Topic: Roberto Firmino

[Ravishing Rick Dude]

Yeah, when he scores, that makes me happy too.

[CHOPPER]

Bobaldo will score another 2 before this tournament is over

[farawayred]

He seems to be used as an impact sub, he certainly had some impact today.

I could be wrond, but I think that Tite will lose the Cup for starting Jesus. Belgium will see them out.

[Doc Red]

I could be wrond, but I think that Tite will lose the Cup for starting Jesus. Belgium will see them out.

Belgium won't be able to stop the waves of Brazilian attacks.
The benefit of Tite starting Jesus early on is I'd expect him to eventually switch to Firmino in the latter rounds.
As it is, it's absolutely ridiculous that Jesus still has a starting slot, does make one wonder about the Nike conspiracies.
Not to fussed about Brazil advancing, but glad Firmino is scoring and at least he seems to be gaining recognition in his home country.

Edit: I've got Brazil as favourites with Firmino starting the last few matches and scoring 3 more goals.

[Lofty Ambitions]

Bobaldo will score another 2 before this tournament is over

The real Ronarmino would agree.

[joekim87]

 I always wondered why Brazil went with Jesus and almost didn't take Firmino to the WC... I was thinking that they had a good set up already and they were familiar with what Jesus brought to the table and worked better but they don't seem to lose anything with Firmino on. If anything, Firmino would open up more space for Neymar, Willian and Coutinho to do their thing. They keep winning don't really have to change things up but hopefully Firmino gets to play a bigger role in the future.

Did we nearly sign Willian in years gone by? I think I remember reading it somewhere perhaps? He is a gun. Had a bad season with Chealsea did he?

[-HH-]

Firm man is a must if brazil does indeed face france in the semis....... He has to start. I will drop neymar for the match.

Firm man is never going to catch on - suggest you give up on it now.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

I always wondered why Brazil went with Jesus and almost didn't take Firmino to the WC... I was thinking that they had a good set up already and they were familiar with what Jesus brought to the table and worked better but they don't seem to lose anything with Firmino on. If anything, Firmino would open up more space for Neymar, Willian and Coutinho to do their thing. They keep winning don't really have to change things up but hopefully Firmino gets to play a bigger role in the future.

Did we nearly sign Willian in years gone by? I think I remember reading it somewhere perhaps? He is a gun. Had a bad season with Chealsea did he?

If you believe the reports both us and Spurs were in for him,he chose Spurs and had a medical,Chelsea gazumped them and Spurs threw a hissy fit over it.

Bobby brings so much more to that Brazil side than Jesus,Jesus has had a poor tournament imo.

[MerseysideBrum]

More than happy for him to get some rest

[BabuYagu]

Of course it was a “tap in”. But, jeez, the speed with which Firmino attacked that open space in front of him. It’s almost as if he’s been coached by Jürgen Klopp.

Funny you mention it, but Firmino is attacking the 6 yard box much more now than when he started & the season before. I don't know if in Salah & Mane we now have the perfect setup for him in players busting past someone and putting the ball into that area for him to finish, or if it is something he is specifically practising, but players do take up better positions as they age.

He had 5 shots in there in his first season, 3 in 2016/17 and then 20 in 2017/18.

Compared to others in the squad:-
Salah 11, Mane 10, Solanke 3, Chamberlain & Gini 2

[robgomm]

Jesus doesn't even have poacher over him. I do like Jesus but it's really mad that Firmino is sat on the bench at this point.

[No666]

I do like Jesus

He loves you.

[Nessy76]

Funny you mention it, but Firmino is attacking the 6 yard box much more now than when he started & the season before. I don't know if in Salah & Mane we now have the perfect setup for him in players busting past someone and putting the ball into that area for him to finish, or if it is something he is specifically practising, but players do take up better positions as they age.

He had 5 shots in there in his first season, 3 in 2016/17 and then 20 in 2017/18.

Compared to others in the squad:-
Salah 11, Mane 10, Solanke 3, Chamberlain & Gini 2

I reckon he saw I had a bet on him to finish top scorer in the league and was trying to help me out. He's so selfless.

[Bobinhood]

10 min cameos during which he wins the game is perfect. Dont look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially i mean cmon.....those teeth are perfect anyway.

[Shaved Crossbar]

Funny you mention it, but Firmino is attacking the 6 yard box much more now than when he started & the season before. I don't know if in Salah & Mane we now have the perfect setup for him in players busting past someone and putting the ball into that area for him to finish, or if it is something he is specifically practising, but players do take up better positions as they age.

He had 5 shots in there in his first season, 3 in 2016/17 and then 20 in 2017/18.

