Jurgen Klopp has declared Luis Diaz and his smile are “back,” explaining why the Colombian’s form has begun to pick up again.
It doesn’t take a genius to work out that having your father held hostage by a guerrilla group could have an impact on your football.
With Diaz Sr watching every kick, Luis is on his way back to top form, and Klopp explained how there was never any worry about his winger’s drop-off.
The manager said: “He’s back, that’s good and pretty helpful. You can see it in each training session, it’s different.
“I spoke here when he came here, and I never saw something like that: he cannot not smile when he is on the ball.
“It was in the beginning like that and there were a few weeks when I missed that a little bit, but the smile is back, so that’s really good.”
The boss went on to remind us of how even Liverpool’s great forwards were not constantly at the top of their game, even while at their peak.
“You might all have forgotten but, in the past, [we had] maybe the best front three this club had in a long, long time,” Klopp said.
“Sadio Mane, Bobby (Roberto) Firmino and Mo Salah – how often we were sitting here discussing about a little crisis, a little dip in form and stuff like this?
“We discussed it but it never really had that massive impact. So, in these times, we let them just be. If Lucho is not playing great I don’t have to tell him ‘By the way, Lucho that was not great’. He knows that before I know it.
“It’s just about trust and faith and time. There was no doubt about [it], that he will be back, definitely. Yes, that for us is very important, absolutely, but that’s how it is.”
A brilliant finish to cap Liverpool’s FA Cup win over Arsenal demonstrated some of the confidence he has re-found.
As he glided past players with relative ease, it was this confidence that initially made such an impression on supporters when he arrived in January of 2022.
Klopp finished by adding that the club must have patience with players, saying: “It’s a general trust and faith that we have in the boys and that’s how we live it.
“And that’s why they can have a spell where for two, three, four weeks maybe, after the most challenging time of his life which nobody is prepared for.”
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