Jurgen Klopp will have five high-class attacking options to choose from going forward, and striking the right balance will be key
The last few weeks have provided Liverpool fans with a glimpse of the future – and you'd have to say it looks pretty good.
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For years, we have been used to the Reds’ success being built around the reliable excellence of its forward line. Around the goals of Mohamed Salah, the physicality of Sadio Mane and the subtlety of Roberto Firmino.
But times are changing at Anfield. Mane left last summer and Firmino is leaving this. Salah remains, of course, and continues to set record after record, but the support cast is a new one, an exciting one. One which promises to push Liverpool into a bold new era.
Darwin Nunez, signed from Benfica last June, looks to now have his feet under him, while the early signs from Cody Gakpo, a January arrival from PSV Eindhoven, are promising to say the least.
Both players, along with Salah, scored twice as Manchester United were eviscerated at Anfield last weekend. Between them, Salah, Nunez and Gakpo have 12 goals in the Reds’ last five matches.
With Diogo Jota fit again after a long-term calf issue, and with Luis Diaz expected to make his own return from injury this month, Jurgen Klopp suddenly finds himself with more attacking options than he knows what to do with.
Salah is the one constant, for sure, but beyond that Liverpool could perm any combination and be confident it was the right one. The dream scenario, for sure, for any manager.
How Klopp juggles his options, both in the short term and beyond, will be fascinating.
But as he prepares for a significant, and costly, summer overhaul of his midfield, he can at least rest assured that the top end of the field looks more than well-stocked…
(C)Getty ImagesGakpo's impact
It hasn’t taken long for Gakpo to win over the doubters, has it?
Eyebrows were raised when Liverpool decided to spend an initial £37 million ($44m) on the Dutchman in January, when most were expecting them to pursue a midfield player.
But the Reds’ recruitment team don’t tend to get too many wrong, and in Gakpo they had identified a player who could fit in well at Anfield. He had performed at PSV over a number of years, but he was still only 23, and so capable of significant growth and development on Merseyside.
Despite arriving into a team whose form was nosediving, Gakpo’s early impact has been impressive. He is reliable on the ball, connects with teammates well and, as demonstrated against United, Newcastle and Everton recently, has the desire to get himself into regular goalscoring positions.
He says he prefers to play from the left, but there are elements of his game which bear comparison with Firmino’s emergence as the archetypal ‘False Nine’. He certainly looks comfortable drifting deep, receiving possession with his back to play, and his spatial awareness is excellent, honed not only on the training field, but through weekly sessions with his personal tactical coach.
Gakpo and Nunez, in particular, look to be developing a decent understanding, instinctively knowing when to switch positions, when to hold their width and when to make their move in behind.
Promising signs indeed, a little more than two months into his Reds career.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesNunez's growth
With 14 goals in 31 appearances, only 21 of which have been starts, this has been a more than decent first season for Nunez on Merseyside.
The Uruguayan is already a firm favourite with supporters, who related immediately to his work-rate, mentality and ability to cause mayhem in the penalty area.
Nunez scored on his competitive debut in the Community Shield against Manchester City, scored on his Premier League debut at Fulham and, despite a few teething problems and a couple of obvious areas to work on, now looks ready to establish himself as one of Europe’s leading forward players.
Certainly, his speed and physical prowess make him a nightmare for defenders. In the Premier League, only Erling Haaland and Ivan Toney have had more ‘big chances’ this season than Nunez, while only Haaland, Salah and Harry Kane have taken more shots in total. Nunez, indeed, averages a shot every 17 minutes, and his expected goals (xG) tally is the seventh-highest in the league.
His finishing can improve, for sure. At times he seems more comfortable hitting the ball first time or on the volley than he does when given time to measure his shot.
But at 23, there is plenty of time to iron out those wrinkles, and Nunez is certainly headed in the right direction already.
Getty ImagesWhere does Diaz fit in?
There is a tendency in football to make sweeping conclusions based on recent events. And so after the win over United, debate has centred upon the emergence of Liverpool’s ‘new’ forward line of Salah, Nunez and Gakpo.
To focus on those three, though, is to ignore the presence of Diaz, who was the Reds’ standout attacker in the opening months of the season, and who will soon be back in full training and ready to make his long-awaited return from injury.
The Colombian, don’t forget, has only been at the club for little more than a year, and in that time his impact was comparable to those made by Salah, by Mane and by Jota. He went pretty much straight into the team, and delivered the kind of performances which suggested he was there to stay.
Unlike others in Liverpool’s forward line, Diaz looks to have one set position. He plays down the left flank, although as a right footer, more often than not he finds himself infield.
That provides a dilemma for Klopp, and for the likes of Nunez and Gakpo, even Jota, whose tendency is to drift left. Retaining a presence centrally as well as a threat out wide is key, if Liverpool are to build a new, elite strikeforce.
Diaz is a different kind of player to those mentioned, more of a runner and an individualist than he is a connector or a finisher, but he is a top-level performer, one who was in Liverpool’s best team last season and certainly was at the start of this campaign. He will play a big role in the Reds’ future, no question.
GettyWhat about Jota?
And then there’s Jota, a player without a competitive club goal in 11 months, but one whose pressing, movement and mentality make him crucial to Klopp’s plans.
Injury has pretty much ruined this season for the Portuguese international, but we saw in the previous two campaigns how effective he can be, and what a good foil he can be for the likes of Salah. He scored 21 goals in all competitions last season, including plenty of game-breaking or game-clinching ones.
Crucially, Jota appears as comfortable playing down the middle as he does wide, and given his frustrations this term, it would be safe to assume he is desperate to make up for lost time at Anfield, and that given Liverpool’s ambitions to compete on all fronts, he will get plenty of opportunities to do so.
