Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp reveals 'little' secret behind Roberto Firmino's scoring streak

Scoring touch: Roberto Firmino
Liverpool FC via Getty Images
David Lynch27 December 2019

Jurgen Klopp has revealed how a ‘little talk’ with Roberto Firmino helped inspire the Liverpool forward’s recent hot streak in front of goal.

The Brazilian made it four goals from his last three games as he scored twice to help the Reds to a 4-0 win over Premier League title rivals Leicester City on Boxing Day.

The 16 games prior to that run had seen Firmino find the back of the net just once - something that Klopp admits had begun to cause confidence issues.

But a one-on-one chat between the pair appears to have fixed the problem, as Liverpool’s No.9 acknowledged by running to his manager in celebration at the King Power Stadium.

“Bobby, in the last three games he has scored four times, right?” Klopp said.

“Before that, he didn’t score that often and a journalist tells me then Bobby Firmino didn't score for a while and I didn't even realise. When I think about Bobby I don't think about scoring, I think about how important he is.

“We had a little talk because he looked, for the first time since I've known him, a little bit concerned about that fact and I told him I am not interested in that number because he is the connector for our team.

“He is not the only one who can play the position but he can play the position in a very special way.

“He doesn’t have to come [to me after] every goal but [against Leicester] we had this little thing where he thought I was calm enough to leave him on the pitch in these games and so he thought he had to say thank you.”

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Liverpool showed no ill-effects of their recent trip to Qatar to win the Club World Cup as they tore Leicester apart on their own turf on Thursday evening.

But the games keep coming thick and fast, with Wolves set to visit Anfield just three days after the Reds’ victory over Brendan Rodgers’ side.

Klopp lavished praise upon his players for the mentality that allows them to keep producing excellent performances during what is a gruelling period of the season.

He continued: “I'm blessed, I have a very smart team. We don't mention it constantly, it's not that I have to tell them: 'Stay focused!' They are.

“We have so many good characters in the team and they tell each other how to do it. There is nobody who is flying, not a little bit.

“That was already two years ago like this and we didn’t have the same points tally. A few things came together, the quality and experience we made together. That we worked long together helps a lot obviously, things are more settled and all that stuff.

“Now we play three games in a row at home and one of them is in the cup and I can tell already we need massive help from the crowd.

“The period is so intense and we need to use each source we can use for these games and hopefully our people are rested enough to be at their absolute best.”

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