It was normal service resumed for Liverpool in their opening game of the Champions League campaign, dispatching AC Milan 3-1 at the San Siro.
It was a crucial result. Last weekend, the Reds were beaten in a shock Anfield loss against Nottingham Forest, with the hosts stumped by the Tricky Trees’ low block and compact defensive line.
Liverpool have steadied the ship but will now need to restore their fluency in the Premier League to ensure that they keep up with the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal at the front of the pack.
Slot deserves praise for his success in instilling his footballing brand seamlessly, bringing a more control-heavy and pass-focused sheen to the red half of Merseyside. Luis Diaz is one of the players to have profited the most from the tactical tweak.
Luis Diaz is starting to improve
Diaz has been at Liverpool for a while now, signing from FC Porto for an initial £37m in January 2022. Despite his skills and wheels, the Colombian’s goal return leaves something to be desired, having posted only 27 goals and 14 assists across 103 appearances.
That’s a goal contribution rate of 0.40 per game. His predecessor on the left flank, Sadio Mane, concluded his time at Liverpool with 120 goals and 42 assists across 269 matches, which stands at a rate of 0.60 per game.
PL: Luis Diaz (23/24 vs 24/25) | ||
|---|---|---|
Stats (*per game) | 23/24 | 24/25 |
Matches (starts) | 37 (32) | 4 (4) |
Goals | 8 | 3 |
Assists | 5 | 1 |
Touches* | 43.8 | 41.0 |
Shots (on target)* | 2.5 (0.9) | 2.3 (1.0) |
Pass completion | 85% | 88% |
`Big chances created | 5 | 2 |
Key passes* | 1.8 | 1.8 |
Dribbles (completed)* | 1.8 | 1.8 |
Ball recoveries* | 3.4 | 3.5 |
Tackles + interceptions* | 1.0 | 2.1 |
Total duels won | 4.6 | 4.8 |
Stats via Sofascore | ||
It’s early days but you can see that Diaz is starting to become more effective with his attacking actions. He only needs to score six goals across 34 Premier League fixtures to better last year’s tally, while he has also created two big chances from four outings so far, having mustered up just five across the entirety of last season.
Diaz has been known to ebb and flow, however, and he was pretty dismal in his performance against Forest last time out, sparking fears that his purple patch has faded away and Slot will have to now contend with a highly talented winger lacking in end product.
Cody Gakpo put in a masterful performance from the left wing at the San Siro, and with Darwin Nunez, Federico Chiesa and Diogo Jota both capable out on the flank, Slot will feel that he has sufficient options.
But this draws our mind back to the sale of Takumi Minamino, who never quite found his feet on Merseyside but has possibly outshone Liverpool’s South American wideman since leaving.
Why Liverpool sold Takumi Minamino
Liverpool sold Minamino to French club AS Monaco in a deal worth £15.4m last year, linking up with his new teammates in 2022, two-and-a-half years after joining Liverpool from RB Salzburg.
The Japan international had been a terrific player for the indomitable Austrian side, light on his feet and sharp in his decision-making, notably scoring and assisting apiece at Anfield in the Champions League at the start of the 2019/20 season and convincing Jurgen Klopp to make his move.
For a release clause worth just £7m, it was the kind of deal that FSG loved, moving swiftly in December 2019 to get the job done. Minamino arrived the following month.
He earned £75k per week for the Anfield side but failed to ever break into the first team with the kind of regularity that he would have hoped for, only starting five Premier League matches for Liverpool across the entirety of his stay.
He ended on a high, scoring seven goals and adding one assist across the FA Cup and Carabao Cup campaigns in his final year under Klopp’s wing, 2021/22. Liverpool went on to win both competitions and his contribution was immense in achieving this double.
But Minamino was not going to earn a regular starting berth, and when Monaco came calling with a £15m offer, it was something of a no-brainer to cash in for a healthy profit.
Takumi Minamino’s performances since leaving Liverpool
Journalist Josh Bunting once said that Minamino, now 29, was “undervalued” in Klopp’s Liverpool squad, but perhaps the wealth of talent simply made it impossible for him to ever spread his wings.
Minamino has since gone from strength to strength at Monaco. He was initially branded as a “flop” by journalist Nabil Djellit after failing to impress throughout his first term, scoring only once – and claiming four assists – across just ten starts in Ligue 1.
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But he was excellent last year, notching nine goals and six assists in the division despite starting just 25 games. As per FBref, the diminutive winger ranked among the top 8% of positional peers in the French top flight for goals scored and the top 15% for assists made per 90.
He might appear to have started the current campaign off indifferent at a perfunctory glance, grabbing one goal from four games – three starts – but Minamino has also averaged 2.8 key passes per game.
Given that he has been firing at a more prolific rate while proving to be more relentless with his playmaking output, Minamino might have actually been better than Diaz over the past year or so – though if Slot has actually unlocked the full scope of the Colombian’s skillset, and last weekend’s effort was a mere blip, then that could soon change.
In any case, Minamino is a fine player and has shown since leaving that he had so much more to offer in Liverpool.
