Jurgen Klopp has suggested that Luis Diaz was scouted for Liverpool to play in the ‘second striker’ role.
Klopp made the comments while speaking to Peter Crouch for BT Sport. Asked by Crouch for his thoughts on Diaz’s instant impact for Liverpool, Klopp said his only surprise was the speed at which the Colombian has settled.
“How he played at Porto, on the wing or as a second striker, you can see he has the potential to hit the ground running,” said the Liverpool boss. “We knew it will work but just not how quick.”
Liverpool’s recruitment team are on of the most thorough around. If they saw Diaz playing effectively as a second striker and decided to sign him, perhaps he is being readied for a reprisal of that role at Liverpool.
Either way, it seems that Jurgen is delighted with how the January signing has bedded in.
“He found his feet and now he wants to keep it, now he wants to go from here and it’s really nice to have him around,” said Klopp.
Shuffling the pack
It isn’t the first time it has been suggested that Diaz could play through the middle for Klopp. Upon his signing, The Athletic claimed that the Liverpool boss planned to use the 25-year-old as a central forward.
We haven’t yet seen that for Liverpool. As a quick and clever forward his movement is quite fluid, but he has tended to start attacks from the left.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of a change in position for Diaz is what it would mean for Sadio Mane. It was widely believed that the Colombian was brought in as Mane’s long-term replacement.
But the two have interestingly played together on several occasions. Usually that has meant Mane playing through the middle with Diaz on his left.
Maybe that’s a case of Klopp letting Diaz play his more ‘natural’ role to begin with. If he does eventually decide to utilise Diaz’s strengths through the middle, Mane could still have as big-a-role as ever.
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