Liverpool fans have taken to Twitter to compare Takumi Minamino to Roberto Firmino, after the new boy made his debut for the club against Everton on Sunday.Minamino – a £7.25m signing from RB Salzburg – started against the Toffees in a ‘false nine’ role in between Divock Origi and Harvey Elliott, and went on to deliver a steady performance as Jurgen Klopp’s men progressed to the fourth round with a 1-0 win.
The 22-cap Japan international – who has 11 goals for his country – played 70 minutes before being replaced by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, in which time he had one shot, recorded one dribble and attempted one cross, while also completing 86.4% of his 22 passes.
Minamino didn’t get too heavily involved in terms of his output, although his industry and willingness to press was certainly on show had you watched the game instead of simply analysing the statistics behind his performance.
It was particularly interesting to see that Klopp used his latest arrival in the ‘Firmino role’ – could the 24-year-old have been signed to cover for the Brazilian?
On the basis of the FA Cup win, the answer could be a yes – nevertheless, these Liverpool fans on Twitter certainly saw similarities between the two players…
This supporter with the username ‘Kloppo’ said that Minamino was having “such a typical Firmino performance” before conceding that, while he didn’t do much in terms of output, his work rate and positioning was ‘fire’ – described through the use of a fire emoji.
These two fans also felt the same way.
One said that Minamino “literally is Firmino 2.0” before another said the Japanese star plays “exactly like” the former Hoffenheim attacker.
Elsewhere, the Firmino comparisons continued. One fan said that Minamino “looks nice” in that ‘false nine’ role, before saying that he “presses like” the Liverpool No.9.
Furthermore, a second supporter one-upped that by saying that the Liverpool No.18 “might be even better at pressing than Firmino” but just lacks some physical qualities – high praise indeed.
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Lastly, in response to that aforementioned fan, this supporter said that Minamino is also “more of a goal threat” than Firmino – after just 70 minutes of his Liverpool career, it seems as if the Japan international has already impressed.
In other news, these Liverpool fans were left drooling over this player who “needs more first team minutes”…Â
