Most Reds supporters would not have envisaged before the start of the season that Divock Origi would have a forgettable second year on Merseyside, one reminiscent of his final spell with Lille in 2014/15.
Billed once as a talent with frightening potential that could underline Liverpool’s squad depth this season, he has instead plundered.
At the start of last season, the Belgian struggled for appearances under the man that had negotiated to bring him to the club – Brendan Rodgers. As he prepared for pastures new, it just seemed that he didn’t have the full backing of his manager; as he failed to get regular game time in Premier League. He only made one out of eight starts under the Ulsterman.
But, then came the saviour – Jurgen Klopp. He was one of many players in the squad who saw his performance level spurred under the new manager. Opportunities began to grow and as a result, he contributed with several key goals throughout the campaign.
Honourable mentions include a hat-trick against Southampton in the Capital One Cup quarter-final, a rapid strike at Aston Villa which saw the infamous Valentine Day’s kiss, coupled with braces at home to Stoke followed by his effort against Borussia Dortmund in one of the best European nights at Anfield. He reaped the rewards of these extra opportunities as Daniel Sturridge struggled throughout the campaign with injury.
With Roberto Firmino starting to gradually improve, Philippe Coutinho producing the goods and the arrival of Sadio Mane, all was set for Divock Origi to show more of the promise that we saw at the backend of last season. We even had the luxury of having Daniel Sturridge too as a potential contingency plan but of course, the predictable happened with the latter.
But it just wasn’t to be for Origi. Just to give you an insight as to how poor he has been this season in comparison to last season, here is just a glance at his statistics.
Twitter: Origi this season vs Origi last season. Really needs to kick on. Career reached its lowest point since his spell at… https://t.co/0XoFKXLC7o (@SteLindellLFC)
He may be the third highest goalscorer in the side in all competitions but for me, that just speaks volumes regarding our attack. We have goalscorers all over the pitch who can chip it at any given time but what is lacking is a 20-goal-a-season striker. Sadio Mane has 12 to his name this season (top scorer); however the Senegalese has been carrying a persistent burden this season. It was woefully exposed in January.
Origi’s season has never threatened to kick off bar a decent spell towards the backend of 2016. Last year, his best performances came in a 4-4-1-1 formantion where he often lead the line, just in front of Firmino.
But this term, he’s looked completely at odds with Klopp’s 4-3-3 system. With Firmino banging in 10 goals in 33 appearances and assisting seven so far this season, it’s clear that he is valued by Klopp.
On the rare 13 occassions this season when Origi has been given the nod, he has not been consistent enough and his performances haven’t been satisfactory.
Following an atrocious and spineless 3-1 defeat to Leicester in February, many were calling for the 4-3-3 system to be scrapped with cries for Klopp to stop being so sturbborn.
Then came requests for Firmino to be dropped. The manager was accused of playing the Brazilian against low block sides to suit his system, which proved ineffectual. With Firmino injured following a 3-1 win over Arsenal back in early March, it was Origi’s chance to show that he still had half the talent he had in his breakthrough season in 2015/16.
But instead, he turned in a average performance in his next start against Burnley. Despite being 6′ 1″, he seemed to struggle to win aerial duels. He wasn’t poor though, he popped up with two decent assists and pressed the full backs.
Then against Man City when he came off the bench, he offered absolutely nothing. He was lethargic, short of legs, his work-rate was poor and he generally didn’t seem in the mood despite his 72nd minute cameo.
He struggles at times to receive service that he thrives on; but there are times where he looks completely out of place. He’s a lot more effective when playing ahead of a centre-attacking midfielder such as Coutinho or Wijnaldum but will Klopp be willing to rotate his line up next season for one player? I highly doubt it.
I do think Origi still has a future at the club despite mutterings of frustration from the Belgian of late. He can complain all he likes but it’s up to him to begin delivering or face being offloaded in the summer.
If he cannot make an impact from now until the end of the season, I’d like to see him loaned to another Premier League club perhaps to bolster his confidence again in hand with gametime.
He’s not the finished article yet and I think it’d be a little bit of a knee-jerk reaction of Klopp to try to sell him permanently to another club. It could hinge on the signings the German makes in the summer and whether they play to the Belgian’s strengths. Hopefully we can see a bit more from him until the end of the season and hopefully he plays well, but if he doesn’t, questions about his future will continue to be asked.
