Roberto Firmino, a former star player for the Reds, has revealed that he wasn’t very upset about Brendan Rodgers being fired as manager of Liverpool, shedding light on their strained relationship.
Legendary Liverpool player Roberto Firmino has acknowledged that, during their time together at Anfield, he and former Reds manager Brendan Rodgers did not get along well.
During his eight years at the club, the Brazilian forward established himself as one of the greatest signings in Liverpool’s Premier League history. However, Firmino has since acknowledged that he did not have the best of starts after joining from Bundesliga team Hoffenheim in the summer of 2015 for a reported £29 million.
Firmino joined the team that summer together with Christian Benteke, Danny Ings, and Taiwo Awoniyi as one of several attacking recruits. The Brazil international failed to establish himself as a regular member of Rodgers’ starting lineup and barely got off to a good start.
Firmino talked about those trying times under Rodgers in his book “Si Senor: My Liverpool Years,” asserting that the current Celtic manager was unaware of the forward’s style of play. The current Al-Ahli ace said, “On the pitch, I had a terrible start that left me wondering how this was going to work out.”
“I played as a winger a lot, with Christian Benteke playing through the middle, and as a striker very seldom. I was assigned to defend rather than play in games against Manchester United and Arsenal, when I played on the right side of midfield. I spent so much time dropping so deep and wide that I was essentially a full-back.
“I was a good distance away from the areas of the pitch where I could actually contribute. Brendan Rodgers, the coach, obviously didn’t know how to make use of me. He didn’t seem to get my playing style, and I never understood what he had in mind for me. Perhaps such was a result of his lack of actual.”
Three months into the 2015–16 season, Rodgers was fired from his position as manager of Liverpool. However, he would later reunite with Firmino when Leicester City’s manager back to the Premier League.
On 2019 Boxing Day, the two teams squared off in a match that saw the Reds triumph 4-0, with Firmino collecting a brace. The normally quite calm Brazilian has acknowledged that day’s attacks on the King Power included something special.
Recalling those goals against Leicester, he said, “I never went towards the opposition’s fans, never taunted rivals, never provoked anyone, and always shared the celebrations with team-mates.”
“But that day at the King Power Stadium, I admit, I was delivering a message to the coach on the other bench, a reminder to Brendan Rodgers that he hadn’t believed in me like the boss [Klopp] did.”
