Liverpool player Diogo Jota is ‘difficult to coach.’
Jurgen Klopp’s assistant manager Pepijn Lijnders was talking ahead of the Carabao Cup clash against Arsenal when he mentioned the new arrival.
Liverpool signed the forward from Wolves in a deal worth up to £45 million, said the BBC, and scored his debut goal for the club as the Reds beat the Gunners 3-1 on Monday night.
His beautiful volley led to some early comparisons between Diogo Jota and the missed deal for Timo Werner, who hasn’t hit the ground running for Chelsea in the way Jota has at Anfield.
It’s clear that the 23-year-old is a good player and he’s got some innate traits that make him an elite player; or give him the potential to be elite.
Lijnders loves Jota and said that he’s already got the same technical ability as Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah – which should scare a lot of the Premier League.
Some players just seem to be in the right place at the right time and on many levels, this intuition can’t really be taught.
Lijnders told the official club website:
"“I said last week he is at the same level technically as our front three and the one thing I found really difficult to coach is the intuition in the box, being in the right position to score like the pure instinct of a striker – what we want from many players, of course, but especially from our front three. “"
Given some time to adapt to how Klopp wants to play, Jota could raise himself to the same level as his attacking peers.
Liverpool already have an incredible goal threat thanks to Mane and Salah cutting in from out wide while Firmino always has the potential to get himself on the end of something.
Klopp has added to his strength in depth by bringing in Takumi Minamino last January and Jota this summer. Xherdan Shaqiri resurfacing against Lincoln brought an extra dimension to the attack and the Reds are looking fit and healthy going forward.
We can expect to see Jota starting against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup, especially after he caused them to many problems in the 10 minutes he was on the field. The forward could have hit three but had to settle for just one.