saturday night but it’s safe to say Firmino tends to enjoy his summer breaks. He picks up the pace after a few weeks but fans have got used …
Positives For Reds Despite Community Shield Defeat
Liverpool lost the seasonal curtain-raiser, the Community Shield, 5-4 on penalties to Manchester City at Wembley on Sunday after the game ended 1-1 in normal time.
A powerful Joel Matip header cancelled out Raheem Sterling's opener, in a game that -- despite some fans' indifference to the value of the Community Shield -- neither side, judging by the tempo and commitment exhibited by both teams, would have wanted to lose.
Despite the "loss", there were many positives for Jurgen Klopp …
Liverpool Players At The Forefront of Brazilian Success
Brazil sailed through to the Copa America final with a 2-0 victory over their eternal rivals, Argentina, on Tuesday night, thanks in no small part to Liverpool players.
It is a testament to Liverpool’s growth in recent years that they have players playing in key roles for a footballing powerhouse like Brazil.
Goals from Manchester’s City’s Gabriel Jesus and Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino further extended Lionel Messi’s wait for international silverware with Argentina.
The diminutive Barcelona number ten tried his hardest …
Liverpool vs Huddersfield Preview - Potential Key Battles
Liverpool have three games left in their Premier League season and are bang in the thick of it, with three wins putting them on the brink of a historic Premier League title win. And whilst many have already assumed that the first of these wins will come at home to relegated Huddersfield, it would be foolish to write off the Terriers, who gave Liverpool a good game earlier in the season where Mo Salah scored the only goal. So what …
Time For Bobby Firmino To Step Up
With seven games to go in the Premier League, and at most five games to go in the Champions League, Liverpool are reaching the crunch. And when you’re at the crunch, you need your most important players to step up. And one of those players is Roberto Firmino.
Bobby is a player who has gone somewhat under the radar this season but remains widely considered one of Liverpool’s most important players – a term that I’m convinced has lost all …
Klopp's PlayStation Midfield
You know, I’d already got this article in my brain long before I saw this tweet from Michael Caley, the brain behind Caley Graphics xG maps. Caley is a brilliant football analyst and the insight that he offers in this tweet backs up other data that I’ve seen in other places, but the simple fact is as follows.
Nevertheless, before I get into some of that data, I want to outline the point of this article. Klopp has been tinkering …
Bobby Firmino: The man who defines a Liverpool performance
"He was a player I thought was one of the best in the Bundesliga so, when I saw that Liverpool had signed him, I thought: 'How could Liverpool do this?"
Those were the words of Jurgen Klopp back in 2016, as he gushed over the quality of Roberto Firmino.
The Brazilian must have felt like a beautiful added bonus to Klopp when he had become Liverpool manager the previous year - a player tailor-made to flourish under the charismatic German.
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Should Liverpool Drop Bobby Firmino?
Liverpool have hit a bad patch of form, and one player who is standing out as struggling is Roberto Firmino. Bobby is not the only player in the Liverpool scratching around for form, but he’s probably somewhere close to the player furthest from his best when you consider that for many people he’s Liverpool’s most integral player and certainly one of their best ones.
So the question I want to ask in this article is whether or not Firmino needs …
Key Stats from Liverpool 2-0 Newcastle
Liverpool moved back to second, at least for 48 hours, by comfortably beating Newcastle 2-0 at Anfield. But what were the key stats from the game?
Defensive Solidity Re-Emerging
Liverpool have recently increasingly defended well in patches, but this seems to be a patch that is working for the club. One goal conceded in their last four games, with three clean sheets in their last five league games. And there are quantifiable underlying stats too, as the Reds have only …