KOP CELEBRATES TES UNIQUE FIRMINO NO

sOMetIMes stars align in football and you end up with h the kind of special moment that Roberto Firmino enjoyed ed in front of the Kop. Firmino is going to leave Liverpool at the end of the season to pursue a new challenge and I’m gutted, really. ally. He has been unbelievable for r eight years; selfless, never looking for attention but being ing the glue that held everything g together in Jurgen Klopp’s attack. so I was delighted to see him complete the scoring against Manchester United. I couldn’t n’t quite believe what I was watching as the goals went in n but the one he swept in was one of those moments when you couldn’t feel anything other than joy. the biggest compliment I can an pay to the Brazilian is that he has been so influential since he arrived from Hoffenheim that he has developed a position that is simply known as ‘the Firmino role’ — there had been ‘false nines’ before but he brought a different dimension to it. Liverpool have revamped their forward line over the last 12 months — with Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz and Cody Gakpo joining Diogo Jota and Mo salah — so they have plenty of options now but the reality is they will never be able to buy another Firmino.

We can look at United another day d — I’m I’ not t sure I would ld be b able to leave the house had I been on the end of defeat like that — but this, for Klopp and Liverpool, was huge. they aren’t the force they were 12 months ago but, in form, they remain exceptionally dangerous. they needed to land a result like this and it will go some way to banishing the memory of what happened against Real Madrid. the whole place will build on this: the teams who are battling for the top four with them will all be unnerved.