Roberto Firmino Player Thread (F)

A dedicated article for Bobby v City.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2018/jan/14/roberto-firmino-liverpool-manchester-city-anfield

@barneyronay
Sun 14 Jan 2018 20.05 GMT Last modified on Sun 14 Jan 2018 22.01 GMT

There was a moment of jarringly delicate beauty 58 minutes into this game as Liverpool did not just beat Manchester City at Anfield but wrenched that frictionless unbeaten run away from the league leaders with a startling, controlled fury.

Jürgen Klopp’s side were led here by Roberto Firmino, who produced another performance of thrillingly sustained energy and skill, terrorising City’s backline at times in the second half and embodying the pure exhilaration of Klopp’s high-craft power-chord football. With the score level at 1-1 Liverpool were already thrumming up though the gears, about to enter a rare 10-minute
period of synchronised press-and-move football during which the whole world seemed to turn a shade of red; and during which they were, briefly, unstoppable.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain took the ball deep in Liverpool’s half and played a snaking pass inside John Stones. As Stones turned to shield the ball he was bullocked out of the way with malevolent glee by Firmino, a player for whom pressing and closing down is not so much a chore as a hungrily devoured pleasure.

With Stones on his knees Firmino paused, looked up and produced a moment of startling delicacy, from sledgehammer to scalpel in a single shift of feet, lifting a lovingly dinked finish past Ederson as he rushed out. For a moment the ball seemed to hang dreamily under the lights, the air rushing out of the stadium, before falling in a gentle parabola and bouncing in off the post.

Anfield exploded with a huge gurgle of joy. Firmino sprinted for the corner flag. And three minutes later it was 3-1, from a similar moment of snatch and run. This time Mohamed Salah robbed Nicolás Otamendi, then fed the ball across the penalty area. Sadio Mané picked it up, paused and spanked the ball with startling precision into the top corner.

It was always likely to take something like this to throw City out of their stride, a performance where every part thunked into place, where both the plan and the execution reached a rare pitch of perfection.

How to play City, how to beat City, how to make at least some imprint on that well-grooved machine has been a theme of this mid‑season title stroll. Liverpool’s hard‑running, hard-pressing style had always offered some hope of locating the glass jaw some had suggested still lurks behind that annihilating jab, the poise of City’s passing game.

And City played their part in a wonderfully open game. Where other managers might have tried to shut things down away to their liveliest challengers, Guardiola put out a team with three full-time defenders and six midfielders of varying shades. Klopp made one big call, dropping the regularly unconvincing Simon Mignolet for the as-yet only briefly unconvincing Loris Karius.

On a freezing, damp, ear-numbing afternoon Anfield’s vast single-tier stands were crackling with electricity at kick-off.
And with three minutes gone two things happened for the first time that would come to define this game.

Firmino ripped an alarmingly huge hole in the centre of City’s defence with a single movement, barging a yard of space and flicking the ball cleverly into Mané’s path, setting the tone for an afternoon where Liverpool’s frontline would play right up against one another, like three men roped together on a mountain. Moments later the second thing happened. Raheem Sterling touched the ball for the first time, to huge boos, and then gave it away for the first time, to huge cheers.

If Firmino led Liverpool’s surge here, Sterling was a key part in City’s stumbling start. Frankly, he had a nightmare. Sterling left the pitch with 25 minutes to go, roared off to a standing anti‑ovation by the home crowd after one of those performances where no matter how hard you try, how furiously you work to put things right, they just keep slipping away, the bobble off the shin, the muffed dribbles, the inevitable booking. As he brushes his teeth this evening Sterling will no doubt find himself taking a sneaky look up in the mirror just to check that shape lurking by the bathroom door is not Andrew Robertson steaming out of the airing cupboard to make another sniping, raking challenge at his heels.


Before long Firmino had helped make the opening goal for Oxlade‑Chamberlain, stealing the ball from Fabian Delph and feeding it forwards. Oxlade-Chamberlain pinged a hard, low shot into the far corner, taking it so early Ederson had no time to adjust his position as he clawed at it helplessly. As half‑time approached, Kevin De Bruyne, who was brilliant in defeat, led City back into this game. Even in an occasionally traumatic defeat City were good enough to score three goals, and might even have pulled it back to 4-4.

