Luis Diaz’s most memorable half-season at Liverpool had only one weakness, which he needs to seriously address after a complete preseason under Jürgen Klopp.
You may argue that Luis Dáz was Liverpool’s most fantastic attacker in the latter half of the previous campaign based on the style of his performances.
He edged Dejan Kulusevski of Tottenham Hotspur as the Premier League team’s greatest January acquisition. The Reds’ desire for greatness on four fronts was sparked by his presence, which seemed to be a turning point in their season. He is currently making preparations for his most memorable full season on Merseyside.
Daz scored six goals in his first 26 outings for Liverpool. Given that he only started 15 of those games, it was a reasonable return, but in terms of minutes per goal, he fell short of his teammates. Dáz consistently found the middle value of one, as opposed to Mohamed Salah’s 129, Roberto Firmino’s 164, Diogo Jota’s 170, and Sadio Mané’s 71.
Before his January transfer, he had played in 14 of Porto’s first 18 Primeira Liga games, decimating the team’s goal scoring structure. What else could he possibly do to try to drive Liverpool over the 20-goal mark?
In fact, perhaps the most important adjustment he needs to make is to exert more excellent effort. Daz finished last among the five players listed above for expected goals per 90 minutes, trailing Salah by 3.58 attempts per hour and a half in the Premier League (0.42). This is due to the fact that his xG per shot was just 0.12, placing him seventh once more. For context, Mané and Firmino closely followed Jota in first place with 0.17 and 0.18, respectively.
Those figures may be roughly in line with where allies started. Daz’s aggressiveness is one factor that contributes to his energetic play; he makes sure to inside onto his leaned toward right foot and unleash a shot goalwards in an effort to score.
Daz recorded the longest usual shooting distance of the five offensive players in the 2021–2022, at 16 yards, which is close to the edge of the penalty area, well surpassing Mané (13.3) and Jota (11.8).
He wants to be in better situations so that he may exert more effort and score more goals. That seems very obvious, but how exactly does he make it happen?
Alexandre Lacazette, who is headed to Lyon, is among the four further released players who Arsenal has confirmed would be fired starting tomorrow.
All things considered, he wants to make more runs behind the defense whenever an opening presents itself, like he did in the 3-1 victory over Norwich City, where he took advantage of Ben Gibson’s ill-advised starting position before slipping the ball past Angus Gunn.
He needs to be on the last defender’s shoulder, just like he did against Brighton when he collected Jol Matip’s incisive pass, wrapped it around the goalie, and scored. He also did that against Benfica when he combined Naby Keita’s incisive pass.
Despite his long-range dodged effort goal against Tottenham Hotspur, Dáz’s goals up to this point stand out for their effortlessness. In addition to those generally mentioned, he opened the scoring at Manchester United with a close-range tap-in and a free header at Villarreal.
Moreover, getting on the ends of crosses is another area he may target. Trent Alexander-Arnold, who is a likely the finest supplier in the game, can deliver to Daz from the left, but he only registered four headed attempts in the Premier League last season.
That comes out to 0.37 per 90, which is far lower than Mané’s (0.64), and Jota’s (0.90), who have both shown how development, expectation, and a significant jump all work together.
It is important to note that Dáz should gain a lot from his first preseason at Anfield. The subsequent few protracted periods of preparation should be indisputably more crucial after a short while when recovery was possibly regarded at Kirkby as equally as critical as strategy direction. Exercises that emphasize positional play may prove very beneficial for Daz.
There’s really nothing stopping him from being quite probably Liverpool’s best player on the planet if he can increase the danger of his shots. When the two can first effectively communicate on how the Colombian will integrate into the group since his appearance, Jürgen Klopp will try to mentor that into him during the first opportunity during preseason.
