Topic: Luis Díaz (Luis Fernando Díaz Marulanda)

[GarciaAndNunezNunezNunez]

looks like he has found a yard of pace which he looked like he lost before - was the 21/22 diaz yesterday

[mullyred94]

Nunez was pretty much similar until recently. Just goes to show that patience with players can be rewarded

He was not, don’t rewrite history.

140 G/A v 205 is a decent difference

[jizzspunk]

For a player who's game is based on carrying the ball and isolating opponents dribbling the first of his chances in the 2nd half from Mo's pass he really has to round the keeper as the best opportunity to score, he had the perfect running line to goal just off of centre, fake to shape it far post, drag it to the keepers left and your rolling the ball into the net, most keepers go to ground, which the replacement keeper did, and it dawned on me during and after the game how rounding the keeper to score has really disappeared out of the game, Darwin's amazing chip @ Brentford is so much more missable scoring how he did, try that 10 times and I wonder how many find the net, though his running line was very central admittedly

[amir87]

Yeah it's less and less common to see players round the keeper these days. Must be a comfort thing as they trust themselves to shoot past the goalie rather than dribble around them at speed, and still have an angle to shoot. 

An obvious example is Salah who I don't remember ever going around the goalie to score. Has scored all sorts of goals for us but can't remember him doing that.

[William Regal]

Think Diaz has been one of the biggest plus points over the past 5 / 6 weeks, the pace and confidence is back, he just needs a few more goals but he is now getting close again to being the player who took the league by storm when he first signed.

[killer-heels]

Think Diaz has been one of the biggest plus points over the past 5 / 6 weeks, the pace and confidence is back, he just needs a few more goals but he is now getting close again to being the player who took the league by storm when he first signed.

Yeah he is definitely getting back to that level where he is giving the full backs a tough time.

[Yorkykopite]

Our best attacker by miles yesterday. That wasn't difficult perhaps. Mo essentially walked through the game, Darwin was wearing clogs and therefore found it difficult to control the ball and Gakpo, well....But I thought Diaz scrambled their defence practically every time he got the ball. A superb player.

[Mr Dilkington]

We're fortunate to be in a position where Klopp is leaving a fairly young and complete squad. If the new manager uses Quansah and Bradley and both continue to improve (there's no reason to expect otherwise) then we're fairly set in defence. I'd like a left sided centre back but if we didn't buy one I don't think it would be panic stations.

Midfield is a similar story. For all of the discourse about the need for a proper DM (Palhinha has passed away. RIP u will live on forever. Cant believe it. I wanna run to u. Really cant believe this), it's going to be very difficult to upgrade on MacAllister and in all honesty even if we could, it's likely not moving the needle all that much. Outside of that we're full of young, talented players who will all continue to improve, and I'm sure Alonso, De Zerbi or whoever it ends up being will use them all a lot. With that being said, I don't think we'll buy a midfielder this summer.

That leaves us with the forward line and brings me to Diaz (and Gakpo). The easiest and clearest upgrade we can make to the squad this summer is to buy a younger and more athletic wide forward to take minutes from Gakpo and or Diaz.

From a quick look, here is a list of players with better expected goal contributions than Diaz over the last year.

Anthony Gordon, Miguel Almiron, Leon Bailey, Ross Barkley, Leandro Trossard, Antony (yes..), Garnacho, Mudryk (equal), Dwight McNeil, Bryan Mbeumo, Reiss Nelson, Cunha, Hwang, Neto, Mitoma, Adingra, Marcus Tavernier, Justin Kluivert, Anthony Elanga.

Obviously I'd love to sign someone like Kvaratskhelia, Mitoma (though I have reservations about his age) or Rafael Leao, but as the list above illustrates, we don't need to go into the 100M+ market to upgrade on Diaz. There are guys like Olise, Soule, Raphinha, Zhegrova who are all likely to cost a fair bit less. I'm not going to pretend I've seen Soule or Zhegrova, but the point is our recruitment team will know a lot about them and plenty of others.

I think the biggest difference we can make to the new manager and generally to our prospects over the next few years is upgrading Diaz and/or Gakpo with the aim of having someone who in 2026 can potentially be a top 5-10 wide player in the world.

