Roberto Firmino Player Thread (F)

The anticipated Sterling fee has got them right out of the sh*t.

Not according to some. Seems the sterling money is massive bonus. we already had money set aside for 3 top money signings, hence the free transfers to add to squad while keeping money back for biggies.

Sky reporting that it's a £21m deal that could rise to £28m. If that's the case it seems better than a all in one payment.

Not bad mate. Good deal. Im not convinced but certainly a breath of fresh air.

Should only be a decór, a player complimenting Suarez, Sterling etc., and not a saviour. The lad will find it tougher in PL, trying to adapt in a dysfuncional team. That said, Im in. Welcome and all the best Roberto 

Coutinho probably had more influence than the bollocksmiths you mention.
Has there not been talk of some higher power reorganising the transfer committee, DoF, manager?
The anticipated Sterling fee has got them right out of the sh*t.

It's being widely reported that this deal was done with no thought whatsoever of Sterling moving on. Just because you  keep repeating it doesn't make it true. Good grief...allow yourself to have some positivity for once and see this as what it is...a great job by the club nailing down a great talent, and Ayre obviously had a hand in it and deserves some praise. Just because we all loathe him, doesn't change the fact that he did a good job on this.

More signings to come after Liverpool net Firmino

Press Association on Jun 24, 2015

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2015/06/more-signings-to-come-after-liverpool-net-firmino/

Liverpool's £29million deal to bring Brazil forward Roberto Firmino to Anfield will not impact on further summer spending or change their stance on want-away winger Raheem Sterling.


Press Association Sport understands the Reds will pay 30million euros (about £22million) for the Hoffenheim player with add-ons likely to make the 23-year-old the club's second most expensive signing in their history, after the £35million purchase of Andy Carroll in January 2011.

Firmino, who will undergo a medical after his involvement in the Copa America is over, has agreed a five-year contract with the Reds after chief executive Ian Ayre flew out to Chile on Wednesday and the deal was finalised overnight.

The money for Firmino was outlined as planned summer transfer spending and the club do not have to sell Sterling, for whom Manchester City's second £40million offer was rejected earlier this month as they value him at £50million-plus, in order to balance the books.

They still have funds left for another centre-forward, with their sights set on Sevilla's £20million-rated Colombia striker Carlos Bacca and Zenit St Petersburg's Venezuelan Salomon Rondon, valued about £15million, who have both been in action at the Copa America.

Ayre is scheduled to remain in Chile for at least another 24 hours but Liverpool already had staff present at the tournament and they still retain interest in the South Americans after refusing to consider Aston Villa's £32.5million release clause for Christian Benteke.

Liverpool are also remaining patient in their pursuit of Southampton's England right-back Nathaniel Clyne, having already had a £10million bid turned down, as the recruitment programme aimed at regaining Champions League football continues.

Firmino is Liverpool's fifth signing of the close-season having already recruited Burnley's England Under-21 striker Danny Ings, Manchester City midfielder James Milner, Charlton defender Joe Gomez and Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.

The Brazilian spent four and a half years in Germany, scoring 47 goals in 151 appearances with four goals in nine internationals, including Sunday's Copa America winner against Venezuela.

Manager Brendan Rodgers will hope Firmino, who made his professional debut for Figueirense at the age of 17 in October 2009 but left for Germany just over a year later, can bring more goals to his side.

Main striker Daniel Sturridge was injured for most of last season and so their top scorer with 13 was Steven Gerrard, who has now left to join Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy, with Sterling next-best on 11.

Welcome to the club Bob.

This boy sounds like the business 

Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino: a thiever of balls who never stops running

The 23-year-old Brazilian arrives with a hefty price tag but his Bundesliga record is excellent and his workrate and application reminiscent of Luis Suárez

In December 2010 the Hoffenheim sporting director, Ernst Tanner, travelled to the east coast of Brazil to check out a player at the second division side Figueirense. The reports had been promising but Tanner did not know what to expect as he turned up for training to watch the young Roberto Firmino Barbosa de Oliveira.

Afterwards, Tanner was not much the wiser. “It was strange because during some exercises he would just, without any apparent reason, just fold … but instead of making a big meal out of it and getting angry, he listened carefully to his coach and learned from what he had done wrong. That impressed me.”

It is perhaps not the most glowing reference ever heard from a scouting mission but Tanner convinced Hoffenheim that the 19-year-old, whose move to Liverpool was announced on Wednesday, was worth a gamble. In January 2011 the Bundesliga club signed the player for €4m without much fanfare. At the low-key unveiling Tanner explained the club’s plans for the unknown Brazilian.

