2021/22 Season Report Card - Divock Origi

Jurgen Klopp often says that he should have played Origi far more than he has, and that’s definitely true. He should have started more games but you can see how difficult that is with the players he has ahead of him. Why he hasn’t been brought off the bench more is the question I would ask.

When he plays, he scores. He might not do much else and that’s why he’s always behind the other forwards we have, but I know one thing; if we go into the last ten minutes of a game needing a goal there is nobody - literally nobody - I’d rather have on the pitch in those closing stages.

When we drew with Spurs at Anfield Origi was left kicking his heels on the bench. It annoyed me at the time, it annoys me even more having seen how crucial those two dropped points proved to be. Why the hell would you not throw him on? 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not looking back at individual games and saying “if only” even though I said for months that if we miss out I’d be doing exactly that about that Leicester game. I’m not though, I don’t think it’s fair to the lads to look at the handful of bad results they had when they’ve been so incredible over the course of the entire season. 

All I’m saying is that I can’t get my head around why you would not be sending on Origi in that Spurs game. That’s the exact situation that Divock was born for. It's what he does. He’s a superhero, he shows up to save the day when things look bleak and he turns one point into three. He’s done it time and time again, even this season. Look at that Wolves game. We never looked like winning that day until he came off the bench and scored with the last kick of the game. It’s what he does. He turned the derby at Anfield too.

He played a big part in the early rounds of the cup competitions too and him not being available in Paris was a big blow to us. Never has a player done so much while featuring so little. He's the ultimate 'break glass in case of emergency' option and I wish he was staying. There was a time when this wasn't the case and that reflects far more badly on him than it does Divock, but I'll say it now - I’ll miss him terribly.

I miss him already in fact. Farewell my king.

Previous Season Ratings:

2020/21:   Season doesn’t count

2019/20:   6/10

2018/19:   7/10

2017/18:   N/A 

2016/17:   4/10

This Season’s Rating: 7/10

You know, this is probably low if I’m judging it solely on his contributions per minutes on the pitch. He hardly played though so it’s hard to justify going any higher.

Best Moment: 

Had we won the title then it would have been the dramatic last gasp winner at Wolves. We didn’t though, so it’s him scoring against Everton at Anfield yet again. Honourable mention to the most under-rated goal of the season - the weird scorpion kick thing he did at Preston.

Worst Moment:

Leaving.

The Future?

Will be a lot less fun without the legend, especially on derby day.