At risk of getting lynched again I just wanted to reflect on the above post.

Since I wrote the post, Diaz and Gakpo have kind of gone in opposite directions. I highlighted both of them because in all honesty I viewed both as a level or two below Jota, Nunez and Salah.

Over the last 6 weeks, Diaz has had a real uptick in performance. In his last 6 league games he has taken 28 shots, in the 6 league games before that he took 11.

Now people could rightly say that this was always going to happen and I was just being an impatient, knee-jerk prick (it's been known to happen) but given the pattern of his performance over an extended period of time I genuinely didn't see him getting to this level. Don't get me wrong he still frustrates at times - holds onto the ball for too long, sloppy passing in the final third etc. but at least he is back to being an extremely potent outlet - someone who can get you up the pitch and drag defences out of shape. I think in some ways he was bought to be a ball progressing creator but in actual fact he is a forward who wants to cut in and get his shots away - more Son than Grealish.

I still stand by the fact that we should be looking to upgrade on our fifth forward this summer, but that player clearly isn't Diaz. Now given I'm writing this post the day after Gakpo put in a truly miserable sub appearance, I could easily be accused of being knee-jerk towards Gakpo, however I think my concerns with him have been more longstanding than with Diaz. Diaz at least profiles like a Liverpool forward - he can play at tempo, he can burst into open space and go and go until his legs fall off. Gakpo on the other hand always seemed an unusual fit. He doesn't have the attributes to be a great 9, he isn't a good enough passer to be a 10, he isn't mobile/able to get on the ball enough to be an 8 and he doesn't have the pace to be a wide player at the Premier League/Champions League where at a minimum full backs are hyper athletic.

Really I'm just writing this post so that Gakpo now goes on a Diaz-esq run between now and May and by then I'll be in the Jota thread saying we should sell him 

P.s. I'd still swap Diaz for Garnacho, sorry!

[Yorkykopite]

Nice post Dilks. Apart the outrageous last line, obviously.

[DangerScouse]

I thought he was really good yesterday once again.

[mullyred94]

At risk of getting lynched again I just wanted to reflect on the above post.

Since I wrote the post, Diaz and Gakpo have kind of gone in opposite directions. I highlighted both of them because in all honesty I viewed both as a level or two below Jota, Nunez and Salah.

Over the last 6 weeks, Diaz has had a real uptick in performance. In his last 6 league games he has taken 28 shots, in the 6 league games before that he took 11.

Now people could rightly say that this was always going to happen and I was just being an impatient, knee-jerk prick (it's been known to happen) but given the pattern of his performance over an extended period of time I genuinely didn't see him getting to this level. Don't get me wrong he still frustrates at times - holds onto the ball for too long, sloppy passing in the final third etc. but at least he is back to being an extremely potent outlet - someone who can get you up the pitch and drag defences out of shape. I think in some ways he was bought to be a ball progressing creator but in actual fact he is a forward who wants to cut in and get his shots away - more Son than Grealish.

I still stand by the fact that we should be looking to upgrade on our fifth forward this summer, but that player clearly isn't Diaz. Now given I'm writing this post the day after Gakpo put in a truly miserable sub appearance, I could easily be accused of being knee-jerk towards Gakpo, however I think my concerns with him have been more longstanding than with Diaz. Diaz at least profiles like a Liverpool forward - he can play at tempo, he can burst into open space and go and go until his legs fall off. Gakpo on the other hand always seemed an unusual fit. He doesn't have the attributes to be a great 9, he isn't a good enough passer to be a 10, he isn't mobile/able to get on the ball enough to be an 8 and he doesn't have the pace to be a wide player at the Premier League/Champions League where at a minimum full backs are hyper athletic.

Really I'm just writing this post so that Gakpo now goes on a Diaz-esq run between now and May and by then I'll be in the Jota thread saying we should sell him 

P.s. I'd still swap Diaz for Garnacho, sorry!

Haven't seen Garnacho play against a deep sitting line with no space infront of him without being bias thats the next staqe in that lads development IF united become a good possession team in the future.

His only a danger on the counter.

[newterp]

Haven't seen Garnacho play against a deep sitting line with no space infront of him without being bias thats the next staqe in that lads development IF united become a good possession team in the future.

