At this point in the football season, it is safe to say that the United Kingdom’s Liverpool Football Club is the best team in the world. Liverpool F.C., based at the famed Anfield Stadium, tops both the English Premier League and the Champions League and has only lost one game all season. Colombian football star Luis Diaz has become a crucial player for the club and, hopefully, will continue to prove his form in the second half of the season, which is when stars become legends.
On the first weekend of the new year, Liverpool will host their fierce rivals, Manchester United, in what could be a crucial game for both teams. Diaz’s Liverpool will hope to once again come on top of their arch-rivals. The star player will aim to repeat the performance that he gave in the last game between the two teams, when he scored twice to help secure a 3-0 victory at Old Trafford.
However, behind “Lucho’s” newly found form is a lot of hard work. His new coach, Arne Slot, has completely turned his game around, once again making him one of the most talented strikers in world football.
Luis Diaz in Klopp’s Liverpool F.C.
Diaz arrived at Liverpool during the 2021/22 season, after being Porto’s best player for almost four years. He arrived when German football manager Jürgen Klopp was still in charge at the club, and mostly played left field, alongside Sadio Mané as center, and Mohamed Salah as right field.
During his first season at the club, Diaz and the rest of the Liverpool team fought to win the Premier League until the very last day of the season. While they managed to reach the final of the Champions League, they ultimately lost to Real Madrid in Paris.
Until his recent impressive performances, Diaz’s first six months at the club were arguably his best. For some time after that, he had struggled to add his name to the scoresheet. The arrival of Cody Gakpo at the club was also difficult for Diaz, as he now faced fierce competition from the Dutch star for a starting position in Liverpool’s left field.
Arne Slot overhauls Diaz’s game
When Jürgen Klopp left Liverpool after the 23/24 season ended, Slot took over and completely changed Luis Diaz’s game. Under Klopp, Diaz was deployed as a left winger whilst Gakpo played as a more conventional number 9. However, Slot completely changed this approach, now primarily placing Diaz as a forward and putting Gakpo on the left field.
While this ultimately proved to be a good move, this was not Slot’s original plan per se. He usually uses Portuguese striker Diogo Jota and Uruguayan Darwin Nuñez as the team’s main forwards, but Jota’s injuries and Nuñez’s unreliability in front of goal, caused him to experiment with Diaz in this position. So far, his gamble has paid off massively.
Diaz has now scored 12 goals for Liverpool in all competitions this season. This is just one goal less than the entire number of goals he recorded in the 23/24 season, and more than double those he achieved in the two seasons prior. If he continues at this rate, Diaz is likely to achieve his highest-scoring season in Europe: he is just four goals away from the 16 he recorded with Porto in 2021/2022.
Now, Diaz and Liverpool are set to enter the most challenging part of the season. However, with Dias seemingly on a successful streak, the team’s likelihood of success seems high – “Lucho” seems set to further establish his place as Europe’s most impressive forward.