“We are delighted to have been able to strengthen our squad with a top talent from Brazil, in which several international clubs were interested,” he said. “We will give him enough time to settle in here at our club. He has already shown his qualities with eight goals in 36 games and was recently voted the best player in the Brazilian second division.”

In hindsight, Firmino could hardly have chosen a better club to start his European adventure. Hoffenheim is a tiny town south of Frankfurt with only around 3,000 inhabitants. The young Brazilian was allowed to settle without the pressure of being at a big club, or even in a big city.

Hoffenheim are only in the Bundesliga because of Dietmar Hopp’s huge financial support but they have also been extremely successful with their South American imports. In the month Firmino arrived at Hoffenheim, the club sold Luiz Gustavo to Bayern Munich for €17m. He had arrived from Corinthians Alagoano in 2008 for an even smaller fee than Firmino did three years later.

Firmino, in fact, was looking forward to moving to Europe so much that he got himself a tattoo in German before he boarded the flight. There was only one slight problem: he had used an internet translation tool, which did not use the umlaut on the ö in the phrase: “Familie unaufhorlich Liebe”, which roughly translates as “unremitting love for the family”.

Undeterred, the Brazilian made his Bundesliga debut a month after arriving in Germany and played in 11 league games that season, mainly as a substitute, scoring three goals; and this is the thing about Firmino, he is not an out-and-out goalscorer. He is a forward who averages roughly a goal every three games, and he has done that throughout his career.

What he does provide though, is an unrelenting work ethic. In that respect, he is similar to Luis Suárez and Alexis Sánchez. He will harry and press the opponents until he drops. In one match report in Germany he was described as the “clever, first stealer of balls in Hoffenheim’s pressing system”.

Holger Stanislawski, his first manager at Hoffenheim, immediately described him as being “unbelievably good tactically”, which will be music to Brendan Rodgers’ ears after a season of having to teach Mario Balotelli, among other things, how to defend at corners.

In fact he has been showered with praise for most of his time in Germany, the papers describing him as one of few players “who stay focused for the entire 90 minutes” and a “master of moving around without anyone noticing him, to provide goals or score them himself”.

There have been some disciplinary issues and he was once suspended briefly by Hoffenheim for turning up late for training but that was early on in his career and he has not done it since.

The 23-year-old was born in Maceió – as was Pepe and Mario Zagallo – which is one of Brazil’s most dangerous cities. His father sold water bottles to commuters waiting in the queues in and out of the city and he had to move to Figueirense on his own when he was 16. “It was not an easy time,” he has said, “I was completely on my own”. But that experience will have prepared him for moving to Germany, and now to England.

The 2013-14 season was arguably Firmino’s best to date with the manager Markus Gisdol getting the best out of him. Gisdol not only made him a better attacking player but also instilled the workrate ethic that was surely a big reason for Liverpool paying as much as £29m for him.

That season he scored 16 goals in 33 Bundesliga games, finishing third behind Marco Reus (30) and Robert Lewandowski (31) in the goalscoring charts. He also provided 12 assists that season and is, in fact, the player who has created most chances in the Bundesliga (138) over the past two seasons. Firmino also had the joint-third most assists last season (10) with Thomas Müller. Not bad for someone playing for a mid-table club.

Currently with Brazil at the Copa América, Firmino has coped well with the pressure of leading the line now that Neymar is suspended and he has already scored four goals in nine appearances for the national team. Carlos Dunga’s side play Paraguay in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Behind the scenes, he is a bubbly, fun character but in front of the cameras he comes across as incredibly shy. On Tuesday, at a Copa press conference before his moved was confirmed, he managed to answer 18 questions without saying anything of note. It got to a point where the Brazilian journalists could only smile.

Most importantly for Liverpool, though, is that they seem to have learned from last summer’s travails in the transfer market. Then a deal for Loïc Rémy collapsed in late July and the club were forced into what can only be described as a panic buy with Balotelli in August. This time they have already signed James Milner, Adam Bogdan, Danny Ings and now Firmino.

The fee is eye-watering considering it is almost as much as Chelsea paid for Diego Costa and more (with add-ons) than Arsenal paid for Sánchez. But there is no doubt that he is an extremely talented young player who is still improving. There will be few defences in the Premier League looking forward to an afternoon battling Philippe Coutinho, Firmino and Daniel Sturridge – if fit.