His only a danger on the counter.

I mean...Garnacho was shite yesterday. And pretty regularly as well.

[stoa]

Did I hear a song with his name during the match or was I imagining things? Might have been to the tune of 'Bella ciao'. Can't say I'm a fan of the tune, but if that was actually a song for Diaz I hope it takes off, because he clearly needs a song.

[kavah]

Club and International form is red hot

v Spain yesterday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_OwRdbAzew

[TepidT2O]

Want a goal that was! Who scored it?

[Andar]

Fair to say Mitoma has failed to live up to his early hype. Leao's numbers look good, but something isn't quite right about him. Far too laidback for my liking - on and off the ball. The complete opposite to the intensity Diaz and Jota bring.

I'm not seeing many alternatives out there. Apart from Real, many of the other big clubs in Europe will envy what we have with Diaz. Hence the links to PSG and Barca.

He frustrates me quite often, but he has stepped up big time over the last 2 months. He has an absolutely crucial role to play during the run-in.

[L.Suarez]

Only realistic replacement we could get for me is the Georgian guy from Napoli.

[Garlic Red]

Leao reminds me a bit of Rashford. Can be brilliant on his day, has the physical tools to cause any defender trouble, but really inconsistent and his poor displays are beyond frustrating. That’s the thing you sometimes take for granted with some of our lads, they might not always have the huge days where they look completely unstoppable, but they bring it every week and no team walks off the field without facing a proper test.

I’m surprised at how many people seem to be keen on Díaz leaving. He’s outrageous.

[Coolie High]

Leao reminds me a bit of Rashford. Can be brilliant on his day, has the physical tools to cause any defender trouble, but really inconsistent and his poor displays are beyond frustrating. That’s the thing you sometimes take for granted with some of our lads, they might not always have the huge days where they look completely unstoppable, but they bring it every week and no team walks off the field without facing a proper test.

I’m surprised at how many people seem to be keen on Díaz leaving. He’s outrageous.

Leao would be great under a new manager and club like ours.

[spider-neil]

Not being Mane is a harsh stick to beat Diaz with. Mane is one of the best left forwards in our history.

[Draex]

Not being Mane is a harsh stick to beat Diaz with. Mane is one of the best left forwards in our history.

But it’s the level we should and do expect from our left forwards no?

The player doesn’t need to be the same but they should be aiming for that level.

[Garlic Red]

But it’s the level we should and do expect from our left forwards no?

The player doesn’t need to be the same but they should be aiming for that level.

I don’t think you can expect Mane levels from every left forward, no, it’s a little harsh and you’ll be more nostalgic about Mane when thinking back when he wasn’t always perfect or consistent either. Mane was quite fortunate as well that he spent a lot of his time here with pretty consistently available players down the left side. Robbo and Gini were barely injured for most of his time here, even Thiago had his best season of availability during Sadio’s last year. Diaz has had nothing but change around him, whether it’s the front 3, the midfield 3 or the left back, he’s not been able to forge those ridiculous levels of chemistry that Sadio did.

I don’t really look at Diaz to be like Mane. We have Jota and we have Darwin who are essentially our second and third ‘options’ from a scoring perspective. Diaz brings different qualities to Sadio and is the inferior player, but he’s still good and being inferior to Sadio isn’t a strong enough reason to suggest selling him.

[Fromola]

I don’t think you can expect Mane levels from every left forward, no, it’s a little harsh and you’ll be more nostalgic about Mane when thinking back when he wasn’t always perfect or consistent either. Mane was quite fortunate as well that he spent a lot of his time here with pretty consistently available players down the left side. Robbo and Gini were barely injured for most of his time here, even Thiago had his best season of availability during Sadio’s last year. Diaz has had nothing but change around him, whether it’s the front 3, the midfield 3 or the left back, he’s not been able to forge those ridiculous levels of chemistry that Sadio did.

I don’t really look at Diaz to be like Mane. We have Jota and we have Darwin who are essentially our second and third ‘options’ from a scoring perspective. Diaz brings different qualities to Sadio and is the inferior player, but he’s still good and being inferior to Sadio isn’t a strong enough reason to suggest selling him.

