Steve McManaman was thrilled with what he saw from Roberto Firmino in Liverpool’s 3-1 win against Newcastle United at Anfield on Saturday afternoon.
Jurgen Klopp’s side had to come from a goal behind to preserve their 100 per cent start to the new Premier League campaign and Firmino’s impact off the bench was a major reason behind that victory.
Divock Origi went off injured in the 37th minute while the scores were level at one each.
Firmino replaced the Belgium international and then assisted goals for both Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah to help Liverpool round off the win.
McManaman named the Brazilian as his man of the match as the game neared its conclusion.
“It’s been an absolute joy to watch him for the 60 minutes he’s been on the field,” McManaman said in commentary on BT Sport 1 on Saturday [02:16pm].
“He was involved in Liverpool’s second [goal], he was involved in Liverpool’s third.
“His overall link-up play is just exceptional.
“It’s a pity he was on the bench but as I said as soon as he came on he helped Liverpool to a strong position.”
TIF Tactics
Firmino was absolutely fantastic for Liverpool after he came off the bench in the first half.
According to stats by WhoScored, the Brazil international made four key passes in the match and only Trent Alexander-Arnold [7] made more and he started the game at right-back.
Firmino also won two aerials – more than both Mane and Salah – and only lost possession three times – Mane lost it seven times and Salah eight – as he made a major impact to the way that Liverpool were playing and help them rescue a win from what was a precarious position when he came on at 1-1.
Klopp was always bound to make changes to his starting line-up for the clash with Newcastle because a lot of his players had been travelling all over the world during the international break and Firmino had been someone who’d been away with Brazil.
Liverpool also play Napoli in the Champions League on Tuesday so that trip to Italy could have also been on Klopp’s mind.
However if this match has taught him anything it’s that Firmino is someone who he needs to give serious thought to leaving out because, without him, the likes of Mane and Salah seem to struggle a lot more than they would with him.