Liverpool need to play Takumi Minamino through the middle.
Takumi Minamino didn’t exactly blow anyone away in his first start, but he offers hope about his future with the Reds.
The inclusion of the Japanese forward over Mohamed Salah in the Merseyside Derby raised many eyebrows when the starting lineups were introduced.
However, manager Jurgen Klopp stated in his lineup analysis that Taki’s place in the front three was only a surprise for the ‘outside’ as Minamino has trained ‘exceptionally well’ in recent weeks.
Unfortunately, Taki didn’t play exceptionally well against Everton. At times, it was hard to notice he was even on the pitch as he only managed to register 24 touches in his 45 minutes of play.
Additionally, he struggled in a good amount of his duels against Lucas Digne down the right wing. All in all, Minamino failed to influence the derby in any meaningful way before he was replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain at half time.
However, Klopp has stated ‘it had nothing to do with Taki’s performance. It was just my idea to try it.’
Although the performance wasn’t great, the blame shouldn’t all be put on the Japanese forward. Again, he was forced to play on the wing, which isn’t his natural position. Minamino is at his best when he is playing centrally in the false 9 position.
Jurgen Klopp suggests his half-time withdrawal of Takumi Minamino was planned to make the most of the new five substitutions rule. "It had nothing to do with Taki's performance. It was just my idea to try it."
— David Lynch (@dmlynchlfc) June 21, 2020
As a matter of fact, in the few minutes when he occupied that space, there was a stark difference in his play compared to when he was on the right flank. He was even involved in a magical moment of play with Naby Keita which resulted in one of Liverpool’s best chances of the game.
From that small sample size, there is good reason to believe that Minamino can become more influential on the pitch if he is played centrally instead of on the wing.
It’s clear from Sunday’s showing that Minamino’s future with Liverpool should be through the middle on the front three. That’s where he has shown the most promise and where he looks the most comfortable.
This means that the Japanese forward simply can not coexist with Roberto Firmino, at least not with the current system. So, despite the lackluster performance, we can not fully judge Minamino until we see him in his best position alongside Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah.