Roberto Firmino

[Bobby Hundreds]

Recently its been like starting with 10 men, 9 men if you add Kieta. Love the guy but his place is earnt like anybody else's and at the minute and for a fair few minutes he's not been earning it.

[Barrington Womble]

3 hours ago, Trumo said:

I'm wondering if Bobby has been affected by this strange phenomenon that afflicts prominent Brazilian attacking players, where they appear to stagnate and decline once they hit the age of 28. They are still capable of doing the business but the consistency, or the drive, or even the fitness just wanes from this point. We've seen it with Romario, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho and Kaka. Even Neymar has shown signs that he isn't quite the player he was a couple of years ago. These players have been playing for a long time, travelling extensively with their clubs and Brazil all over the world, and regularly to and from South America, winning practically everything in sight. They are financially set for life too so the motivations that drove them in their teens and early 20s aren't there any more.

it's funny because 2 years ago i thought if there was one player out of our front 3 that would be likely to be at a high level when he's in his mid 30's it would be firmino. but after that summer where he was away with brazil and for very little break, the spark just seems to have completely gone from him. it's clear now he is having some confidence issues, he is doing that thing that a lot of forwards do when out of form where they focus on their "job for the team" and as time passes and the harder it becomes to score, the more their confidence goes, so they start getting to the point where they're not even doing that team thing well anymore. i am hoping he needs a break or maybe a kick up the arse. i would be more than up for us giving minamino a run of games - the only tough thing i think is in our next half dozen league games we've got everton, city and leicester. 

[LFC 6 Times]

Shaqiri would genuinely be a good alternative right now.

[Strontium]

Bobby needs to start playing pissed again.

[Baltar]

Bobby needs to be benched. A front 3 of Mane, Salah and Jota is what we should see after the international break.

[3 Stacks]

10 minutes ago, LFC 6 Times said:

Shaqiri would genuinely be a good alternative right now.

In theory yes, but it doesn't work because Shaqiri can't fulfill any of the front 3's roles as the tactics are currently constituted. He's not a forward like Salah or Mané, and he's no false 9. So he fundamentally changes the shape of the team when he plays, which is why Klopp has rarely picked him when fit in any game that matters.

 

Should we change our tactics and shape to fit him in knowing that Firmino is struggling? Maybe that's a debate worth having, but I doubt it will happen.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

Saw some clip of his no look goals the other day. I miss that Bobby.

[Scott_M]

On 05/10/2020 at 14:18, Baltar said:

Bobby needs to be benched. A front 3 of Mane, Salah and Jota is what we should see after the international break.

Agreed. Mane through the middle and dropping deeper. 
 

Assuming everybody comes back fit, Minamino won’t be back until the early hours Wednesday morning, Bobby won’t arrive back until Thursday evening.

 

Jota will be back Thursday but I doubt he’s a starter for Portugal. Salah and Mane aren’t going away.

 

After Villa, I hope Klopp is ruthless. Players who haven’t been performing (Gomez and Firmino) dropped and it can be dressed up as fatigue after the internationals. 

 

[ZonkoVille77]

Pissed up slut. 

[Daisy]

No matter how bad Firmino is, Minamino is not the answer. He's never a forward. Dunno what he is really or what he does but whatever it is, its not great. 

 

Firmino ain't getting dropped anytime soon, but if he does then Jota should get a run. 

[Captain Turdseye]

7 minutes ago, Daisy said:

No matter how bad Firmino is, Minamino is not the answer. He's never a forward. Dunno what he is really or what he does but whatever it is, its not great. 

 

Firmino ain't getting dropped anytime soon, but if he does then Jota should get a run. 

You could say that Firmino’s not really a forward. Minamino looks to be improving and growing in confidence (Villa game aside, where everyone was shite), he’s full of running and can’t do any worse on the ball than the Firmino of late. 

[Bjornebye]

On 21/09/2018 at 17:01, Bjornebye said:

For a man who smokes 40 regal king size a day, he has remarkable teeth. Whoever scouted him deserves a fucking medal. 

He must be back on the regals. 

[Barrington Womble]

32 minutes ago, Captain Turdseye said:

You could say that Firmino’s not really a forward. Minamino looks to be improving and growing in confidence (Villa game aside, where everyone was shite), he’s full of running and can’t do any worse on the ball than the Firmino of late. 

I'd deffo give mini a run out for a few games. Even if he's not amazing, neither is Bobby at the moment and it might spur Bobby onto bouncing back to his old self. But I don't see how a run of games will harm mini, he can only improve with game time and getting to know his teammates more and vice versa. 

 

I was thinking about bobby's form today. What was that injury he got prior to the CL final in 2019? I don't think he's been right since then. He's had some good games of course, but his consistent level (and goal return) seems to have gone to shit since then. 

[Captain Howdy]

Not sure about Minamino, he’s ok and a decent option from the bench but he doesn’t look like a starter to me.

[Bobby Hundreds]

Could jota play Central, he looks like he can hold the ball and from what I've seen he's very two footed. He could even hit the target.

[Funkasy]

Salah up top, mane on the right and jota on the left.

[Red74]

I’d rather play Origi down the middle as a no9 than those 2. At least he sometimes knows where the goal is. 
 

Edit: those 2 firm Mini

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I'd rather play without a number 9 than go with Origi. 

[aRdja]

5 hours ago, Bobby Hundreds said:

Could jota play Central, he looks like he can hold the ball and from what I've seen he's very two footed. He could even hit the target.

Salah is our best central striker by some distance.

[Barrington Womble]

7 hours ago, aRdja said:

Salah is our best central striker by some distance.

I think Salah has more success as a 9 when he does it on an ad-hoc basis. When he started as one for a while and teams were prepared for him he stopped scoring goals and got isolated in games. 

[Scott_M]

I’m not struck with Minamino, he looks like a bit of a nothing player to me. Neat & tidy, enthusiastic but I’m yet to see anything else.

 

Salah would work better in a 4-2-3-1. If we’re complaining about the lack of high press, I doubt Salah would match this current version of Firmino. I’m not sure he has the intelligence to drop deep.

 

The answer is Mane. He’s the best of the rest in the air & IMO, he’s the best presser & has the intelligence to drop deep.

 

For any doubt, re-watch the Barcelona 4-0 game. 0 goals but a phenomenal performance, like Bobby used to do.

[Babb'sBurstNad]

I've got some doubts about Minamino, as he's too easily brushed off the ball. However, I'd like to see him get some games centrally, with a strong side around him. Chucking him on with Origi, or playing in front of a makeshift midfield is kneecapping him. Werner would look no better in those scenarios.

[LFC 6 Times]

Salah is not great as a central striker, it negates his best qualities, his movement coming from our to in from a wide position in one of his biggest threats.

[Section_31]

It's a tough one with Bobby, he's not scoring goals but the consensus seems to be that the way he plays allows Salah and Mane to do what they do (the likes of Lineker and Shearer for instance, fucking love him). It's hard to predict how that whole dimension of the way we paly would change if you took him out for any length of time. 

[3 Stacks]

2 minutes ago, Section_31 said:

It's a tough one with Bobby, he's not scoring goals but the consensus seems to be that the way he plays allows Salah and Mane to do what they do (the likes of Lineker and Shearer for instance, fucking love him). It's hard to predict how that whole dimension of the way we paly would change if you took him out for any length of time. 

You're absolutely right, but the issue's not that he isn't scoring goals, it's that he's forgotten how to control and pass a ball. There are still moments where he's sharp in the final third, but when he's losing the ball in the buildup almost all the time, he's not helping anybody.