The Sky man is a huge fan of the Liverpool attacker it seems.
Charlie Nicholas has admitted to Sky Sports that he’s a massive fan of Liverpool attacker Roberto Firmino, saying that he loves the player ‘to death’.
Firmino isn’t having a brilliant season in the goalscoring stakes and yet he continues to be a huge player for Reds boss Jurgen Klopp.
The 28-year-old, signed by former Liverpool boss Brendan Rodgers in 2015, has 12 goals and 11 assists across all competitions for his side this season.
You could argue that the fact Firmino has more assists than goals sums up the sort of centre-forward that he is, in the sense that he isn’t a traditional number nine.
Nicholas told Sky Sports: “I am a huge Roberto Firmino fan. He does not score as many goals, but he normally comes up with an assist in a big game and then scores sometimes in the big games too.
“He is the No 9 that wants to come in and play a number 10 role, so that Mane and Salah can go in behind and play more advanced. He has to do more than those two, so he is in the team. I love him to death.”
The Sky pundit criticised the former Hoffenheim hitman in December, saying: “Mohamed Salah has scored in successive matches but hasn’t been playing well and Roberto Firmino has not been brilliant.”
But five of his 11 goals this season came after those comments, including two in the FIFA Club World Cup success in Qatar.
Firmino also scored for Liverpool in their defeat by Atletico Madrid at Anfield last month and Nicholas is totally justified in putting him in his Team of the Season.
Yes, he doesn’t find the net with the frequency of a Sadio Mane or Mo Salah, but would either of them score the volumes of goals that they do without Firmino? That’s the question.
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