MY ACCOUNT
Jurgen Klopp is confident the goals will come for Luis Diaz after the winger was wasteful in the 2-2 draw at Fulham last weekend.
Diaz missed two Opta-defined ‘big chances’ in the Reds’ opening match of the Premier League season at Craven Cottage, rattling the post in the first half.
The Colombia international took no time to settle at Anfield following his big-money move from Porto in January, scoring six goals and providing five assists in 26 appearances last season.
Liverpool lost Sadio Mane to Bayern Munich in June, but Klopp is backing Diaz to help fill the void left by the Senegal forward.
Asked if Diaz can score 10-15 goals this season, the Reds manager said: “Oh definitely, that is his quality. We need to see but of course that is his potential.
“We work on it but not with Luis specifically. We don’t take him out because the other two scored and he didn’t, so we show him how. That’s not necessary. It’s not a problem. You can’t force it
“Last week people were asking ‘How can you play without Sadio?’ but in November/December everybody was thinking about when he would score the next goal, and Mo [Salah] was on fire. You just let it go.
“You see the situations Luis had, big chances, and he was just unlucky. He started on the first day with us and took part in all the sessions and that is the most important thing.
“All the rest will come. In the long term it is of course not a problem. It is about being prepared and fighting through moments like this.”
Klopp called for patience with Diaz ahead of Liverpool’s first home game of the season against Crystal Palace on Monday.
He added: “When Sadio played against us, he scored three times for Southampton but it was not that he scored every week. He didn’t even start the game when he played against us.
“So the consistency came with the confidence and with the team-mates, the structure of our game. So that is what we’re working on that doesn’t change. The way we play should help strikers. It is the way we play. It’s the way we bring the boys in the situation.
“Of course it is about whether it is in you or not, but it’s the way we play, how we position the players, how we protect the players, where we win the balls back.
“And it is how the boys can use their speed in these moments. They will be in a lot of goalscoring situations and that then makes you the player we remember.”
