Can you envisage a Fab, Hendo, Bobby midfield?
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Hmmm not sure. Maybe. Certainly lots of quality in those 3.
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I donāt think itās scapegoating, itās all fair criticism. His goalscoring has been on a downward trend for a while and itās cost us in recent months. 1 goal in his last 14 league games, games that have often been decided by the odd goal, was not good enough.
When teams sit back and give us all of the ball Firmino just isnāt a player you need to worry about. He has no clever movement in the box and his finishing is very poor. Next season thatās something I think Klopp will want to address, Firmino either needs to be part of a front 4 like last night instead of 3 or put him on the bench for those games.
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Both Bobby and Mane come too deep to be involved with the build up play which usually means Salah is left on his ownā¦ Bobby also when coming deep has a terrible tendency to lose the ball, which is a dangerous thing.
This is probably our biggest issue, especially when you have Thiago, Fabinho, Milner as your midfieldā¦ They are really reluctant to get into the box. Add 2 forwards dropping deep the midfield just is utterly crowded and when the ball does finally get to a Trent or a Robbo they have limited to zero options in the box.
Jota is the opposite, which has massively surprised me. He is constantly moving, and always finding pockets of space in the box. Itās no coincidence that when he came on Salah went up a few gearsā¦ We were playing 10 yards further forward and there was more room for Salah to operate.
As others have mentioned, Bobby is coming to a position where unless he starts to deliver goals he has to be 4th choiceā¦ Unless he plays as an actual no.10 behind someone like Jota, which did work ok last night.
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I was watching a YouTube compilation of Bobby during the NT break. A lot is said about opponents parking the bus and marking Bobby out of the game during this season. But he used to dribble past 2-3 players, turning/twisting off his marker, finding a player even in crammed spaces over the years.
I feel more than opposition tactics, his lack of composure 
is the reason behind the recent poor form. Although he still works his socks off, he mental spark is missing.
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I personally think itās his first touch that has been dreadful. When he is on his game, that first touch is fantastic, and it give him that extra split second to handle players pressing him. Jota coming on helped the entire forward line, and gave Firmino that extra bit of time to overcome a bad touch.
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Could not agree more. I had the exact same thought, verbatim. Itās crazy to say, but I counted 3 times it looked like he purposely took himself right out of the play by running straight into the mouth of the goal and into a position that gave Mane no opening to pass to him and zero chance for him to receive the ball. It was like watching someone play recreational ball, just running around aimlessly in the box.
I have expressed my love and respect for him many times but heās a ghost in the shell. The one-eyeing, machine-gunning, no-look scoring, ripping his shirt off, āswaggerā Bobby has gone missing. I take no pleasure in saying that either.
I agree here too, thatās really where he should be playing.
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If we get a True Nine-ish player, I would like to see Bobby playing off/partnering him. He is a very talented, versatile, and hardworking player. He can fit in and would be very effective in number of systems. I wonder if Klopp will use him in roles Shaqiri/AOC plays.
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Iām actually less convinced than many seem to be that he would be good in a deeper role. Heās a chaos causer he isnāt really a playmaker type. The further away from goal he gets the less effective he tends to become.
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Heād better take up a permanent position on the goal line, then, because he hasnāt been particularly effective for a long time now.
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I know. But the times he has been effective have been right on the toes of the opposition defence dragging them around, out of position, forcing them to step forward so he can then go past them or play simple balls into space the defender just vacated so Mane or Salah can move into it taking advantage.
Or when the opposition has the ball pressing them forcing them to play quicker causing errors and overturns. The problem is Premier League defences no longer play ball anymore.
When they have the ball they just move it quickly out of his areas negating his press and nullifying him. When we have the ball they just happily sit back in disciplined shape blocked some shooting and passing lanes but mostly working to counter the others around Firmino.
Let him have it as long as he likes, as long as they stay in disciplined shape he canāt hurt them. Just move the ball back and forth till he inevitably loses it through his poor passing accuracy or moves the ball away from that area to try and get it to someone who can do something.
But the goals and assists arenāt coming from Firmino, heās not enough of a threat or intricate/creative enough to be the chance maker. Without the press and the chaos heās half the player he was. Its why we are doing better in Europe where that level of understanding doesnāt seem as wide spread yet.
This season heās had an assist every 447 minutes, heās on 1.2 chances per game, thatās not the type of player you want as your number 10/playmaker.
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Oooo Oooo arhhh Uhh! That is real dreamer stuff, then again when did that happen? 
Not sure what youāre trying to say. For a few years it was fantastic with Firmino being so different and that allowed Mane and Salah to be devastating. Just unfortunately clubs have figured that out a bit. By nullifying Firmino theyāve also nullified Mane a little too. Salah and Jota are the two keeping us afloat this season.
I was just indicating the excitment that vision gave me then the dissappointment of not being able to remember the last time that happened, if it did happen. (i.e a bit of fun).
No need for explaination Firmino isnāt the player he was whether that be through coaching or desire Āµā¦ whatever.
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For me, Firminoās issues are always the same since a year or so: lack of passion around the grounds. Heās a showman, and you can literally feel when watching him play how dull he finds the game right now. No proper celebration when he actually scores a goal (seldom enough) or when a team-mate scores one. Heās as dull as the games this season: no joy, no freshness, no spark. Our whole game has suffered from this, as he always was so instrumental for us until last March.
My take: in a 433, he should now clearly be nr. 4 in our attacking line, behind ManƩ, Salah, and Jota, who has been a revelation. In a 4231, his link-up play and pressing can still be very useful as the nr. 10 behind the strikers.
Mark my words though: when the crowds start coming back in the stadia (hopefully as soon as possible), heāll quickly get back to his best and will then again be an undisputed starter for every game when heās fit.
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On a more serious note what I see as Firminoās problems (watching the games) is he is too deep, too advanced or too wide, taking up other players positions, to be effective. I see him as that advaced pivot particularly at his age with his lack of pace. To me thatās a lot to do with coaching. I also agree that he doesnāt seem to have the required desire (particularly for the role heās playing actually).
I feel that if he concentrated on being in that area where defenders have to come out and close him down and midfielders panic and all he has to do is pivot and lay off he would be more effective and from that more enthusiastic.
As it is heās a player we can sell!
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I think you got it spot on @Hope.in.your.heart . Wasnāt he the first player to talk about empty stadium!
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His bad form outdates the empty stadiums but yes I think the boost from the fans would help.
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He does need players to move off him and that for me is where Jota offers more than both Mo & Sadio, especially when teams sit deep both Mo & Sadio arenāt making enough runs to unsettle the defence whereas Diogo is.
That doesnāt change anything if Firmino is too far up, back or to the wings. I can not see the validity of that to my proposition.
When he is in the position I propose he does find ManĆ© and Salah heās just there too rarely imo.
I will also add my previous constats taht he often turns the wrong way, hence toward Salah often ignoring the run of ManƩ.
Itās hard to find the runs if your not in the good position.