ROBERTO Firmino has never really been a centre forward. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. The Brazilian’s primary role in Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool team isn’t to stick the ball in the back of the net, it’s to facilitate others around him, like Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, to stick the ball in the back of the net.
Indeed, Firmino has been a key component of the most potent attacking unit in European football for the last few seasons. Liverpool, as a team, are built around their front three. There was a perfect balance to the Reds’ attacking structure as the Anfield club became European and then Premier League champions over 2019 and 2020.
Now, though, there is a sense Klopp’s Liverpool are at an inflexion point and the performances Firmino has produced this season have only added to that sense. The Brazilian has been a shadow of his former self, not just in the clear goalscoring opportunities he has spurned, but in the way he appears to have lost his touch for facilitating others.
There is strong evidence to suggest Firmino has peaked. He might only be 29, but that isn’t too far away from the point at which most players start to suffer a physical decline. For a player whose game is so fundamentally based on movement, it’s perhaps not surprising that Firmino’s level has dropped.
Even as Liverpool were strolling to a first league title in 30 years last season, there were questions over Firmino’s form. The apparent identification of Timo Werner as a transfer target last summer hinted at the Brazilian’s possible replacement. One season on, it really is time for Klopp to find a successor for his unorthodox number nine.
Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino & Sadio Mane at Anfield in the Premier League in 2021 (excl. penalties):
◎ 35 shots
◎ 7 shots on target
◎ 0 goalsWhat has happened to Liverpool's front three? pic.twitter.com/3EmFUT7vmd
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 20, 2021
“I don't have to say one word about Bobby Firmino and how important he was for us, I don't waste time with that,” Klopp argued a few months ago, defending Firmino for his performances. “He was in so many games the difference-maker without scoring maybe, I'm not sure, but with scoring as well in other games, so I would feel really embarrassed if I had to mention now the qualities of Bobby Firmino. I can't help these people, sorry. That's how it is.”
Earlier in the season, it appeared Firmino might have been replaced in the Liverpool lineup after Diogo Jota hit the ground running following his £41 million summer transfer from Wolves. The Portuguese forward scored seven goals, including a hat trick against Atalanta in the Champions League, in his first 10 games for his new club before injury struck, making it almost impossible for Klopp to leave him on the bench.
When Liverpool visited the Etihad Stadium to face Manchester United in one of their biggest games of the season back in November, Klopp implemented a 4-2-3-1 system that accommodated both Firmino and Jota in the same team. This was a significant sign that the German was willing to shuffle his attacking pack to try something different.
While injuries have undeniably been a major factor in the collapse of Liverpool as defending Premier League champions this season, Klopp has some big decisions to make over the future direction of the team he has built. The biggest decision he faces concerns Firmino and whether he is doing enough to justify his place in the first team.
As a Champions League and Premier League winner, Firmino has earned his spot in the pantheon of Liverpool greats, but Klopp has a duty to keep the Anfield club at the top of the game and that should see the Brazilian forward replaced. His contribution was once nuanced, but now it’s barely there at all.
