Yeah, untypical performance of him. So many bad touches, bad passes, losing possession in risky areas. Klopp probably also thought of Brazil, considering Jesus is out for them (even though Bobby practically became Brazil’s first choice striker).
I thought he was doing the right things in much of the 1st half, Second half I think frustration got the better of him, he seemed more interested in shoulder barging opposition players than getting the ball (which is why Klopp took him off i presume). So yes let himself down in the end. He’s better than that, wa all know that.
A big problem we have is when things go wrong our forwards (Salah and Firmino) come deep to get the ball and thay just can not take the ball out (particularly Sakah who even tonight was worts than Firmino in those deep positions). The thing is Firmino can come back and help defend but tonight he didn’t seem interested in doing that (Mané is our main man for that anyway and poor Jota will probably get some flack for not doing what Mané does (thought Jota was good when we had posession and on 1st press but didn’t offer the defensive cover Mané does).
It was just 1 performance where much went right for the opposition and little for us I’ll keep my big criticisms for latter on if this happens regularly new season new start i.e I’m not going to confuse Firmino’s performances wthis season with the end of last (thought he was poor for his standards all last season).
And yet he laid a wonderful pass to Salah for him to score his second.
I’ll be honest, I’m lost as to what the problem is and how to fix it.
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He’s been well below par for months and yesterday he looked so slow and laboured that you wonder if he’s fit. His workrate is down, his touch is gone and his finishing is consistently shit.
Perhaps it’s time to drop him in favour of Minamino. The latter would benefit from an extended run with the first team instead of 5 minutes here and there and Firmino himself might be better off sitting a few games out in order to rediscover himself.
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It was a woeful performance last night. Really shocking.
But we know he’s quality. I just think we need to rethink how he fits into the team.
I’d love to see this when players are back
Trent Fabinho Van Dijk Robbo
Hendo Thiago
Jota Firmino Mane
Salah.
Let Firmino do his Firmino stuff without worrying about scoring goals.
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Firmino is slow, thats why he shouldn’t run just do what he’s good at. Not the first or last very good 10 asked to do stuff they haven’t the pace for.
The problem when Bobby is described as “the engine” is when it’s missfiring the rest of the car struggles to get out of 2nd gear… He’s been bang out of form for a long period, a few flashes of the old Bobby like the assist but for the other 99% of the game he was a liability.
His lack of form is becoming a problem. I’d be very close to giving Taki a run of games in his position, he certainly can’t do worse and his workrate is far higher than Bobby at the moment.
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I wonder if it’s not a lack of form, rather teams figuring out how to shackle him and reduce his influence?
Unsurprising that his figures fell away as the way we played changed over the last 18 months - we went from counter attacking to having 65% plus of the ball.
He adapted his game by becoming a cog in the system, shifting the ball well to his team mates and out wide, from where most of our goal scoring chances are created.
His drop off therefore, in my opinion, is not solely down to his form, but as a result of opponents changing the way they play against us, changing the way we attack, and therefore his role.
It’s all been very stop start since Feb - lets hope post international break, Covid doesn’t shut it all down, and we get to see this run of a game every 3 days for a few weeks. I won;t be surprised if once the everyone is fit and firing, and Thiago settled, we will see the next version of Bobby.
In Jota and Taki, we have 2 players that bring some of Bobby’s attributes, and some of their own. Neither are as good as Bobby (yet), but they certainly provide better cover than Origi. So if Bobby needs to sit it out and get himself re-calibrated, so be it.
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I did consider that but ultimately if you try and shackle Bobby you have to leave one of Mane or Salah 1 v 1, which is probably even worse.
Something I have noticed previously (and I hoped Thiago would help this) is Bobby was coming deeper and deeper to try and link defence to attack.
It could simply be burn out, he has played a ridiculous amount of games over about 2-3 years and every game he works incredibly hard.
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Why faff about moving everyone around to make a place for him. There is a place on the bench that might prove to be just the stimulation he needs.
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Yes, I have felt he needed a kick up the arse for a while. still when doing his 10 stuff well he’s undroppable. Needs to simplify it and buck his ideas up imo.
Two goals for national team last night in a World Cup qualifier
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So it is about the team. 
Oh sweet, return to form and return exhausted. 
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He never runs that fast when he plays for us. 
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He did… against Blackpool. 
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He did his bloody best to miss it. I’ll reserve judgement on whether he’s back in form.
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Maybe he needs to go back to not looking when he shoots,maybe blindfolding him would work.
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