Liverpool legend John Aldridge has sent a worrying message to Jurgen Klopp about the recent form of key striker Roberto Firmino.
The Brazil international has not looked himself for most of this season, scoring just twice in the Premier League all season, and only four times in 15 games in all competitions.
Aldridge believes there seems to be something wrong with Firmino, in what sounds like something Klopp should have a firm eye on in the coming weeks.
This is a big dip from Firmino after last season’s heroics up front, with the Reds front-man adjusting superbly to a new role as a centre-forward, scoring 27 goals in all competitions – more than he’d managed in the previous two campaigns combined.
It remains to be seen if Klopp can get the 27-year-old back to his best again, with Aldridge sounding deeply concerned by this drastic drop in his performance level.
Writing in his column for the Liverpool Echo, Aldridge called on Virgil van Dijk to sort the player out, but it might take a bit more than that…
‘Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Fulham couldn’t paper over the cracks when it comes to how badly Roberto Firmino is struggling right now so we’ve just got to be thankful for how impressively Xherdan Shaqiri has started his Reds career,’ Aldridge said.
‘Firmino is just out of sorts completely – I don’t know what’s wrong with him mentally – but he’s just not on the same wavelength as anyone else on the pitch.
‘He’s getting that frustrated he’s coming to the back four to try and receive possession.
‘They should be shouting at him. If I were Virgil van Dijk I’d be telling him to ‘get up the park’ and not cluttering things up for the midfield players.