Compared to others in the squad:-
Salah 11, Mane 10, Solanke 3, Chamberlain & Gini 2

20 shots in the 6 yard box? His goal numbers are a little low then, unless he's constantly shooting from tight angles

[FlashGordon]

20 shots in the 6 yard box? His goal numbers are a little low then, unless he's constantly shooting from tight angles

No his goal numbers are high actually. He's scored the same amount of goals as Lukaku, while providing an all-round supreme package as a player. I think Babu was highlighting the more shots in the 6 yard box as a positive. He's just this season added being a top goalscorer to all his other amazing talents. It's a travesty he's not starting for Brazil. Jesus has been laughable, like a competition winner.

[Shaved Crossbar]

No his goal numbers are high actually. He's scored the same amount of goals as Lukaku, while providing an all-round supreme package as a player. I think Babu was highlighting the more shots in the 6 yard box as a positive. He's just this season added being a top goalscorer to all his other amazing talents. It's a travesty he's not starting for Brazil. Jesus has been laughable, like a competition winner.

If you take 20 shots in the 6 yard box then you're probably aiming for 8-10 goals off those 20 shots. Different if they're all headers or strong foot tap ins but it's a rough guideline. Firmino had 15 league goals, so that's why it seems low to me.

As far as I'm aware, Babu's numbers come from opta data on the PL, but I haven't followed closely - if that's not the case here then fair enough.

[PoetryInMotion]

If you take 20 shots in the 6 yard box then you're probably aiming for 8-10 goals off those 20 shots. Different if they're all headers or strong foot tap ins but it's a rough guideline. Firmino had 15 league goals, so that's why it seems low to me.

As far as I'm aware, Babu's numbers come from opta data on the PL, but I haven't followed closely - if that's not the case here then fair enough.

Yeah, if you roughly make it out that every shot in the 6 yard box has an XG of 0.5, then fair enough, but I don't think that's the case?

Anyway, the key here is whether Babu's stats about the shot split-up is only for the PL or all comps. Also, even if the conversion is not elite, making good number of forays into the 6 yard box and receiving the ball there will result in higher goal numbers.

[FlashGordon]

Yeah, if you roughly make it out that every shot in the 6 yard box has an XG of 0.5, then fair enough, but I don't think that's the case?

Anyway, the key here is whether Babu's stats about the shot split-up is only for the PL or all comps. Also, even if the conversion is not elite, making good number of forays into the 6 yard box and receiving the ball there will result in higher goal numbers.

Yeah that's the point I was making, this is a very positive sign to me. I'm not great with data but the mere fact he's getting more shots of inside the 6 yard box can only be a plus?

[Scottymuser]

Did we nearly sign Willian in years gone by? I think I remember reading it somewhere perhaps? He is a gun. Had a bad season with Chealsea did he?

Yes we did - and I for one am glad we didn't, he has almost zero end product for a support striker/winger - he was atrocious in the group stages I thought, and only stayed in the team because of Douglas Costa's injury.  In 5-6 seasons as an almost constant component of a Chelsea attack that won the league twice, in 166 games he has scored 25 and assisted 25 - and a decent proportion of them from free kicks (across his EPL career, that's a goal or assist every 206 mins, which is pretty average really) - he is also 30 before the season starts, so currently at his absolute peak, and because of his relatively mediocre output, had been dropped more often than not this previous season by Conte at any age where you would usually expect someone to be at their absolute peak.  For reference, last three years at Chelsea, Pedro in the same position as Willian (often as he has kind of made it his own now) has had about 55% of the mins as Willian, and still has 55% of the minute, but still has 20 goals an 15 assists - at a rate of a goal or assist every 163 mins

[BabuYagu]

20 shots in the 6 yard box? His goal numbers are a little low then, unless he's constantly shooting from tight angles

No, his conversion rate of those chances is quite poor.

I posted on this before but Bobby's goal output isn't down to more shots, or being a better finisher, he is simply getting in better locations and taking less speculative shots.

Interestingly, Mane has gone in the other direction compared to last season. But his other numbers are all up in terms of penetration.

Hence why I suggested that the when he was out from the City game for about 2 months, we saw that playing Firmino closer to Salah would help Salah be more effective. Therefore Mane ended up playing deeper than the early part of the season (e.g. Hoffenheim & Arsenal where he was our most advanced player on average) and Firmino & Salah started playing more advanced in and around the box.

This is also what I was trying to explain to people about our system in terms of what we would be looking for. If you imagine we have have two lines of depth in attack, we want Salah on the highest line, then one of Firmino & Mane supporting him also, with the other playing deeper offering penetration which both Firmino & Mane can do. Therefore adding just one player who offers similar to Firmino & Mane (Fekir), or is an elite penetration player (Dembele, Asensio, Lemar etc) means we have very strong depth there for next season.