Key thing with Diaz is he needs to score more. He's about 1 in 4 over his time here compared to Mane who was around 1 in 2.  However, this is his first full season for us in effect and he's on 11 goals which was his combined total over the previous two seasons for us. With 15 games left if we get through in Europe you'd want him closer to 20.

When we've got Jota and Salah fit it's less of an issue - we needed Mane scoring regularly because the midfield rarely did and Firmino wasn't prolific - but when they're both out, we need him stepping up with goals (i.e. City game).

[Draex]

I don’t think you can expect Mane levels from every left forward, no, it’s a little harsh and you’ll be more nostalgic about Mane when thinking back when he wasn’t always perfect or consistent either. Mane was quite fortunate as well that he spent a lot of his time here with pretty consistently available players down the left side. Robbo and Gini were barely injured for most of his time here, even Thiago had his best season of availability during Sadio’s last year. Diaz has had nothing but change around him, whether it’s the front 3, the midfield 3 or the left back, he’s not been able to forge those ridiculous levels of chemistry that Sadio did.

I don’t really look at Diaz to be like Mane. We have Jota and we have Darwin who are essentially our second and third ‘options’ from a scoring perspective. Diaz brings different qualities to Sadio and is the inferior player, but he’s still good and being inferior to Sadio isn’t a strong enough reason to suggest selling him.

Well I do, likewise when we have to replace Salah I'd expect the same level as him.

Diaz pre-injury was heading to Mane levels.

[Eeyore]

But it’s the level we should and do expect from our left forwards no?

The player doesn’t need to be the same but they should be aiming for that level.

Mane never really did it for me after seeing John Barnes in 87-88. Mane may have been one of the best attackers in our history and one of the best players in the World but he should have been aiming for the level of Barnes. Same with Barnes he was incredibly good but he should have been aiming for the level of Billy Liddell.

[Draex]

Mane never really did it for me after seeing John Barnes in 87-88. Mane may have been one of the best attackers in our history and one of the best players in the World but he should have been aiming for the level of Barnes. Same with Barnes he was incredibly good but he should have been aiming for the level of Billy Liddell.

You found another thread to spread your troll toxicity after being laughed out of the Endo one?

[Garlic Red]

Well I do, likewise when we have to replace Salah I'd expect the same level as him.

Diaz pre-injury was heading to Mane levels.

For me it’s about the team and how that evolves. We’re still attacking as well as we have and we’re scoring at a similar clip to what we always have under Jurgen, so despite the individual regression of some numbers, if those numbers have increased elsewhere I don’t really have an issue with it. It’s a bit like saying every midfielder we sign needs to be aiming for Gerrard’s numbers and levels, sometimes an individual position’s numbers can decline but the team’s numbers don’t. Let’s say Mo leaves next season and Darwin becomes the number one option for us in attack and starts scoring 30+, is it realistic to expect Mo’s replacement to replicate Mo’s output, or is it more realistic to expect Mo’s replacement to replicate Darwin’s output in year 1 then year 2, and expect Darwin to step up and replace Mo’s output?

Sadio was an elite player, it’s incredibly difficult to replace any player with a like for like in terms of numbers and it’s incredibly difficult to replace a player like Sadio with someone on his level and his skill set.

Luis for me has been very unfortunate during his time here but he’s close to world class. He isn’t a classic ‘forward’ type player that we’ve enjoyed under Klopp, he’s more of a classic style winger with different qualities; they’re absolutely fine when they’re complimenting Mo, Darwin and Diogo, the hope is he can raise his end product levels to be close to theirs. I think he can, I just think he needs a bit of consistency around him.

[Eeyore]

You found another thread to spread your troll toxicity after being laughed out of the Endo one?

You really don't like anyone disagreeing with you do you.

Expecting a player to reach the levels of a Mane or a Salah is just absurd especially when a crucial part of their success was having a world-class player like Firmino sacrificing himself for the good of the team. We had one of the best managers in the history of the game basically creating a system that was designed to get the best out of our wide forwards.

