Klopp backs ´unbelievably valuable´ Firmino

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp backed the “unbelievably valuable” Roberto Firmino after the forward got on the scoresheet against Watford.

Firmino, used in different roles and deeper this season, scored just his fifth goal of the campaign in his side’s 3-0 Premier League win on Saturday.

It was the Brazil international’s first league goal since mid-September and just his third of the season in England’s top flight.

But Klopp once again defended the 27-year-old, saying his contribution was about more than just goals.

“It all depends to what you want to see, what you expect, with what you compare it to,” he said.

“In the game against Fulham, 20 German coaches were in the stadium. I’m not sure how the critics were but when I saw them and we had a drink together, they were saying, ‘Bobby Firmino! What a player!’

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“Because of the small things he’s doing, he’s working so hard, he’s here, he’s there, he’s got six goals but he opens 5,000 gaps for everybody.

“It’s about how you see it. He will never come to me and say, ‘Because people are writing something is missing, could I play my old position again?’

“He’s doing the job – that makes him so unbelievably valuable for us. I’m really happy for him. It’s just about what we have to do in the right moment – we have to find a system where we can bring our quality on the pitch, and on Saturday we did it.”

Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold also scored against Watford as Liverpool remained unbeaten in the Premier League.

They are two points behind league leaders Manchester City and face Everton in the Merseyside derby on Sunday, four days after a trip to Paris Saint-Germain.