[BabuYagu]

Lots of Bobby memes doing the rounds in Brazil. There is the smiling meme, this is my favourite of that

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/uMru5qG7oVY" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/uMru5qG7oVY</a>

And there is also one I saw on whatsapp of him being interviewed after the game, being asked a long question about him & jesus, what position he wants to play on the pitch etc, to which he answers "Jogando" (Playing)

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/P1cclWnvlzc" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/P1cclWnvlzc</a>

[Bolrick]

Should have started instead of jesus................. as brazil would have been Firm favorites to go through if he did.

[farawayred]

{b]Should have started instead of jesus.................[/b] as brazil would have been Firm favorites to go through if he did.

Every. Fucking. Game.

I could be wrong, but I think that Tite will lose the Cup for starting Jesus. Belgium will see them out.

[bird_lfc]

Every. Fucking. Game.

Pretty much lads. Amazing that he looked effective whenever he came on but wasn’t given a proper chance.

Oh well, he’s coming home and injury free. Hope to see him in action in a few weeks after some well deserved time off

[robgomm]

Moment where he pressed like fury with no fucker doing anything like it. Loved it, thought it was a shame Brazil have a dinosaur as a manager but delighted he's coming back to Klopp.

[farawayred]

Firmino was a toe-poke away from scoring today, damn close... He really should have started every game, I mean that. Sure Jesus may have been successful in the qualifiers against other bunch of diving c*nts, but when it comes to the World Cup, playantics are not as highly rated as in South America, they are looked down upon. Firmino would have been a lot more effective for Brazil, and I stand by that.

[Suareznumber7]

Firmino was a toe-poke away from scoring today, damn close... He really should have started every game, I mean that. Sure Jesus may have been successful in the qualifiers against other bunch of diving c*nts, but when it comes to the World Cup, playantics are not as highly rated as in South America, they are looked down upon. Firmino would have been a lot more effective for Brazil, and I stand by that.

One of the reasons that I read for Jesus starting was that Site thought Neymar played better when Jesus was on the pitch.  Personally, I thought Neymar looked 100x better with Firmino as he was constantly looking to combine and to make those runs in behind to open up space.  Think Tite got this one majorly wrong. 

[xbugawugax]

made and impact to the game once he entered the pitch in the second half.

brazil looks more fluid in attacks with him around. Unlike jesus who looks like a proper striker, bobby was playing like a forward. Dropping deep, stretching the defence and generally between the lines.

Sad that his world cup journey ends but pretty fucking delighted he will be starting his rest and come back fully refreshed next season. 

[El Lobo]

made and impact to the game once he entered the pitch in the second half.

brazil looks more fluid in attacks with him around. Unlike jesus who looks like a proper striker, bobby was playing like a forward. Dropping deep, stretching the defence and generally between the lines.

Sad that his world cup journey ends but pretty fucking delighted he will be starting his rest and come back fully refreshed next season.

Not this World Cup he didn't, he looked like shite

[daggerdoo]

Surely he meant Bobby?

[ScubaSteve]

Lack of game time has kept Bobby off the radar plus he still managed to score one so he should be happy overall. Time to come home now!

[[new username under construction]]

On the plus side, won't be worn out for the season

[joekim87]

Bobby's touch did look quite heavy that last game. Pity he wasn't given the chance to start and build some rhythem... Was it just me or did Neymar and Coutinho look a bit hesitant to give him the ball? Or was it because they were trying to win the game by themselves?

[Dr. Beaker]

Bobby's touch did look quite heavy that last game. Pity he wasn't given the chance to start and build some rhythem... Was it just me or did Neymar and Coutinho look a bit hesitant to give him the ball? Or was it because they were trying to win the game by themselves?

Because unlike Bobby their egos get in the fucking way.

[Rush 82]

Everyone in the front line of Brazil looked better once Bobby came on - even Jesus

Well, I'm glad he's coming home without an injury and has an extra two weeks to rest.

[number 168]

Because unlike Bobby their egos get in the fucking way.

Yes Bobby is a true team player unlike Neymar who is like the kid in the playground who thinks he's better than everyone else and goes on pointless dribbles to prove it.

[AndyMuller]

Fucking love Bobby.

Criminal that they started Jesus over him.

[Peabee]

Brazil played better with him on the pitch. It’s baffling why their coach couldn’t see that.

[sms1986]

I think he was mainly being used as an impact sub, but at least he's coming home early and uninjured which helps Liverpool.