Divock Origi came off the bench once more to score a memorable goal for Liverpool in the Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield on Sunday.
After the game, the Belgian striker was seen hugging Jurgen Klopp and Michael Owen claimed that ‘I wouldn’t be giving the manager such a big cuddle’ because of how he has used the player, in regards to game time.
Whilst Luis Diaz has come to the party of late, including Diogo Jota last season, Origi has always been a back-up option under Klopp and more so with those two adding competition to Sadio Mane, Roberto Firmino and Mo Salah.
The 27-year-old has played just over 100 minutes of Premier League football this season, scoring three goals, two of them being crucial to his quadruple-chasing side picking up maximum points.
From the perspective of a striker, Owen shared an interesting take on Origi’s situation on Merseyside and how Klopp has used him, as he told Premier League Productions (24/04/22 at 6:25 pm).
“What was telling there was the hug Divock Origi gave Jurgen Klopp,” said Owen. “If I was a centre-forward and I came on so many times to save my manager, yet he never played me and he only brought me on occasionally, then I wouldn’t be giving the manager such a big cuddle.
“You just know how much that man means to all of those Liverpool players and how much it means to those fans.
“That’s a huge result today. Big, big result. After 55 minutes, it was looking a little dodgy, brilliant double substitution and those subs made a huge difference to Liverpool.”
Origi is set to leave Liverpool in the summer and, alongside Klopp, they will probably build a statue for the player in years to come.
There haven’t been many players in recent times that have had such an impact, scoring such memorable and important goals from the bench than Origi.
That goal during Liverpool’s comeback win against Barcelona in the Champions League, scoring in the final itself, the late winner against Everton a number of seasons ago and scoring a quite similar goal again today.
Origi will go down in Liverpool folklore and when he departs this summer, he will be hugely missed by everyone associated with the club, no doubt.
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