No doubt Premier League teams will wonder if this level of forward‑fury can be replicated, if Liverpool might just have left a lasting bruise. It seems unlikely.

Not many have a Firmino to throw at this City defence, a blur of movement, power and creative mischief on an afternoon when City finally met an opponent in their own irresistible red zone.

It's taken me a long time to fully appreciate him (my son's been singing his praises for an age, annoyingly!), but he's one of the first, if not THE first name on the team sheet these days. 

Who was the fool saying he's not a good striker a few weeks back? Apologise.

Get him back so the goals can continue haha.

All jokes aside, he is an amazing player, a real asset to this team and if he was at say Dortmund or Athletico Madrid all the media would be linking him to City or PSG etc, which is fine because i don't want people noticing him.

I think he has another level to him, like we saw with Suarez, this season he will probably get 30 goals. Watch.

What a striker, he has a weapon and he is using it to the full: he's very underrated in the Premiership and he is killing many sides with his goals, assists and contribution.

Not Steve Nicol but those other 2 cu*ts on ESPN press pass reckon that was a clear foul on Stones. F**k you cu*ts, what are you guys smoking over there?

Not Steve Nicol but those other 2 cu*ts on ESPN press pass reckon that was a clear foul on Stones. F**k you cu*ts, what are you guys smoking over there?

One of the worst panels of football "analysts" ever assembled. Although the BeinSports crew of Keys and Gray still hold that mantle.

What a man our Bob is.

He's our most important player. I've said it time and again. Take him out and everything goes to sh*t.

What a striker, he has a weapon and he is using it to the full: he's very underrated in the Premiership and he is killing many sides with his goals, assists and contribution.

Agree, Bobby is an amazing played. Although I don’t mind if he keeps a low profile,  can see those cu*ts from Real and Barcelona coming for him.

You know, a lot of people say he is not a striker and is an attacking midfielder playing as a false 9, but I'd have to disagree to an extent. How many attacking midfielders are capable of holding up and link up play as good as target men? How many attacking midfielders know when and where to run/move to open up space for their team mates in a strikers position? And playing as our 9 has improved his striker's attributes which we are seeing flourish this season!

As for the false 9 role, I still believe Messi and Fabregas are the only 2 players to play that role to how it's intended. Strikers these days tend to drop off a lot, likes of Costa, Kane, Morata etc, similar to Firmino, right?! And with that, the role of a striker has evolved into a hybrid false 9 and 9 role, pretty much how a second striker would play (Bergkamp, Sheringham etc).

So therefore, I think Firmino has become a striker and is currently one of the worlds best. I wouldn't swap him for the likes of Icardi, Aubameyang, Lacazette, Mandžukić, Džeko, Morata, Lukaku, Costa, Cavani and Higuain who some consider to be exceptional - world class. However, Suarez, Kane, Mbappe, Griezmann, Dybala or Lewandowski would be tasty and the only strikers I consider better

Agree, Bobby is an amazing played. Although I don’t mind if he keeps a low profile,  can see those cu*ts from Real and Barcelona coming for him.

No they won't because he is not a high profile, he 'won't excite their fans'. Fingers crossed I'm right

Goals Scored This Season:

Roberto Firmino: 17
Romelu Lukaku: 15
Álvaro Morata: 12
Gabriel Jesus: 10
Alexandre Lacazette: 8

Many say Liverpool need an out-and-out striker

Goals Scored This Season:

Roberto Firmino: 17
Romelu Lukaku: 15
Álvaro Morata: 12
Gabriel Jesus: 10
Alexandre Lacazette: 8

Many say Liverpool need an out-and-out striker

Will be top of the assists too surely.

£400 million release clause... Kid is special..

Only player after Torres I would be gutted to see leave..

Great read......

