Jurgen Klopp has waxed lyrical about the Belgian forward in what the boss is now known as ‘Divock Origi week’ – that’s a national holiday I can get behind!
The 24-year-old emerged as a hero in our last couple of games; he scored a late winner against Newcastle to keep the Premier League title race alive and bagged a brace against Barcelona in our incredible Champions League comeback.
Origi has found himself in the first team picture before, but following that Ramiro Funes Mori tackle during Liverpool’s 4-0 drumming of Everton he struggled to break back in,
Klopp has confirmed that he always kept faith in the forward. “When you think about how much he was not playing, maybe you think that I don’t like the player that much or I don’t trust him too much. But that is actually not right,” he told the Liverpool Echo.
“It is difficult to come in a team when you have Salah, Mane and Firmino. That is one thing.
“The other thing I cannot forget is how good he was until the Everton game when Funes Mori kicked him and then how long a player can struggle in the decisive moment of the year.
“But you cannot be the same player when you have a bit of pain in each step, things like that. Then you lose confidence and we send him out on loan, he comes back but he needs time and in this business, nobody has time.
“But then showing up the way he did, it’s been Divock Origi week. We don’t have to talk about the other night, there was the header at Newcastle, that was crazy. And we don’t have to talk about the header against Everton, and these two goals [versus Barcelona].
“Divock was just so unlucky and I’m very happy that he is there again and he is really back on the landscape. It’s important for us and important for his development.”
It’s always going to be a fantastic problem – having Bobby Firmino, Mo Salah and Sadio Mane, but we do need depth and a player of Origi’s quality is, for me, a fantastic member of the squad.
To return the way the Belgian has after his long-term injury and loan spell in the Bundesliga as well – class act. Hopefully he stays at the club for seasons to come.