Ian Wright has hailed the overall impact of Roberto Firmino as the introduction of the Brazilian coincided with Liverpool finally being able to the break down a stubborn Aston Villa outfit on Sunday.
Divock Origi replaced the workhorse centre forward in the starting lineup to minimal effect, and with chances at a premium, Jürgen Klopp turned to Firmino and while he did not get on the scoresheet, his subtle movement played a key role in the Sadio Mane strike and that was certainly not lost on the Arsenal legend.
The Echo(via PLP) reported Wright as saying:
“The team is used to him. The team knows what he’s about. The positions he takes up, they’re clever,"
“Even this goal, you could say Villa could’ve got tighter, but his movement opens up a little space for Naby Keita to get the time, and his movement in the box takes the defender away so Sadio Mane can score the goal.
“It’s just clever little movements. He’s so good. What he does is so important to what Liverpool do.
"When he’s not playing, it’s so noticeable. No-one else can do what he does.”
"In terms of Origi, his Liverpool career has been littered by purple patches, with long barren spells in between.
Being a back up to the World class front three Is certainly a difficult task as regular minutes are unlikely to occur unless there is a injury.
When he does get an opportunity like he did against Villa he needs to make the most of it otherwise it will raise questions about his status in the squad like Michael Owen has done.
The former Reds striker feels like his presence dissuaded Klopp going for Timo Werner.
“Origi’s just signed a new contract and Minamino’s only just signed (for the club).
“They are there and they’re fixed but that doesn’t mean you can’t question whether they should be.
“Origi signing a new long-term deal was almost Liverpool…they were loyal to him weren’t they?
“He’d done what he’d done [in the Champions League] and all of a sudden they they thought he’s done that so you have to give them a new contract.
“That’s now prevented them from going and spending big money on a back-up striker.
“Timo Werner was obviously a player that Liverpool were linked to and he’s eventually gone to Chelsea.
“I think that type of player would have been brilliant for Liverpool. ‘
“They signed Origi on a long-term contract that virtually ruled out a back-up striker and I’m not sure that they don’t need a better one.’
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