And while £29m does seem a lot, if Raheem Sterling joins Manchester City for a fee of around £45-50m then Liverpool will have got a more consistent performer and made a hefty profit in the process. They’ll settle for that, and if Sterling stays, then opposing defences will be in even more trouble next season.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jun/24/roberto-firmino-liverpool-thiever-of-balls?CMP=share_btn_tw

Hopefully learned his google translate lesson

I think this is the 2nd biggest signing in terms of ability and potential under FSG era. Watched quite a bit of Firmino last couple of seasons and he was my 2nd choice to replace Suarez last summer.

He's more than just an attacking midfielder, and this season he has become the ultimate team player. The YT clips don't even do him justice, he is such an intelligent footballer, makes great runs, fantastic footballer and can play anywhere in attack. He can be what Sanchez is to Arsenal for us, we just need to let him play how Suarez did in 13/14 season, or how Sanchez is playing for Arsenal!

     


 

Im so excited at this signing

welcome 

If he was called Robert Firminson and had a british passport there wouldnt even be a thread on him tut tut

If he was called Robert Firminson and had a british passport there wouldnt even be a thread on him tut tut

You got a point mate?
133 goal involvments in 160 matches and you are whinning that he will end up like Lamela FFS.Get that negativity out of here.

Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino: a thiever of balls who never stops running

The 23-year-old Brazilian arrives with a hefty price tag but his Bundesliga record is excellent and his workrate and application reminiscent of Luis Suárez

In December 2010 the Hoffenheim sporting director, Ernst Tanner, travelled to the east coast of Brazil to check out a player at the second division side Figueirense. The reports had been promising but Tanner did not know what to expect as he turned up for training to watch the young Roberto Firmino Barbosa de Oliveira.

Afterwards, Tanner was not much the wiser. “It was strange because during some exercises he would just, without any apparent reason, just fold … but instead of making a big meal out of it and getting angry, he listened carefully to his coach and learned from what he had done wrong. That impressed me.”

It is perhaps not the most glowing reference ever heard from a scouting mission but Tanner convinced Hoffenheim that the 19-year-old, whose move to Liverpool was announced on Wednesday, was worth a gamble. In January 2011 the Bundesliga club signed the player for €4m without much fanfare. At the low-key unveiling Tanner explained the club’s plans for the unknown Brazilian.

“We are delighted to have been able to strengthen our squad with a top talent from Brazil, in which several international clubs were interested,” he said. “We will give him enough time to settle in here at our club. He has already shown his qualities with eight goals in 36 games and was recently voted the best player in the Brazilian second division.”

In hindsight, Firmino could hardly have chosen a better club to start his European adventure. Hoffenheim is a tiny town south of Frankfurt with only around 3,000 inhabitants. The young Brazilian was allowed to settle without the pressure of being at a big club, or even in a big city.

Hoffenheim are only in the Bundesliga because of Dietmar Hopp’s huge financial support but they have also been extremely successful with their South American imports. In the month Firmino arrived at Hoffenheim, the club sold Luiz Gustavo to Bayern Munich for €17m. He had arrived from Corinthians Alagoano in 2008 for an even smaller fee than Firmino did three years later.

Firmino, in fact, was looking forward to moving to Europe so much that he got himself a tattoo in German before he boarded the flight. There was only one slight problem: he had used an internet translation tool, which did not use the umlaut on the ö in the phrase: “Familie unaufhorlich Liebe”, which roughly translates as “unremitting love for the family”.

Undeterred, the Brazilian made his Bundesliga debut a month after arriving in Germany and played in 11 league games that season, mainly as a substitute, scoring three goals; and this is the thing about Firmino, he is not an out-and-out goalscorer. He is a forward who averages roughly a goal every three games, and he has done that throughout his career.

What he does provide though, is an unrelenting work ethic. In that respect, he is similar to Luis Suárez and Alexis Sánchez. He will harry and press the opponents until he drops. In one match report in Germany he was described as the “clever, first stealer of balls in Hoffenheim’s pressing system”.

Holger Stanislawski, his first manager at Hoffenheim, immediately described him as being “unbelievably good tactically”, which will be music to Brendan Rodgers’ ears after a season of having to teach Mario Balotelli, among other things, how to defend at corners.

In fact he has been showered with praise for most of his time in Germany, the papers describing him as one of few players “who stay focused for the entire 90 minutes” and a “master of moving around without anyone noticing him, to provide goals or score them himself”.

There have been some disciplinary issues and he was once suspended briefly by Hoffenheim for turning up late for training but that was early on in his career and he has not done it since.

The 23-year-old was born in Maceió – as was Pepe and Mario Zagallo – which is one of Brazil’s most dangerous cities. His father sold water bottles to commuters waiting in the queues in and out of the city and he had to move to Figueirense on his own when he was 16. “It was not an easy time,” he has said, “I was completely on my own”. But that experience will have prepared him for moving to Germany, and now to England.

