Why Slot should end Diaz experiment and restore Jota up top
Arne Slot has preferred to start with a false nine in recent months, but it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify Jota's exclusion from the starting XI.
It doesn’t get much better for a manager than a substitute scoring with their first touch, particularly if the man who sets the goal up has also just come on.
But you wonder whether Arne Slot will look back on Diogo Jota’s telling contribution to Liverpool’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last night with a tinge of regret.
The Reds boss had spoken in his pre-match press conference about Jota finally being ready to play 90 minutes after building up his fitness following a serious rib injury.
Yet it was no surprise at all to see the Portuguese benched for the trip to third-placed Forest, with Luis Diaz favoured instead in a false nine role.
Since being tried there for the thrashing of Bayer Leverkusen, the Colombian has helped inspire wins over Manchester City and Tottenham from the same position.
But flaws in that plan have begun to emerge in recent weeks, with the fact opposition analysts now have footage to study seeming to lessen its effectiveness.
The idea behind using a false nine is that they offer a two-way threat in both dropping deep to receive and allowing the wingers to pass them, but also occasionally darting in behind themselves.
It is a task Roberto Firmino famously mastered, making himself impossible to mark as part of an unstoppable front three.
However, for all his qualities, Diaz isn’t quite Firmino, and showed as much in giving Forests’ defenders one of the easiest 60 minutes of their season on Tuesday evening.
Overly focused on coming toward the ball, the 28-year-old took just six touches in the opposition box all night, as evidenced by a heatmap of the expected threat he generated.
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