Is Luis Diaz the most important forward at Liverpool?

A bright start from Diaz.

Transcript

00:00 So, Will, just on Liverpool, is Luis Diaz specifically the most important forward at the moment?

00:05 Because it seems like he has started this season the brightest in terms of goals and numbers going forward.

00:13 Yes, definitely. I mean, two goals in this many games, you can't complain about that.

00:19 Obviously, last season he suffered injury problems, sidelined for six months.

00:26 When Liverpool started the season quite poorly, he was probably one of the few players who hit the standards you'd expect of him.

00:33 I mean, obviously, arriving from Porto in January 2022, he lit the touch paper immediately to his Anfield career,

00:44 nailed down starting spots very, very swiftly.

00:48 And yet he started the season really well.

00:50 I think that's what you've been wanting from Luis Diaz.

00:54 You've been wanting to see him add goals and assists on a consistent basis.

00:58 Obviously, we know, as a young man, he was more than capable of just doing that.

01:03 And Luis Diaz's trickery and the amount of problems he causes the defences,

01:10 maybe at times he hasn't had that end product, but he's had to have a time to acclimatise.

01:15 I think even helping him be sidelined, that knee injury, has at least helped him from a language perspective.

01:21 He's probably picked up English a lot better than maybe he's had more time to work on that.

01:26 And yeah, as you say, it's a lot of goals.

01:29 The goal against Chelsea was a crack one finish, and then the one against Bournemouth was just absolutely superb, wasn't it?

01:36 The way he managed to adjust his body and finish with the bicycle kick.

01:40 Mo Salah obviously broke his duck for the season against Bournemouth, albeit fairly fortuitously, after seeing his penalty saved.

01:49 He's been a little bit underwhelming for me in the Open two games.

01:54 Assisted Diaz's goals have been fair, and then that was a one just offside of Chelsea.

02:00 But he just hasn't been threatened as much as you want.

02:03 There was a couple of occasions against Bournemouth where he just didn't convince when he was through on goal.

02:08 There was one in the second half where you're looking at him and he just didn't get any power behind it.

02:13 And sometimes it's frustrating, the reluctance to use his right foot at times.

02:18 But yeah, you think it's only a matter of time until he really starts doing the business.

02:25 You know, his numbers speak for themselves, don't they?

02:28 And then that third position, the striking position, it's up for grabs, really.

02:34 Diogo Dias has been spectacular in the Open two games.

02:37 Koty Kakpos probably just because of circumstances has been unfortunate.

02:42 He's had to feature in a midfield role.

02:44 And it shows after arriving last January, he got better and better as that false number nine.

02:49 And Darwin Nunes is fairly fifth choice.

02:52 And Klopp's got a little bit of a conundrum with him.

02:56 But yeah, I mean, they're five great opponents, so I've had them as good as any in the Premier League.

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