FIRMINO AT FULL THROTTLE
Brilliant Brazilian’s relentless work-rate fires Klopp’s men
ON A training pitch in Marbella, Jurgen Klopp was watching Roberto Firmino hurtle here, there and everywhere and becoming increasingly concerned.
Liverpool’s break in Spain last week wasn’t supposed to be an occasion for the players to engage full throttle but the Brazil forward knows no other way. The refusal to take it easy drove his manager to distraction and now, perhaps, he understands how all those opposing defenders feel.
It was the turn of West Ham’s back five to be persistently pestered on Saturday. Remarkably, Firmino made 76 high-intensity sprints in 82 minutes on the pitch, covered six miles and scored a goal — his eighth in his last 12 Premier League appearances — while looking in the opposite direction to the net.
Firmino wears Liverpool’s No 9 jersey but he is unlike any of those who made the shirt iconic; he doesn’t have Ian Rush’s stealth, the predatory instincts of Robbie Fowler or a gear change like a peak- form Fernando Torres, and perhaps that prevents him from receiving the acclaim he deserves.
This game was a case in point. It was easy to be drawn to the majesty of Mohamed Salah, who opened the scoring to take his season’s tally to 31, the effervescence of full backs Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson and an improved display from Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. But Firmino had it all.
Without his hyperactivity, Klopp’s team would not be anywhere near as effective or exciting. He is on a par with the most formidable No 9s in Europe — skilful, clinical and relentless. Liverpool are in negotiations to give him a bumper new contract and it is business they should wrap up swiftly.
‘He’s a very, very, very special player,’ enthused AlexanderArnold, the young right back. ‘He’s definitely underrated in terms of the recognition he gets. He links the team together. If you watch him closely, his drive and enthusiasm to get back and defend is incredible.
‘Most of the time you see him on the halfway line, tracking back and making tackles. You don’t really see that from an all-round No 9. It just shows his hunger to win. He’s priceless to us.
‘ He scores goals, he gets chances and he creates assists. There’s not much more you want from a No 9. But that’s not all he offers. It’s his defensive duties. Sometimes he overdoes it, but in a good way. He doesn’t have to do it but he’s willing to do it for the team.
‘It’s his hunger. He’s a born winner. That’s very important if you want to make it in this game. You’ve got to have that drive.’
Nothing, his team-mates have recognised, breaks his focus and it says everything about his mentality that Firmino was able to maintain such standards while being investigated by the FA after
an allegation of racial abuse from Everton defender Mason Holgate that was not upheld.
That single-mindedness is something Klopp wants to see running through his squad in the final three months of the campaign.
Liverpool have played like the second best team in the country through winter and the run-in should not be a case of them simply trying to hold on to a top-four spot.
They are better than that. West Ham were much improved from when they were beaten by the same 4-1 scoreline at the London Stadium in November but during a secondhalf onslaught by the home side, when they were hemmed into their penalty area, Liverpool were impossible to contain.
‘I think for a lot of teams it’s hard because they put an awful lot of pressure on you,’ said David Moyes.
‘They’re in good positions to press, especially their midfield three and the front three. We’ve played a lot of the top teams and Liverpool have caused me as many problems as anybody.’
Things for Liverpool, then, are looking good for the final assault but serenity presents Klopp with a different challenge. He is conscious his players have stalled at points in the past when the engine appeared to be running smoothly.
‘You lose a little bit if you win all the time,’ said Klopp. ‘Two, three or four weeks in a row and then it is hard to win the fifth one as well, to stay on track. That’s why it is fantastic that we have different options and that keeps them on fire.
‘You saw again Mo Salah, three minutes before the end of the match and he sees his number and (slumps his shoulders). That’s how it is. We need to stay angry with the rest of the world, we need to stay aggressive. We know we have to keep going and we will keep going.’
And nobody will keep going more than Firmino.
LIVERPOOL (4-3-3): Karius 6.5; AlexanderArnold 7.5, Matip 6.5, Van Dijk 7, Robertson 7.5; Oxlade-Chamberlain 8, Can 6.5, Milner 7; Salah 8 (Solanke 86min), FIRMINO 8.5 (Lallana 82), Mane 7 (Moreno 86). Subs not used: Mignolet, Lovren, Gomez, Henderson. Scorers: Can 29, Salah 51, Firmino 57, Mane 77. Booked: None. Manager: Jurgen Klopp 7.
WEST HAM UNITED (5-3-2): Adrian 6: Zabaleta 6, Collins 5.5, Ogbonna 6, Cresswell 6, Evra 6.5; Kouyate 6, Noble 6, Lanzini 5 (Antonio 59, 6.5); Joao Mario 5.5 (Rice 83), Arnautovic 6.5 (Hernandez 83).
Subs not used: Hart, Reid, Hugill, Byram. Scorer: Antonio 59. Booked: Collins.
Manager: David Moyes 6. Referee: Stuart Attwell 7.
Attendance: 53,256.