Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was happy that his team won convincingly in week two at Crystal Palace, despite being far from their best that night. Klopp was content because he said typically the Reds don’t win games when they’re a bit off like that. However, they won 2-0 and now face a Brighton & Hove Albion team that’s extremely confident due to their upset over Manchester United last week.
Now Klopp wants to see more from his forwards, including Roberto Firmino, who has impressed the German with his post World Cup fitness. The “sharper and fitter” Firmino has yet to score this term, but Klopp is still impressed by the Brazilian nonetheless.
“I think he’s had a very good start,” said Klopp.
“He had two weeks’ pre-season, which is quite a short one for a player who needs his physical fitness as much as Roberto does but I’m completely happy.
“After two weeks’ preparation and a Brazilian holiday he is much sharper and fitter than I would have expected. He came back in a really good shape. It’s as good as it can be but of course he is involved in all of our offensive situations, even with opening the gap with a run or playing the pass or whatever.”
“It is all fine. It is exactly how it should be and he can improve like we can all improve.”
Last season was the most prolific of Roberto Firmino’s career as he scored 27 goals across all competitions. He was the Reds’ top scorer (along with Salah) in UEFA Champions League play with 11 goals.
The pair, along with Sadio Mane, combined to score 91 goals across the course of the season, so they were quite the “fab three.”
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