Jurgen Klopp doesn’t want Roberto Firmino to have a defined position at Liverpool going forward.
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The Brazilian has made a name for himself as a false-9 in Klopp’s 4-3-3, but our past three fixtures, all of which were won, saw Bobby deployed deeper – as a defensive no.10 who was dropping right back into midfield.
Liverpool’s manager though doesn’t necessarily think this is a permanent change and wants to use Firmino’s versatility in a number of roles going forward.
“I don’t have to make that decision. Bobby is a very flexible player, it was not his most genius game today but he’s so important to us,” Klopp said, reported in the Echo.
“We have not only two systems, we can play different, but he’s so smart in defending that it makes absolute sense that in a game where second balls are the most decisive thing, we have a player who is always around it and chasing the guy. That helped.
“Different positions are possible. He played the wing, he played the 9, he played the 10. I don’t have to make that decision today.”
Firmino was the worst of our attackers yesterday, but when we have talent like Xherdan Shaqiri and Daniel Sturridge on the bench, it’s less of an issue when has has a quiet game.
He has four goals and two assists in total, which is actually not befitting a player of his quality, who plays so many minutes.
Last term, Bobby got 27 in all competitions – and while we’re not sure he’ll reach that milestone this time around – reckon he can break 20.
Obviously if he continues to play deeper, this will be a tougher ask.