Roberto Firmino & Klopp
There’s been some talk recently about Mohamed Salah being a bit too goal hungry up front. This could be a continued reaction from the brief, on pitch squabble he had with teammate Sadio Mané earlier this season. Or it could just be because Liverpool are close to perfect right now, but people still need things to complain about.
Jurgen Klopp said “People were talking about Mo Salah. Mo was never selfish, or more selfish than he should be. A striker in the right position… we have seen goals from Mo where he scores in between four players and finds the roof of the goal. Then when you do not score people say you should have passed here or there. Life is not that easy. On Saturday he was very unselfish and he got the balls (passes) back, so he could score. Offensively – all around – it was really tough game.”
It’s worth noting that Salah is tied with Mané at six assists this season, and that no matter who scores, the three amigos up top always work together to make it happen.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has hailed his No 9 Roberto Firmino after three assists in their 4-0 win over Southampton at the weekend. Firmino assisted Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s opener and then Jordan Henderson’s finish. And he clinched his third assist of the afternoon by squaring to Mohamed Salah for his team’s fourth goal to round off a 24th victory from 25 Premier League games this season. That took the Brazilian to eight goals and seven assists, putting him behind only Mohamed Salah (14 goals, six assists) and Sadio Mane (11 goals, six assists) for most direct goal contributions for the Reds in the top flight this term.
Klopp said: ” Arsene Wenger said he is unique? He is. He is just exceptional, a very football smart person, obviously. In the first half, in between a really tight formation of Southampton, the way he drops and keeps the ball, how he makes things happen is very special, absolutely. Then even a player like Bobby needs an address where he can send the ball, because he can not take the ball and turn and run alone. How he uses the skills of his mates is special. I do not know a player like him, that is true. A selfless number nine? Yes but surprisingly he had to catch up assist-wise with the other boys. Until Saturday I think he was behind the other boys and now he has more. The good thing is he never stops being greedy to score himself in the right moment, or to pass to the guy in a better position.”
Roberto Firmino has a special relationship with Jurgen Klopp which we covered in our blog previously.
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp praised Alisson for his effortless saves against Southampton.
Jurgen Klopp said “Today, for example, Southampton had absolutely too many shots and finishes, but what Ali is doing with these finishes, I have no clue how he is doing it. It looks always at the end like it was not a good finish, but I think the finishes were pretty good, just Ali was there. That is really special.”
The German manager was full of praise for his incomparable shot-stopper who recorded his ninth clean sheet of the season.
