Joleon Lescott has expressed his surprise that Liverpool are no longer so reliant on the goals of Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.
Speaking to BT Sport during the coverage of Liverpool’s 3-3 draw with Benfica last night, the former England man instead hailed the impact of Roberto Firmino.
“To smell the potential opportunity there, he (Firmino) offers so much more than just goals for Liverpool,” said Lescott.
The pundit was shocked that Liverpool could be so prolific without the help of their African wingers.
“I didn’t think I’d see the day where Mane and Salah aren’t playing and they’re able to score multiple goals, I thought they were so reliant on them. Their strength in depth now is evident,” he said.
Firmino has found himself out of the team more often than not this season. There surely can’t be many back-up strikers on the planet that come close to his quality. When he’s in the kind of form he was last night, Liverpool don’t need anybody else.
Bobby back amongst the goals
There are few better sights in football than a Roberto Firmino celebration. Unfortunately, as the years have passed, we’ve seen less and less of his unique reaction to finding the net.
After hitting a career high of 27 strikes in 2017/18, Bobby’s goal tally has decreased year on year. That culminated with a paltry return of nine goals in 48 games last season.
Thankfully, the 30-year-old’s brace last night has put an end to that slide. His goals to kill off Benfica’s hopes of reaching the Champions League semi-final were his 10th and 11th of the campaign.
With a portion of the season still to come, perhaps he can even push towards the 15 goal mark. He now needs just two more goals to bring up a century in a Liverpool shirt.
The long goodbye?
Strangely, Firmino seems to be scoring more as he is playing less. In years gone by he has been one of the first names on the teamsheet. No player has played more games than Firmino has for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool.
This season that has changed. The form of Diogo Jota in particular has put paid to his place in Klopp’s strongest team. There have also been some question marks over his own performances.
Firmino has began just 16 games from the start in 2021/22. Put into that perspective, 11 goals is a mightily impressive return for a player who, as Lescott mentions, has a much wider purpose.
With just over a year now to run on his current deal, it would be a real shame if Bobby were to depart in 2023. His technical ability is unrivalled and, as last night showed, he still has a knack of getting important goals.
As his game time has reduced it feels like the beginning of something of a long goodbye for Firmino. If he does leave at the end of his current deal, he will so as a bona fide Liverpool legend.
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