The manager of Liverpool football club, Jurgen Klopp, has described the debut of Luis Diaz as one of the best debuts he has ever seen in football.
On Thursday, February 10, 2022, the 25-year-old Columbian left-winger had the opportunity of playing for Liverpool for the first time since he joined the club. During the Premier League game between Liverpool and Leicester City on Thursday, coach Jurgen Klopp decided to start Luis Diaz who arrived at the club on January 30, 2022.
Recall that Liverpool paid FC Porto a transfer fee worth €45 million to bring the highly sought-after winger to the Premier League.
Since January 30, he has been made to watch Liverpool from the stands until Thursday when he finally had the opportunity to prove to Klopp that he was worth every penny that was spent on him.
Though he did not score a goal nor provide any direct assist he was actively involved in all the action until the coach decided to substitute him in the 90th minute.
Throughout his time on the pitch, Luis Diaz made life very difficult for the defense of Leicester City which gave Diego Jota more room to score two goals (34th and 87th minutes). The two goals were all Liverpool needed to beat Leicester City 2-0 at Anfield stadium.
Luis Díaz’s Premier League debut vs. Leicester by numbers:
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) February 10, 2022
91% pass accuracy
68 touches
9 touches in opp. box
8 duels won
5 take-ons completed
4 crosses
4 shots
2 shots on target
1 chance created
Liverpool have a gem. 💎 pic.twitter.com/i2LpOgCyqo
After the game, Jurgen Klopp who was involved in a news conference on Friday, February 11, told reporters that Luis Diaz adjusted very quickly to life at Liverpool because of his “skillset” and “character”.
“It was probably one of the best [first games] I’ve ever seen from a new player”, the German tactician added.
“That’s true because he looked completely natural but it’s only a first game and we have to see how he’ll adapt to all of the different stuff and the intensities in the Premier League.
“There’s no rush, but last night was a very good opportunity to start him because Sadio [Mane] was not here yet and Mo [Salah] is coming back from an incredibly intense tournament.
“It was then a really good moment [to start Diaz] and he showed up.”
Also, in the post-match press conference on Thursday, Klopp was asked to comment on the performance of Luis Diaz and the coach said the Columbian forward has watched Liverpool a lot before he left Porto for the Premier League side.
“When we saw him playing for Porto, we thought ‘yes, that’s exactly what we want him to do as well”, the German coach said. “On top of that, he seems to be a really smart footballer and has obviously watched us quite a lot.
“We don’t want to overload new players with information in the first week and tell them everything we want from them in one week. But we took a look and he looked like a Liverpool player, it’s true.”
🗣 "He showed up."
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) February 11, 2022
Jurgen Klopp discusses how quickly Luis Díaz has adjusted to life at Liverpool and the confidence his forward options bring him in the title race 🔴 pic.twitter.com/6QhD1jmgpg
The win over Leicester City on Thursday has taken Liverpool 9 points closer to first-placed Manchester City. Currently, Liverpool are second with 51 points in 23 games, a game less than that of Manchester City have 60 points in 24 games.
Liverpool’s next league game is against Burnley. The Premier League is scheduled to kick off at 15:00 on Sunday, February 13, 2022.
