Roberto Firmino, along with his Liverpool forward partners, Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah, have set the Premier League alight this season with a stunning effort both individually and collectively.
With a Champions League title still to play for, the trio could still write their names into Liverpool folklore by delivering an emphatic sixth European Cup title to the club, and having scored 82 goals between them, 17 more than Real Madrid’s top three scorers put together, you would not rule it out.
However, it is Firmino’s all round game that has really captured the eye of Reds and Netherlands legend Dirk Kuyt, who produced similar complete displays during his six seasons in a Liverpool shirt.
Not only has the Brazilian ace bagged 25 goals in all competitions so far, the most of any season in his career to date, the former Hoffenheim star has also provided a whopping 14 assists, taking his direct goal contribution to 39.
“He has his own style and that makes him special,”
“That’s what I like in players. A typical goalscorer or different kind of striker, you see that a lot in Europe, but Firmino has his own style and he has his own speciality; he is scoring great goals but also feeding the players around him.
“He’s scoring great goals but he’s also giving great assists and then you are, in my eyes, a complete player who is a great thing for Liverpool.”
It is Firmino’s selfless attitude that perhaps likens him to Kuyt the most. Both have an extremely unselfish style of play, and the team always comes first. If a pass is the better option than a shot, you know which option they would be taking and that cannot be said for most prolific goal scoring forwards.
Salah has definitely dominated the headlines this term, and that has not been unwarranted with his stunning 40 goal season so far, but the likes of Firmino deserve an equal amount of credit for his contribution to the team, beyond his already significant goal scoring.
