2021/22 Season Report Card - Luis Diaz

What a signing. He might be my favourite player already as I am a sucker for a South American named Luis. He reminds me of Suarez actually, even though he’s a very different type of player. Their styles are not alike but the way they play the game is.

With some players you’d say they play with hunger. Suarez and Diaz don’t seem hungry, they seem absolutely starving.

Diaz is a fighter without actually, literally fighting, if that makes sense. He isn’t aggressive and I can’t recall seeing him squaring up to anyone. We’ve seen none of the shenanigans we saw from Suarez so far either, but he’s definitely scrappy and has that ‘street player’ attitude. Look how desperately he wants to win the ball back when we don’t have it. Look at the freedom he plays with when he does have the ball. He just plays with joy in his soul and for a newcomer to arrive and break into that front three straight away almost beggars belief.

I knew he’d be brilliant even though I barely remembered him from when he played against us. I didn’t need to see him to know he’d be brilliant. Klopp and the staff knew he was going to be great, and they haven’t been wrong about any of the other forwards they’ve bought. So yeah, I was all in on this despite knowing virtually nothing about him.

The fact we bought him mid-season rather than stick to the initial plan and wait until the summer told me all I needed to know. We can thank Spurs for a lot of the success we had this season because if they hadn't forced our hand we'd never have done that deal.

I don’t think anyone expected him to slot in as seamlessly and as quickly as he did though. From his first game he looked like he was born to play in this team. He had a Suarez-esque assist in his first appearance and also gave millions of Reds around the world a heart attack when he fell awkwardly and looked like he’d blown his knee out.

Everyone shit themselves when that happened and I felt genuinely sick. I can still remember that feeling as clear as day even now as I write this. Then the replay showed he hadn’t twisted anything on landing and he’d ‘just’ been trod on by a 15 stone hairy arsed League Two centre back. Him getting up from that might be the most relieved I’ve been since Gudjohnsen’s shot somehow didn’t find the bottom corner all those years ago.

Diaz has been sensational and he gave our season the energy boost we needed at a crucial time. We would never have been chasing a quadruple as long as we did without the arrival of Diaz. Everyone was given a lift when he came in and the buzz he created carried us through the entire season.

The buzz has actually grown with every performance he’s put in and he was man of the match in both Wembley Cup Final wins. He excites the crowd and he’s only just getting started. Imagine how amazing he’ll be with a full pre-season behind him and more time with his team-mates. 

The only thing not quite there yet are goals. He’s done alright and has a decent goal return, but it’s another similarity with Suarez I think. Remember when he first came he’d have chances in every game but didn’t take enough of them? Then when he figured that out he absolutely exploded. Diaz is going to do the same, I can feel it.

Previous Season Ratings:

N/A

This Season’s Rating: 9/10

He was probably four or five goals short of a perfect 10, although he may have got that regardless if he’d performed in Paris and we'd won. 

Best Moment: 

The ridiculous rabona trap he did against Everton is up there, but it's probably his performance against Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. The only thing missing that day was a goal but on another day he’d have bagged a hat-trick and we’d be talking in hushed tones about ‘the Diaz final’ as we do with Gerrard and Owen.

Worst Moment:

Not turning up in Paris, or failing to convert the generational through ball Trent gave him in the FA Cup Final .

The Future?

He looks like he’s ready to go up another gear and become one of the leading players in Europe. Can’t wait to see what he does next season.