We think Roberto Firmino has had plenty better games in 2016/17, but according to his team-mate, and last night’s Man of the Match Adam Lallana, he was terrific.
The Brazilian started out on the left and was relatively quiet, but came into the game in the second-half as he moved to a more central role alongside Divock Origi.
He found pockets of space and produced a number of scintillating tricks and flicks that caused havoc amongst the Boro defenders, who at the end, were pleased to hear the final whistle.
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Lallana bagged twice and registered an assist to boot and while Coutinho is on the sidelines, he’s our most important player. The Englishman suggests he enjoys playing with Coutinho’s countryman Firmino just as much, though – while saluting the hard work of midfield runners Gini Wijnaldum and Sadio Mane.
Coutinho is expected back for the New Year’s Eve tie with Manchester City, but he’ll be absent for the Merseyside Derby and the home fixture versus Stoke.
“Any team is going to miss Philippe – he is one of the best players in the world,” Lallana said after the game, reported in the Echo.
“But Roberto Firmino, one of my favourite players, was brilliant, putting the team first and sacrificing things that he likes to do when he plays in another position.
“The team comes first all the time. I thought he was brilliant again.
“Any team is going to miss Philippe – he is one of the best players in the world.
“But Roberto Firmino, one of my favourite players, was brilliant, putting the team first and sacrificing things that he likes to do when he plays in another position.
“The team comes first all the time. I thought he was brilliant again.
“We’re still learning and we’re learning to play without Philippe. But the sooner we can have him back, the better.
“It was not too far off the complete away performance.
“But the manager has already quickly said to us there are things we can improve on. We trust what the manager says. So I’m sure over the next few days we’ll have a look at the performance, recover well and get ready for Everton on Monday night.
“We needed to move the ball quicker in the second half and take less touches, myself included.
“At times, we can maybe get a little bit carried away and all of us maybe want to attack at times when we need to protect a bit more.
“Of course, that’s a good sign. But at times, if you get too carried away, they can counter you and at times they did in the first half.
“But in the second half, I thought it was a lot better and we started very well. We could have got the goals earlier but we were patient and didn’t let that faze us. In the end, I think 3-0 was a fair result.”