Every team has an unsung hero. Since he signed on the dotted line from Hoffenheim, Roberto Firmino has often played in the shadows – putting in some stellar displays but not always getting the recognition he deserves.
Mo Salah and Sadio Mane have 30 goals between them this season and are used to taking all the praise, but the Brazilian is proving that he is one of the most valuable assets Jurgen Klopp has with his jaw-dropping recent form.
Some may detect a pattern emerging after he scored another dramatic winner against Wolves on Thursday night to prolong Liverpool’s freakish winning streak and maintain their 40-game unbeaten run.
Roberto Firmino is becoming ever more crucial for Liverpool – his goals have won 15 points
Firmino is Jurgen Klopp’s ‘cheeky guy’ who finds space in the middle of his pacy wide players
Firmino has been a crucial cog in Klopp’s machine during his five years at Anfield, and his sixth goal in eight games against Wolves helped him stake a claim for the hottest player in the Premier League right now.
He has 10 goals in all competitions this season – five of them have been decisive in winning league games and he almost single-handedly won them the Club World Cup with two of them.
Klopp said it best at the start of the season, saying how Firmino was his ‘cheeky guy’ who made things happen in the middle while Salah and Mane caused havoc either side of him.
‘That’s what helps him then, of course,’ he said. ‘If you have the speed around you, you can be this little cheeky guy in between the lines, being there and scoring the goals. Yeah, he’s a very valuable player for us.’
Mo Salah (C) and Sadio Mane (R) may grab the goals, but Firmino has shown he is their equal
The Brazilian arrived at Anfield for £30million in 2015, and most Liverpool fans would struggle to admit they had seen many of his performances or heard much hysteria. And the 28-year-old didn’t set the Bundlesliga on fire – far from it. He joined the Reds on the back of seven league goals in 33 games in the German top flight.
The season before he had been named as the division’s Breakthrough Player of the Season, notching 22 goals and giving himself a decent highlight reel for fans to watch on YouTube. But the job he was coming in to do wasn’t something that could be showcased in a three-minute clip.
At Hoffenheim he was primarily deployed as an attacking midfielder, and sometimes shunted out wide, and that continued at Liverpool as manager Brendan Rodgers struggled to find his best position and continued to experiment with him.
He hadn’t found the net under his leadership – Christian Benteke had come in during the same transfer window for around the same price, and was often picked to spearhead attacks. It wasn’t until Rodgers was sacked and replaced by Jurgen Klopp that Firmino started to come alive.
The Brazilian’s career kick-started after Klopp arrived at Liverpool midway through 2015-16
The 2017-18 season was his most prolific yet as he scored 27 goals, with 11 coming in Europe
In that first season, he went on to grab 11 goals and 11 assists after the German decided to make him his main central forward. But even with the backing of Klopp and a positional switch, he has never been a 20-plus-goal-a-season striker.
As he has shown this season, Firmino is the complete package as Klopp’s false nine – dropping deep, holding up play, creating chances and finishing them off too. We often judge strikers on how many goals they score, which means many fans would be ridiculed for putting him in the same league as Roberto Lewandowski, Sergio Aguero or Harry Kane.
Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville suffered that fate earlier this season after suggesting Firmino was his favourite centre-forward in the Premier League and would have him over any player.
Gary Neville raised a few eyebrows when he said Firmino was his favourite centre-forward
‘I think he’s the best centre forward in the league, Firmino,’ he said after Liverpool beat Manchester City 3-1 at Anfield. ‘If you said to me you can have one centre-forward to have in your team, it would be him.’
He might not have scored during that game, but he had a 100 per cent dribble success and dispossessed three players in a superb all-round display.
‘Any manager in the world would love to have Firmino as their centre forward,’ Neville said again recently.
‘I think he’s absolutely incredible. He’s selfless, brilliant, scores goals, sets things up, they can link off him, makes all the right runs, an outstanding player.’
With the club steamrollering their way to a first Premier League title in 30 years, Firmino is taking centre stage after adding to his hot streak at Molineux. A closer look at his form this season shows how crucial nearly every one of his goals has been – his strikes have won Liverpool 15 points so far.
Firmino strikes at the death against Palace in November, one of many match winning displays
In August he put the team two goals up at St Mary’s before Danny Ings netted a late consolation, and the following month he provided a two-goal cushion at Stamford Bridge before N’Golo Kante got one back for Chelsea.
In November Palace thought they had nicked a point from the runaway league leaders, then in came Firmino five minutes from time to steal all three points. And his clinical form clinched silverware for the Reds as he took his shooting boots to the Club World Cup in Qatar.
A stoppage-time goal against Mexican outfit Monterrey nicked a 2-1 win at the death in the semi-final, and an extra-time strike then secured the trophy against Brazilian side Flamengo.
He scored twice at the Club World Cup last December – both were dramatic winning goals
His stoppage time goal against Flamengo helped Liverpool become champions of the world
But his clinical streak didn’t die with 2019 as he smashed in a sweet strike away at Tottenham in a narrow 1-0 win at the start of the year before drilling home late against Wolves this week.
Incredibly, all 10 of Firmino’s goals have come away from home this season – pushing his team forward in tricky contests when Liverpool have been up against it and needing that quality to squeeze through.
After his match-winning antics at Spurs, his manager Jurgen Klopp revealed the Brazilian had felt guilty for only scoring once. Klopp simply wanted to praise him for another hardworking display.
‘When I went to him and wanted to give him a hug after the game, he wanted to stop and talk first. He said: “I know I should have scored more goals”. It was absolutely not what I wanted to say!
Klopp doesn’t rely on the Brazilian for goals and values his all round contribution to the team
Firmino has become the centrepiece of this Liverpool team as they romp towards the title
‘It is true probably. He should have scored immediately with the first chance. He is a super player, super. I don’t say this for the first time and will hopefully not say it for the last time. [He’s] pretty impressive.’
Klopp’s words spoke volumes about how he sees the forward and the role he plays for Liverpool. He isn’t putting him under pressure to add to his goal tally, because he knows the role he plays is what every other team is lacking. He has nearly as many assists as goals this season, and that has been a theme nearly every season of his career so far.
It can’t be a coincidence that Firmino is slowly becoming the centrepiece of this team in a campaign where they are snatching everything in sight. Liverpool have had some brilliant forwards over the years – Luis Suarez, Fernando Torres, Michael Owen, but their new No 9 is showing that goals alone can only take you so far in the modern game.