The 2013-14 season was arguably Firmino’s best to date with the manager Markus Gisdol getting the best out of him. Gisdol not only made him a better attacking player but also instilled the workrate ethic that was surely a big reason for Liverpool paying as much as £29m for him.

That season he scored 16 goals in 33 Bundesliga games, finishing third behind Marco Reus (30) and Robert Lewandowski (31) in the goalscoring charts. He also provided 12 assists that season and is, in fact, the player who has created most chances in the Bundesliga (138) over the past two seasons. Firmino also had the joint-third most assists last season (10) with Thomas Müller. Not bad for someone playing for a mid-table club.

Currently with Brazil at the Copa América, Firmino has coped well with the pressure of leading the line now that Neymar is suspended and he has already scored four goals in nine appearances for the national team. Carlos Dunga’s side play Paraguay in the quarter-finals on Saturday.

Behind the scenes, he is a bubbly, fun character but in front of the cameras he comes across as incredibly shy. On Tuesday, at a Copa press conference before his moved was confirmed, he managed to answer 18 questions without saying anything of note. It got to a point where the Brazilian journalists could only smile.

Most importantly for Liverpool, though, is that they seem to have learned from last summer’s travails in the transfer market. Then a deal for Loïc Rémy collapsed in late July and the club were forced into what can only be described as a panic buy with Balotelli in August. This time they have already signed James Milner, Adam Bogdan, Danny Ings and now Firmino.

The fee is eye-watering considering it is almost as much as Chelsea paid for Diego Costa and more (with add-ons) than Arsenal paid for Sánchez. But there is no doubt that he is an extremely talented young player who is still improving. There will be few defences in the Premier League looking forward to an afternoon battling Philippe Coutinho, Firmino and Daniel Sturridge – if fit.

And while £29m does seem a lot, if Raheem Sterling joins Manchester City for a fee of around £45-50m then Liverpool will have got a more consistent performer and made a hefty profit in the process. They’ll settle for that, and if Sterling stays, then opposing defences will be in even more trouble next season.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/jun/24/roberto-firmino-liverpool-thiever-of-balls?CMP=share_btn_tw

Hopefully learned his google translate lesson

greast read thanks for sharing this pal

Fair play, the lad is saying all the right things at least



Welcome to the best team in the world!

Fair play, the lad is saying all the right things at least



Welcome to the best team in the world!

Funny, but lets not become Everton here.

You got a point mate?
133 goal involvments in 160 matches and you are whinning that he will end up like Lamela FFS.Get that negativity out of here.

From a Bayern fan

He played in the ultimate gung-ho team. Pretty sure that played a huge part as well. Hoffenheim's goal difference over the last 2 seasons is 121:125 (in 68 games). The majority of his goals and assists came in the totally extreme 13/14 season when Hoffenheim finished with 70 goals scored and 72 conceded in 34 games (he had 27 goals and assists in 33 games). Last season when Hoffenheim played a bit less extreme (still crazy attacking overall of course), he had 17 goals and assists in 33 games.

He also played a lot more minutes than e.g. Robben. Firmino played more than 2900 minutes in both the last two seasons, Robben only about 1700 in both seasons, so Robben's 41 goals and assists in about 3400 minutes are a lot more impressive than Firmino's 44 in about 5800 minutes. Müller, who seems to count as a forward and therefore was excluded, had 46 goals and assists in about 4600 minutes. De Bruyne is already on 39 in 1,5 seasons (4500 minutes). Reus had despite all his injuries 41 goals and assists in only 3800 minutes.

No worries mate, Im excited like I was when we signed Lallana. Its just not about one player but a team. We dont have one at the moment. One biggish player isnt going to change that.

It's been a long wait lads and ladies but we finally have a signing we can truly get excited about!

Credit to all who put this deal together and got it over the line, I do believe the influence of Coutinho will have been massive but even still we will have had to compete with many of the top teams and we finally came out on top!

Absolutely delighted.

Welcome to the club Roberto.

It's being widely reported that this deal was done with no thought whatsoever of Sterling moving on. Just because you  keep repeating it doesn't make it true. Good grief...allow yourself to have some positivity for once and see this as what it is...a great job by the club nailing down a great talent, and Ayre obviously had a hand in it and deserves some praise. Just because we all loathe him, doesn't change the fact that he did a good job on this.

