Luis DIAZ: 2021/22

Piece by Jones about Diaz

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Have to post this here too.

Can see DĆ­az playing as a CF for us. Looks more a natural #9 than Mo or Diogo do.

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We all knew he could beat a player and score a banger, but the other stuff stood out tonight. Held the ball up well, stood up to physical challenges, looked good playing neat little passes round the corner and linking up with Robbo.

He didnā€™t look out of place for a second. Unlucky not to score at the end there. Very impressive.

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Heā€™s done more in one game than Grealish might have done the entire season. More Pep memes in the pipeline surely.

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Excellent first PL game. Now he has to maintain this level while adding the goals to it (almost got one or two to be fair). Itā€™s certainly a very encouraging debut!

Donā€™t think that debut couldā€™ve gone any better, he was sublime.

The sharpness is on another level.

https://twitter.com/AnfieldWatch/status/1491894850245046280

Good luck benching that.

Yeah thatā€™s what impressed me the most we know he could run and hit it but if he fell down in the wind it would be pointless.

He seems like he loves playing as well and his strength was good to see.

His sunken eyes and skeletal cheekbones remind me of Rivaldo.

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Loved watching him just because of this. Donā€™t know if heā€™ll be a Salah-level success or not, but heā€™ll certainly be very good indeed.

Couldnā€™t have expected any more from him last night! A goal would have been amazing obv, but the way heā€™s just dropped in and got amongst it is remarkable. When he gels weā€™re going to be so, so dangerous. I still think weā€™re going to win it this year (and the CL) but if we donā€™t then next season suddenly looks a lot more exciting!! Absolutely brilliant signing :smile::+1:t2:

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Andy Robertson on Luis Diaz:

ā€œHe doesnā€™t speak much Scottish, thatā€™s for sure! He sits next to me in the training room but his English is very, very little. The people who speak Spanish are helping him settle in a lot.ā€

ā€œI can help, I just kind of smile and laugh at him and try to make him feel comfortable. But I think I need to learn ā€˜man onā€™ or ā€˜timeā€™ [in Spanish] and maybe that will do for now!ā€

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Crazy how natural those two worked together.

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From the Columbia games I saw when we signed him, the few times the ball did go down the left side of the pitch instead of through Rodriguez, Diaz tended to drift in with the full-back overlapping. Think this suits his and our game well.

Yeah, we particularly want our wide forwards to occupy half spaces (at City par example is the opposite, wingers wider, two #8ā€™s pushing higher, full backs tucking inside), especially the left one with Robbo pushing on higher and wider than Trent. At times, when Mane went into his shell this season and started playing with less bravery, due to Robboā€™s lack of creativity 1v1, it was like we hit a wall down that side and the ball just kept coming back to our CMā€™s. There is of course moments/periods in the game when you do need a bit of that, to slow the game down. But already against Cardiff, you could see where Diaz was looking to move, place himself, receive the ball. And thatā€™s exactly what we want in that aspect.

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For all those who think he ought to be starting right now, and that heā€™s been amazing so far, JĆ¼rgen just said today that he needs time to adapt.

Imagine what a monster heā€™s going to be when he does.

This lad is a serious talent. The front line wasnā€™t functioning at all tonight until he came on. Heā€™s perpetual motion. Pops up all over the place. That interchange with Trent was fantastic. Maybe he should have taken the shot first time but itā€™s only a matter of time before he starts banging them in. A very exciting player.

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I agree, one of those players that gets you off your seat, not afraid to take players on and seems to find space a fair bit.

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He actually reminds me of what ManƩ used to be like in that sense, of always looking to make some runs with the ball.

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My exact thinkingā€¦.

That chance would have been a great goal.