Player Focus: Klopp's Guidance Helping Firmino Find his Feet in England
It may have taken a Joe Allen penalty to secure their place in the Capital One Cup final, but Liverpool are on their way to Wembley. Jurgen Klopp’s start to life at Anfield has been indifferent to say the least, but a domestic cup final next month will be a boost as he looks to establish himself at the club. January has indeed been a hectic month for the Merseysiders, with the midweek win over Stoke their eighth game of the month.
While the fixtures have indeed come thick and fast for the Reds, however, the players have done what they can to keep the team chugging along, none more so than Roberto Firmino. From the moment he secured his switch to the Premier League, the pressure was on the Brazil international. That Liverpool could end up paying Hoffenheim a reported £29m for his services did not aid his cause.
With the Premier League widely regarded as one of the toughest leagues to settle in to, Firmino understandably struggled at first. The fee used to bring the Brazilian to England was used as a stick with which to beat him with, though Brendan Rodgers’ lack of game plan didn’t help the youngster settle in England. With Klopp at the Anfield helm, though, Firmino has begun to live up to his initial hype.
The German will have been familiar with Firmino’s qualities given his spell as Borussia Dortmund boss and must have been impressed with the playmaker. Indeed, it comes as little surprise that the 24-year-old’s form has improved with Klopp at the helm. His WhoScored rating in the Premier League before his appointment (6.81) has improved markedly after Klopp’s arrival (7.21). Importantly, though, the Liverpool manager’s deployment of the former Hoffenheim star has led to his impressive form.
Of the 14 league appearances Firmino has made under Klopp, six have come as the lead striker in a 4-3-3 formation, with the Brazilian playing a false-9 role. His WhoScored rating in this position sores to 7.90 with each of his five league goals and three of his four assists coming in the role. Clearly, playing him as the lead striker is having a positive effect on his development and settling in period, though he is not a traditional frontman in the mould of teammate Christian Benteke.
Rather, Firmino favours dropping between the lines to find pockets of space with which to exploit his creative quality, in the process dragging markers out of position. An average of two key passes per game as the lead striker shows just how effective he is at bringing others into play, reinforcing his statistically calculated WhoScored strength of ‘key passes’. It was a quality of his game that wasn’t exploited to its full potential under Rodgers, with Firmino averaging 1.2 key passes per game prior to Klopp’s appointment.
This, though, was due to Rodgers playing the Brazilian out wide in order to help with his adjustment period following his move to England. As such, it’s little coincidence that his average of 1.8 dribbles per game was higher in this period than under Klopp (1.4). With more space afforded out wide and fewer opposition, the higher number comes as little shock, but then more is to be expected over time given his quality when in possession.
However, the most significant increase comes in the defensive work he puts in under Klopp compared to under Rodgers. As is well known, Klopp demands his players work tirelessly off the ball in order to win possession, suffocating the space on the pitch before springing swift attacks to catch opponents unawares. While he failed to win possession in the attacking third in any of his six league appearances under Rodgers and managed to do so 1.7 times per game in the midfield third, both of these returns have increased significantly with Klopp at the helm.
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Only midfield trio Jordan Henderson (3.9), Emre Can (3.6) and Lucas Leiva (3.3) have won possession in the midfield third more times per game than Firmino (3.2) of all Liverpool players under Klopp. That number is the same from the six league starts Firmino has made as the lead striker, showing how willing he is to drop deeper to help win the ball back for Liverpool.
Moreover, his efficiency and composure in front of goal means Klopp is right to deploy him as the lead striker, as evidenced in the 5-4 win over Norwich and 3-3 draw with Arsenal, where Firmino required just five shots on target to score his four goals. His performances in both Premier League fixtures have contributed to a WhoScored rating of 8.26 since the turn of the year, better than any player in January of those to feature in at least three of the four top-flight games this past month.
“He’s the player that I’m sure Klopp will build his new Liverpool team around,” Brazil hero Ronaldinho said of his compatriot. The Reds star has begun to fulfill his promise with Klopp at the Anfield helm as Firmino continues to go from strength to strength in his new surroundings.
Roberto Firmino is beginning to find his feet in England and Liverpool are reaping the benefits as a result. After a successful January, the Reds will be hoping he can carry his form into February and beyond as Liverpool look to secure a European finish. With that, I'd be willing to pay up to £0.30p per share in Firmino in the Buabook match market.
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