I don't even know what his best position is.
By all accounts, he started off as a defender.
He isn't a midfielder.
He can't play as a wide attacking midfielder.
He isn't a #10 as he simply doesn't have the touch, vision and passing quality of someone like Coutinho (although this is probably the only position I can see him possibly being shoehorned into).
He's certainly not a #9 and just because Klopp thought so didn't make it right either. Because it's clearly failed.
I honestly don't know what his best position is. He's more like a utility player to me.
Baffling player.
I think he'd work best in the 4-3-3 as a wide man in the front three, as long as the full back was a real bomber. Ask him to play there with either James Milner or Nathanial Clyne and he isn't up to it I'm afraid. Not enough pace, drive or I'm sorry to say determination either (it's his bottling out of tackles which most frustrates me about him, even more than his giving the ball away so frequently).
As a striker, number 9 either false or genuine he only really works against teams who pass it around at the back. I can well believe he used to be a defender, because he's the best closer down of opposition defenders we've had since Ian Rush in my opinion. Unfortunately the comparisons with Rushy end right there, the Welshman was absolutely deadly and scored heavily season after season, in short he was a proper striker in every sense.
In my view it's our devotion to all things Bobby which has been THE biggest factor in our undoing this season, even more so than our defensive woes. To come out of two windows with Bobby pencilled in as our number one striker, with the back up being an injury prone marksman who we don't even fancy when fit, or an at best very raw up and comer was a calamitous error in my view. We simply don't have enough players who represent a goal threat to be able to carry a "striker" who is barely getting into double figures despite playing every game. Jürgen clearly thought he was going to score much more heavily than he has, and even worse now teams have worked us out in terms of our rinse and repeat tactical plan, Firmino is in many games pretty near to being a waste of a shirt. Take away his pressing, which the "park the bus, here YOU have the ball" does and you are left with a fitful, inconsistent and lightweight player who often you forget is playing such is his disappearance. You can carry the odd player like that (Coutinho being a good example) on the proviso that they often light the game up (which Coutinho does to be fair), but guys who you carry but don't contribute are a ticket to getting beat every week.
I've already said I expect him to play well today and to score twice, simply because Arsenal are a team which is absolutely made for his "run around a lot" approach. If we played Arsenal every week he'd win the golden boot but we don't, and given that we need a couple of proper strikers.
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