Andy Robertson reveals moment in Luis Diaz’s first training session that told him he would fit in at Liverpool
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Published 11/02/2022 at 09:31 GMT
Luis Diaz starred in Liverpool’s 2-0 Premier League win against Leicester on Thursday evening and there is growing excitement around the Colombian at Anfield. Speaking after the match, teammate Andy Robertson suggested that the 25-year-old forward has the core attributes needed to thrive under the management of Jurgen Klopp as the Reds chase honours on four fronts this term.
Klopp plays down EPL title race hopes after Leicester win
Andy Robertson has revealed his first impressions of Luis Diaz following the Colombian forward’s Premier League debut against Leicester.
Liverpool beat Brendan Rodgers’ side 2-0 at Anfield on Thursday evening, with two goals from Diogo Jota securing a win which took the Reds to within nine points of Manchester City at the top of the table. Diaz made his first start for his new club and while he didn’t get on the scoresheet, he gave an energetic performance.
Speaking to BT Sport afterwards, Robertson suggested that he knew Diaz would fit in at the club when he first saw him in action at Liverpool’s Kirkby training base.
“His first training session, when I saw him flying about I thought: ‘Yeah, he’ll be OK here!’" he said.
“We just need to let him bed in. He’s still got the language to hopefully pick up and the way we play and everything, but for his first start I thought he was excellent today. Flying into tackles and stuff, that’s one way to get the crowd to love you straight away and I think they really took to him.”
Jurgen Klopp was also full of praise for Diaz, lauding his intelligence. Asked whether his new signing looked at home in a Liverpool shirt already, Klopp said: “That’s exactly the impression he made in training and that’s why we thought: ‘Come on, let’s give it a try'.
“There were a lot of things when we saw him playing for Porto where we thought: ‘Yes, that’s exactly what we want him to do as well'. On top of that, he seems to be a really smart football boy, [he] has obviously watched Liverpool quite a lot.
“We didn’t overload new players with information in the first week and tell them everything we want them to do, we just have a look. And when we looked at it, he looked like a Liverpool player, that’s true.
“The last few minutes when he came on against Cardiff already, and now the situation was just made for it because Sadio [Mane] came home only last night and is probably still in bed.
“And Mo [Salah], after four times 120 minutes, it was clear he will not start as well. So, just the situation was there and he obviously enjoyed the game.”
While Diaz will face fierce competition for minutes once Mane and Salah are recovered from their Africa Cup of Nations exertions, it was a promising start for Liverpool’s latest addition. Analysing Diaz’s performance at half time, BT Sport pundit Michael Owen said: “We were just drooling over him after 15 minutes.
“He hasn’t done anything in particular where you think ‘wow he’s created an unbelievable chance’, but I love his sharpness.
“He looks quick, he looks lively, he presses the ball, he doesn’t mind committing players, running at them and beating them.
“As I say, none of these clips make you think ‘wow’ but I think he looks like a Liverpool player. He really does look like he’s going to fit this team like a glove.
“A brilliant player that we’ve seen before and already in a fleeting appearance [against Cardiff]. So far he looks like he suits that red shirt.”
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