Roberto Firmino haters are part of the problem

As Liverpool crashed out of the Champions League against Atletico Madrid, Roberto Firmino got a lot of stick. But those abusers are part of the problem.

Firmino may not have the greatest scoring record in the Reds side, but that doesn’t really matter in the context of the bigger picture.

It might be tempting to look at where the Brazilian plays and look at his raw output and put two and two together to come up with five. Or three. Or one.

Because what Roberto Firmino does for Liverpool is way more than stick the ball in the back of the net, but anyone who spends any time watching him under Jurgen Klopp would realize that. The rest are feckless keyboard warriors.

He does miss chances and when he gets himself into those positions, there are moments when Bobby should be hitting the back of the net more often. The game against Bournemouth was an excellent example, but the problem with the forward is that he’s only really brought into sharp focus when he misses a chance.

So much of the good work he does he off the ball, or in deeper areas of the field, or in the background. Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah get far more of the credit because they do get themselves in scoring areas and more often than not hit the back of the net.

And that’s another part of the puzzle. When you have players like Mane or Salah, who will hit near 20 goals a season each, you don’t need Firmino to net that many.

You need him to play the assigned role, pull defenders away from dangerous areas and create pockets of space for runners to flood in to.

Sure, when chances present themselves the Brazilian should hit the back of the net, but his goals return isn’t terrible and when you combine that with his unseen work it paints a full picture of his true contribution.