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/287540-roberto-firmino-liverpool-s-no-9

Pretty much covers what we all know, right? I don't think he is underrated by the vast majority of us.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj75MEiJMZA

Goals Scored This Season:

Roberto Firmino: 17
Romelu Lukaku: 15
Álvaro Morata: 12
Gabriel Jesus: 10
Alexandre Lacazette: 8

Many say Liverpool need an out-and-out striker

I think focusing on how many goals he's scored, when we all speak of all the rest he offers to the team, is counter intuitive actually. He has fewer goals than Raheem Sterling this season and no one in their right minds would say Raheem is a top striker.

He only has more goals than the likes of Lukaku because he played in the easiest group of the Champions League. Plus two legs of a qualifier.

In the league, he's behind Lukaku, level with Morata, just one above Lacazette, and has a lower scoring rate than Jesus (who's been injured for a while). He's also level with Wayne Rooney and Jamie Vardy.

He's been scoring more often, and long may it continue, but I think the main point to be made is that he's a great player even though he's no goalscoring machine such as Harry Kane. He may get to that level one day, and then he'd be among the very top players in the world, but even if he doesn't, he's already an incredible player for us.

He is important to us on so many different ways.

One obvious one is aggression. And I mean that not just in terms of pressing (which he obviously very good at, and seems to instinctively know when it is best to close players down or not), but just overall aggression and physicality in his game.

We miss him dearly whenever we have anyone else other than himself upfront. Sturridge was once a top player but we cannot rely on him, and even at his best, he never challenged for the ball in the air, or fought for every loose ball, the same way that Bobby does. Solanke and Origi, despite their height, simply don't know how to use their bodies to their advantage and harass defenders, make them second guess themselves, feel uncomfortable when defending. Firmino does all of those things, and I know for sure that defenders must hate his guts; he can be a nightmare to play against.

This physical aspect of his game is sometimes underrated, but becomes evident whenever you watch him live, and seriously obvious when you are at the stadium with someone like Origi upfront instead. We struggle to control the game more effectively without it, and also do not create as many opportunities for fast transitions.

Great read......

http://www.liverpoolfc.com/news/first-team/287540-roberto-firmino-liverpool-s-no-9

It is a good read .

If we have a Player of the Year poll he will be getting my vote no question on that. Amazing work rate.

Thing I’m looking forward to most for Monday is watching this guy play again. Not bothered in the least about his goal ratio compared to other strikers because the fact of the matter is, having Firmino on the pitch brings out the best in our other players, not least Mo Salah. You could swap him for Morata, Lukaku, Sanchez or Kane and I very much doubt we’d score more as a team.

Would love to get the chance of watching this guy live.

What a man our Bob is.

He's our most important player. I've said it time and again. Take him out and everything goes to sh*t.

Yep and I've been singing from the same hymnsheet Crouchy.

Fair play to you though as I recall you talking about him as a future star a good few years back.

It is a good read .

If we have a Player of the Year poll he will be getting my vote no question on that. Amazing work rate.

I absolutely love the graft Bobby puts in and is definitely starting to get the rewards, but so far there is only one man I'd have as our player of the year and that would be the Egyptian King.

Thing I’m looking forward to most for Monday is watching this guy play again. Not bothered in the least about his goal ratio compared to other strikers because the fact of the matter is, having Firmino on the pitch brings out the best in our other players, not least Mo Salah. You could swap him for Morata, Lukaku, Sanchez or Kane and I very much doubt we’d score more as a team.

Would love to get the chance of watching this guy live.

He's boss to watch live. Even my wife who's not that much into football loved seeing him haha she would often say "he's everywhere!"

She also fell in love with Salah in the first 10 minutes of watching him. I think she actually has a decent eye for a player!

As for those other players you mentioned, I'd only consider swapping him for Harry Kane, but that's obviously just an hypothetical thing anyway because it's never going to happen.

Been reflecting - drink has been taken........

I can’t think of a more important player to any team in the league.

On that basis.....I think Bobby IS the best player in the league.

Been reflecting - drink has been taken........

I can’t think of a more important player to any team in the league.

On that basis.....I think Bobby IS the best player in the league.

Couple more drinks and it'll be '..in the world', then Pele's name will crop up. That's how it usually ends with me, except I'm usually comparing myself to Maradona : (

Excluding his actual skill as a footballer, I just F***ing love him as a human being! Absolute madman! Cracks me up! Easily my fav player....