Firmino’s football IQ is so high he understands drills without the need of an interpreter, says Klopp

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British tennis star Kyle Edmund, who is also a massive Liverpool fan, has explained a conversation he had with Jurgen Klopp at Melwood about Roberto Firmino.

Bobby has been with us since 2015, but his English is not yet perfect – probably because he spends his time off the pitch with fellow Portuguese speakers.

But Klopp told Edmund this isn’t a problem, and that during training drills, Firmino picks up what is meant to be done immediately, without the need of an interpreter – unlike many others.

“We were talking about different players and he was talking about Firmino, whose English is not amazing but it’s OK,” Edmund told Sky Sports.

“They have a few Portuguese speaking players so you could explain a drill and sometimes you might have to translate it, but he said with Firmino you don’t have to explain it. You just do the drill and he picks it up like that. He was basically saying his football IQ was so high you don’t have to explain too much. To hear that from Klopp was pretty cool.”

Firmino hasn’t scored a league goal at Anfield this season, which is a really weird stat considering he’s played nearly every game – but the most important thing is that we’ve also won every one of them – proving his inclusion is helping the team secure victory.

If his finishing was clinical, he’d rightly be recognised as one of the best players on the planet – but the manner in which he creates and plays unselfishly allows Sadio Mane and Mo Salah to top the goalscorer charts instead.

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