‘I got pelters’: Troy Deeney questions ‘what the problem’ is with £29m Liverpool player

Follow us on Google Discover

Troy Deeney has defended Liverpool forward Roberto Firmino on talkSPORT (23/11/20 at 6:40 am) and questioned what people feel ‘the problem’ is with the player.

The Watford striker stated that he previously got ‘pelters’ for saying the Liverpool number nine is ‘one of the best’ in the league and he still thinks that’s the case now.

Firmino netted for the Reds last night as they beat Brendan Rodgers Leicester City 3-0 on home soil, and in truth, he should have perhaps scored more, but the woodwork didn’t fall in his favour.

Deeney shared that Firmino will understand that he needs to score more goals because he is a strike, but backed the Brazilian for what he brings to the team.

“I don’t see what the problem is,” said Deeney about the £29 million forward. “I said the year before and I got pelters for saying it and I still think he’s one of the best number nine’s in the league.

“There aren’t many players that can link the play like him. So, look at what you have coming in behind him, especially with Jota as well. I think he’s needed. I think Klopp trying to play around him and play him as a 10 sometimes, it shows how important he is to that team.

“He will know that he needs to score goals. You cannot have Salah, Mane and Jota all scoring goals then as a striker, even if your team is winning, you are the one who wants to be scoring the goals. He will be happy that everybody is playing well, but there will be a certain part of him saying ‘right, I need to get up to 15-20 goals this season’.”

Whilst some have questioned Firmino in recent months, the one man that has kept faith in him has been Jurgen Klopp.

That was proven during their clash against title rivals Manchester City before the international break when he played Sadio Mane, Diogo Jota, Firmino and Mo Salah at the Etihad.

It was an ultra-attacking team from the German, but it was him showing the world that he’s not going to drop Firmino even if the critics feel he’s not scoring enough goals.