The false 9 dropped and created the space for Mane and Salah to exploit. Interestingly you stated that Diaz looked on course to reach Mane's level. That was when we had Mane operating as a false 9 and we were looking to optimise the opportunities we created for the wide forwards. It was also pre-Trent becoming an inverted full-back. In the old system, Robertson pushed far higher and overlapped far more.

With Mane dropping as the false 9 and Robbo overlapping it allowed Diaz the opportunity to make out to in runs and get shots off with his right foot. In the old system, we played with a lopsided formation with Henderson/Elliott creating overloads on the right. That then allowed Trent to hit long switches out to the right that isolated Diaz 1v1 with his full-back with Robbo then creating an overload.

Changing the system with an inverted right back now means the left-sided attacking role has changed and even more so the left-back role. Diaz is no longer an inverted left-sided striker like he was when he first arrived or how Mane operated. We now play with an out and out 9 and the left-sided attacking role has changed. The two players expected to get goals now are Salah and Nunez. The left-side role is now more about getting involved earlier in the build-up. It is almost a hybrid attacking-controller role. Diaz is now being asked to perform some of the duties of Mane but also Gini.

Diaz is involved far more than Mane was. He drops in and receives the ball deeper and helps our build-up play. He is very press-resistant and very good at linking the defence and attack. Playing deeper though means he has far less license to take his man on and he now carries the ball more and looks for passing opportunities.

For me, Diaz is doing an exceptional job and has been one of our most important players. The problem for me is more people have failed to realise his role has changed.     

[CHOPPER]

Fuck, I’ve been saying this for ages and now you’re jumping on my bandwagon. Fucking hell, that’s Sunday ruined.

I feel soiled now.


*crying game music, shower, tears etc

[JP!]

Not being Mane is a harsh stick to beat Diaz with. Mane is one of the best left forwards in our history.

He was superb yes but nostalgia is king, as people also seem to forget his spells of missing chances and loss of form, particularly 20/21 when he looked like he'd been Space Jammed for long periods.  People forget that when they then use the same player to beat on a current one.

[eddiedingle]

His da pimping him out to the spanish clubs yet again.  Wish he could keep his trap shut for 5 seconds.

[DangerScouse]

What's he been saying?

[cptrios]

His da pimping him out to the spanish clubs yet again.  Wish he could keep his trap shut for 5 seconds.

If he doesn't want to be here, let him go. That'll be €85m please. He's a good player and I wouldn't like to lose him, but I've got no emotional attachment to him whatsoever.

[eddiedingle]

What's he been saying?

Luis Díaz’s father: “There was never anything serious with Real Madrid or Atlético. Liverpool were always more determined and concrete to sign Luis”. “We haven’t lost our hope yet…”. “Luis is playing well and Spanish clubs are always active in the market”

[Fromola]

If he doesn't want to be here, let him go. That'll be €85m please. He's a good player and I wouldn't like to lose him, but I've got no emotional attachment to him whatsoever.

As if Barca have got a pot to piss in anyway.  Like when you get Italian clubs hovering with their loan with an option to buy. Hardly another Coutinho deal in the offing.

Real wouldn't need him and he would be crazy to want to leave us for Atletico and the straitjacket of Simeone.

[Tonyh8su]

Luis Díaz’s father: “There was never anything serious with Real Madrid or Atlético. Liverpool were always more determined and concrete to sign Luis”. “We haven’t lost our hope yet…”. “Luis is playing well and Spanish clubs are always active in the market”

I'd be giving them all the hope in the world right after the Wolves match. This is Liverpool Football Club, not some mid table dross to be twerking for a bigger move.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

I'd be giving them all the hope in the world right after the Wolves match. This is Liverpool Football Club, not some mid table dross to be twerking for a bigger move.

Conversations need to be had.

[Barneylfc∗]

If his time at Liverpool is an audition for Real Madrid then he's blown it.
Wouldn't shed any tears if he left in the summer.
You'd think after the support the club has given to his family they'd be a bit more grateful then go begging to the media for another club to sign him.

[Coolie High]

He can go if he wants. 6 goals in the league is hardly irreplaceable.

[Bread]

Barcelona can't afford him, he doesn't get into the Real team ahead of Mbappe/Vinicius, and Atletico would be a massive downgrade. Not sure what his da is on about, any plausible move to Spain sounds hopeless to me.