More signings to come after Liverpool net Firmino

Press Association on Jun 24, 2015

http://www.thisisanfield.com/2015/06/more-signings-to-come-after-liverpool-net-firmino/

Liverpool's £29million deal to bring Brazil forward Roberto Firmino to Anfield will not impact on further summer spending or change their stance on want-away winger Raheem Sterling.


Press Association Sport understands the Reds will pay 30million euros (about £22million) for the Hoffenheim player with add-ons likely to make the 23-year-old the club's second most expensive signing in their history, after the £35million purchase of Andy Carroll in January 2011.

Firmino, who will undergo a medical after his involvement in the Copa America is over, has agreed a five-year contract with the Reds after chief executive Ian Ayre flew out to Chile on Wednesday and the deal was finalised overnight.

The money for Firmino was outlined as planned summer transfer spending and the club do not have to sell Sterling, for whom Manchester City's second £40million offer was rejected earlier this month as they value him at £50million-plus, in order to balance the books.

They still have funds left for another centre-forward, with their sights set on Sevilla's £20million-rated Colombia striker Carlos Bacca and Zenit St Petersburg's Venezuelan Salomon Rondon, valued about £15million, who have both been in action at the Copa America.

Ayre is scheduled to remain in Chile for at least another 24 hours but Liverpool already had staff present at the tournament and they still retain interest in the South Americans after refusing to consider Aston Villa's £32.5million release clause for Christian Benteke.

Liverpool are also remaining patient in their pursuit of Southampton's England right-back Nathaniel Clyne, having already had a £10million bid turned down, as the recruitment programme aimed at regaining Champions League football continues.

Firmino is Liverpool's fifth signing of the close-season having already recruited Burnley's England Under-21 striker Danny Ings, Manchester City midfielder James Milner, Charlton defender Joe Gomez and Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan.

The Brazilian spent four and a half years in Germany, scoring 47 goals in 151 appearances with four goals in nine internationals, including Sunday's Copa America winner against Venezuela.

Manager Brendan Rodgers will hope Firmino, who made his professional debut for Figueirense at the age of 17 in October 2009 but left for Germany just over a year later, can bring more goals to his side.

Main striker Daniel Sturridge was injured for most of last season and so their top scorer with 13 was Steven Gerrard, who has now left to join Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy, with Sterling next-best on 11.

We don't loathe Ayre he is merely an agent.
He has fu**ed up 99% of the so called target buys, he is by now expected to F**k up without exception.
His involvement in this episode of an unprecedented success in bringing a potential gem to the club is overshadowed if not eclipsed, by the mateyness of said target and Phillippe Coutinho who has vowed to remain at LFC and without doubt had a word in the ear of your man Firmino.
He should be roundly applauded for his loyalty instead of a nod of appreciation to an H&G piece of jettison. 

Not wetting myself until medical's done and he's leaning on something outside Melwood, the Copa America notwithstanding .

Just Keeper, DM and Striker to go!!

Not wetting myself until medical's done and he's leaning on something outside Melwood, the Copa America notwithstanding .

Just Keeper, DM and Striker to go!!

Agreed mate, made up he's signing with us but just want that Medical sorted and to see him out the front of Melwood. Like I said earlier, hope Brazil wraps him in cotton wool or a large bubble for the rest of the tourni. 

and Ayre obviously had a hand in it and deserves some praise. Just because we all loathe him, doesn't change the fact that he did a good job on this.

It's not loathing him though, it's simply taking the piss, Pubic is our target and let's be honest what the suits are for - taking the absolute piss out of and he does give us plenty of ammo.

Loathing is what we save for those down the East Lancs or the Kings Road 

It's not loathing him though, it's simply taking the piss, Pubic is our target and let's be honest what the suits are for - taking the absolute piss out of and he does give us plenty of ammo.

Loathing is what we save for those down the East Lancs or the Kings Road 

We don't loathe Ayre he is merely an agent.
He has fu**ed up 99% of the so called target buys, he is by now expected to F**k up without exception.
His involvement in this episode of an unprecedented success in bringing a potential gem to the club is overshadowed if not eclipsed, by the mateyness of said target and Phillippe Coutinho who has vowed to remain at LFC and without doubt had a word in the ear of your man Firmino.
He should be roundly applauded for his loyalty instead of a nod of appreciation to an H&G piece of jettison. 

I'm not so sure he's still doing the negotiating Stuey or if he is, he's had a rocket up his arse as the business so far isn't his usual MO.  Far too smooth, far too quick and far less hassle 

Not according to some. Seems the sterling money is massive bonus. we already had money set aside for 3 top money signings, hence the free transfers to add to squad while keeping money back for biggies.

Now that is good news, hope there's some meat on the bones of it and we finally get to see the owners in a positive light.