Even though Salah and Mane took most of the credit, Firmino’s contribution to Liverpool’s exemplary attacking football cannot be undermined.
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Another member of Liverpool’s fabulous front three of Mohamed Salah, Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane is set to depart the club this summer. Mane had already left Anfield and joined Bayern Munich last summer and Firmino is set to leave the Reds in this window. That leaves the ever-reliable Salah as the sole member from the wolf pack still staying at Liverpool. Together, these three players had terrorised defences across Europe.
All three had an important role to play for Liverpool under Jurgen Klopp. Salah predominantly operated on the right wing and Mane took up the left flank. However, the most vital part was played by Firmino. Even though he played down the middle, the Brazilian was not an out and out striker on the pitch. Instead, Firmino took up a deeper role that was commonly called as ‘false nine.’ He used to received a lot of balls in this position, which he distributed it to the forward running Salah and Mane.
Even though Salah and Mane took most of the credit, Firmino’s contribution to Liverpool’s exemplary attacking football cannot be undermined. He was the key to maintain the link between the frontline players. “I think [it’s] his ability to do everything in the game and also to sacrifice himself for the team. He just plays for the team. He doesn’t really care about scoring that much, he just wants to enjoy his game and just play football and wants the team to win,” Salah said in the third and final instalment of Bobby, Liverpool’s series, which tells the story of Firmino’s career at Anfield.
“I think he’s one of the ones [who has] been loved the most because everybody likes him. He’s really calm, always smiling. And as I said before, when you see someone sacrifice himself for the team, you see everybody loves him here. [He will be remembered as] a great. He is going be one of the best players to ever play for Liverpool. He won the Premier League and Champions League and all the cups. He won everything with the club and he’s one of the best ever to play for Liverpool.”
Meanwhile, Mane also had kind words to describe his former Liverpool teammate. “I think we did incredible things together. I am so grateful. I think Bobby is a special player. For me, wow, what a No.9. As a person I think he is the most positive guy. I learned a lot from him myself because sometimes when I’m not playing, on the bench or whatever, he knows me,” he added.
“He tells me to stay calm, he knows me… stay calm, positive, no problem. This kind of person is not easy to find… in the pitch, out of the pitch, I learned a lot from him. He has the ability to turn easily [with] the ball, not always playing the backpass, he always tries to find solutions. I think he changed everything.”
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